Manual fan switch

[windysurfer]

I want to wire in a manual switch to turn my rad fan on full should I ever need it.

How do I go about it?
Mine a two speed fan (3 wires)

cheers

Gaz

[ringo]

Hi Gaz - i did this on my spare van to try and fix the overheating issues. It didnt work. Changing the head gasket did fix it!

What do you want to do that for mate? The way VW intended seems to work well. Is the fan switching in? Mine generally does just above the led.

Sorry to not answer your question - it's easy to do bit i think it's pointless.....

Ringo

[windysurfer]

I know what you mean Ringo but I've had/have a overheating problem which I'm hoping is now fixed but thought this might just give me a piece of mind that I can get the temp down should I need to.

Fan is kicking in OK, Had Si at Brickwerks give the system the once over (changed fan switch the thermostat) and head gasket is fine but temp still goes to just above red light on a long drag up hill which, although not over heating, it never did before.Its not over heated for 300 miles or so but still can't drive without constantly watching the temp gauge
Next step might be a new rad.

[xpress]

see if your rad flushes properly and check for leaks, you might not need a new rad.

[Watercooler]

I am having problems with my new Van running hot. Hasn't actually overheated yet but runs hot (guage between middle to 3/4 and spend more time watching guage than road!).

The Fan did not seem to cut in so bypassed the thermal switch and wired it direct to a manual switch and fan has now stopped working at all! The vans first proper run (in three years) was to Newquay (160 miles) last weekend and had fan on for most of the journey and just before I got home the fan died completely. Maybe it was on its way out anyway but I'm guessing that its not suitable for continual running and will now try to fix problem properly!

Maybe talking rubbish but just a word of warning from my experience.

[toomanytoys]

Anything around the led position is "normal".. you should expect the engine to get "warmer" when its being worked hard up a hill... thats normal too... but it should come down quite quickly after the load has been removed...
I'd also suggest anything up to 3/4 on the gauge and the fan running is normal too as long as its coming back down quite quickly after... its not overheating unless it goes up and up and up and wont come back down... then its time to stop....

If its going wildly up and down depending on load then thats an indicator of a problem...

If Bricky has given it the all clear then you really are worrying about nothing...

[Titus A Duxass]

As toomanytoys says around the LED is normal, I can get mine up to 3/4 if I cane it up a long climb.
As soon as I reduce the load the temp starts falling (I no longer cane it up hills).

In traffic my fan cuts in and out before the needle even gets to the LED.

[Ian Hulley]

I did this job yesterday (with 2 bits of soldering kindly performed by Disco ) on the 3 terminal fan switch wires the thicker, red & white IIRC is the feed and the opposite of the 3 is the fast speed (check this by bridging them). We didn't cut the wires, just stripped the insulation back, soldered the extra wires in to them and re-insulated them. I took a piece of 1.5mm twin into the cab onto an existing heavy duty pull switch and it works fine both on the thermo switch and on the manual over-ride switch.

Ian.

[togga]

As Ringo said, I did this with my van & it's very easy to do. However, it doesn't solve overheating problems & may make things worse in the long run. I've had to face the music & am having the head gasket replaced.

[windysurfer]

I think I've just become a bit paranoid since it overheated.