Baja 1000/Broken Flex-A-Lite Fan/Overheated in the middle of nowhere
VTISC007
12-26-2005, 01:13 PM
On a recent trip to Baja, through the somewhat famous Matomi Wash, I encountered a little bit of technical difficulty. For those who don't know about the Matomi Wash, the terrain consists of everything from loose deep sand, to whoops and rocks. They purposely run the Baja 1000 through there, just for the challenge, just to see who is going to break something.
I have been to Baja on several occassions and I have had my Flex-A-Lite fan cooling my 3.0 V6 for the last couple of years.....with no problems, just confidence. Anyway, somewhere around 13 miles into the wash, a burst of steam gushed from the radiator cap, the temperature gauge was well into the HOT zone. The main terminal broke off from the fan's control box. The fan ceased to work. I managed to get the temperature down into the upper normal area of the gauge slowly. I didn't want to drastically change the temperature of the heads. After wiring the fan motor directly to the battery I was back in business; Nevertheless, on my way out of the wash, keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge, I had to stop every 2-3 miles to let the engine cool down, it was night time by now. I am a little perplexed at the fact that I went 13 miles in the sun without stopping, until the fan broke, then I had to stop every 2-3 miles in the night to let it cool down. I filled it with one complete jug of coolant topped off with the finest drinking water. By the time I got to town, the fan completely did not work, it didn't matter because at highway speed the truck cools itself. I drove somewhere around 500 miles home with no fan, keeping a close eye on the temperature, no problems except a flat tire.
I have always been meticulous about maintenece, and the engine has always used Mobil 1 fully synthetic oil since 1988. The engine sounds good. I hope that the Mobil 1 helped in this extreme condition. I was told the the first V6's 1988-89 were very good. I wonder if there is a way to check for damage as a result of overheating.
I have been to Baja on several occassions and I have had my Flex-A-Lite fan cooling my 3.0 V6 for the last couple of years.....with no problems, just confidence. Anyway, somewhere around 13 miles into the wash, a burst of steam gushed from the radiator cap, the temperature gauge was well into the HOT zone. The main terminal broke off from the fan's control box. The fan ceased to work. I managed to get the temperature down into the upper normal area of the gauge slowly. I didn't want to drastically change the temperature of the heads. After wiring the fan motor directly to the battery I was back in business; Nevertheless, on my way out of the wash, keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge, I had to stop every 2-3 miles to let the engine cool down, it was night time by now. I am a little perplexed at the fact that I went 13 miles in the sun without stopping, until the fan broke, then I had to stop every 2-3 miles in the night to let it cool down. I filled it with one complete jug of coolant topped off with the finest drinking water. By the time I got to town, the fan completely did not work, it didn't matter because at highway speed the truck cools itself. I drove somewhere around 500 miles home with no fan, keeping a close eye on the temperature, no problems except a flat tire.
I have always been meticulous about maintenece, and the engine has always used Mobil 1 fully synthetic oil since 1988. The engine sounds good. I hope that the Mobil 1 helped in this extreme condition. I was told the the first V6's 1988-89 were very good. I wonder if there is a way to check for damage as a result of overheating.
Brian R.
12-26-2005, 02:23 PM
IMO, get your fan fixed and keep an eye on your exhaust color, your oil appearance, and your coolant. If everything stays normal for the time between oil changes, then you have nothing to worry about. Even if the heads were slightly warped, there is no sense in tearing the engine apart to fix something that is not causing you problems.
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