Cooling fan not working

Post by **MrDenis** » 20 Jul 2006, 14:32

Checked the fuse - gone through the fault finding as Haynes describes - looks like the fan is eiher dead or lost connection somewhere

Not really up for dropping the radiator out myself so does anybody know of a reliable mechanic in South London that won't charge the earth?

Cheers

D

Post by **Mocki** » 20 Jul 2006, 14:43

didnt think it was much of a job, you don even have to unplumb it, just undo the wheel holder springthingys, and four bolts, it slides out, but if you crawl up there after you have taken the wheel holder and springthingys off you can see the wiring and connectors without dropping it......iirc

Post by **OLD ONE** » 20 Jul 2006, 14:45

There is a firm in Plumstead SE 18. Cant rember name, but I will try and sort it out for you

Post by **MrDenis** » 20 Jul 2006, 15:10

mocki wrote:didnt think it was much of a job, you don even have to unplumb it, just undo the wheel holder springthingys, and four bolts, it slides out, but if you crawl up there after you have taken the wheel holder and springthingys off you can see the wiring and connectors without dropping it......iirc

It's probably not a big job for somebody who knows what they're doing but I've already caused my glovebox to jam when I try to open and close it today and i'm just a bit scared that i'll completely balls the whole fan thing up!

Post by **Mocki** » 20 Jul 2006, 15:17

fair comment..........

Post by **MrDenis** » 27 Jul 2006, 13:39

OK so I took the bus to local non VW garage - they had bus in overnight "no problem with fan mate - tried it 8 or 9 times and it works fine!"

Drove it out of garage and around the block a few times - temp gauge went up - fan did kick in but only intermittently - temp gauge warning light started flashing - fan kept coming on but only for a few seconds at a time - not long enough to stop the flashing light.

Took it back to garage - they're bemused - tapped the dash a few times and noticed the temp gauge needle moved slightly when tapped. They want to replace all the sensors and possibly the temp gauge.

Went to GSF to get replacements - none in stock!

Went past local MG/VW specialist - popped in and told them above - they said it could be a cracked cylinder head - up to £800 to fix properly if it is

My head hurts now - and just when I'm going to try and fit my first split charge relay!!!

Post by **Horza** » 27 Jul 2006, 13:47

So the cracked head is making the fan intermitant? Hmmm.

Before you go spending any more dosh wire up a switch so you can turn the fan on and off (obviously if you don't have switches and bits of tri rated cable kicking about you will have to spend a few pence!!). When driving and the guage goes up, turn the fan on and see if it comes back down. If you can control the temp like this then chances are it's just dodgy sensors or sensor wiring. In my experience when the fan comes on it comes on for a while but up until this hot weather that was a rare occasion.

Unfortunately if the temp still goes nuts when the fan is running then you can go back to crying in your beer

But at least it wont have cost leg's worth of garage time to find out!! (if this is the case you can still wonder about airlocks and thermostats and things before going back to the head thoughts)

Post by **scumpuppy** » 27 Jul 2006, 14:31

I had the same problem

we changed the fan senser on the radiator which made the fan work but the temp gauge was still high in the end we resorted to the haynes book of lies, after it was suggested that it could be an air lock in the rad. bleeding the rad is akin to bleeding one at home (except you don't jack the front of your house up). the upshot of all this was it worked, the temp gauge now sits at just over half way it does

creep up in HOT weather when left standing i.e. traffic jams but fan kicks in and all is fine.So investigate everything before parting with big money. hope this helps. Mark

Post by **MrDenis** » 27 Jul 2006, 15:00

Cheers will investigate bleeding the rad next

owlets · Post by **owlets** » 27 Jul 2006, 16:51

Where about, approximately on the guage, does the fan kick in? Mine fan kicks in when the gauge gets to about 2/3 - 3/4's of they way. The fan then runs for a short while until the gauge has dropped back down to just above half way.