What the heck!?!
 

Hi everyone,
So my fan module went out. I wired a new one, with a fuse in line, and a 30 amp relay. I wired it to a switch in cab, left of the steering column. Everything is working, but I went on a drive smoke started coming out of the steering column. What the heck? Did I nick a wire, or cause something in the steering column to burn out? I don't understand what's going on, don't know where to start troubleshooting. Everything is 10 gauge wire, and it only smokes when I turn the switch on.

Please help, I don't even know what to do.

Thanks all,

One more thing,
 

The switch completes the ground, so no power is coming into the cab.

Hello Jim,
Begin with a visit to Gus's Jagrepair.com for the wiring diagram.
Note your location in the event that someone nearby may offer help.
Also, give more detail of what you actually did. The cooling fans/module control signal comes from the engine control module.
I don't understand what mods you've made for the repair.
Good luck.

Bill

James, where are you getting the power for the fan from? It would sound to me that you are trying to power the fan through a wire that is not 10 gauge. If you could, draw up a diagram of how you wired it up and where you made connections. I am sure I can help you figure out where the black smoke is coming from. But, i would recommend not turning the fan on as you may have only stressed the wire at the moment. The one check that I would do is to look under the dash in the vicinity of where the smoke is coming from and look for the burnt wire.

Not to ask a silly question, but did you make sure that you wired up things properly and you are not trying to ground the positive wire? That is what it can also be. Something like this should be wired with a relay so the switch is not taking the majority of the current. I have found that the circuit seems to last longer and with fewer problems.

I had it plugged into the ass. circuit, I think it was overheating some wires and causing them to smoke. Do you guys think I did any major damage? I'm going to take Thermo's advice and plug the positive into the battery, making it its own circuit.

Thanks everyone...

Justice, without looking at the wiring, the question of "did I do damage" is very hard to say. I would use this standard: if the wire is discolored, then it should be replaced, no discoloration, should be fine.