Radiator fans is it on permanently ?

[sternal]

There are 3 wires coming off the fan and at the rad bit

Not checked voltage not got a meter

What shall I order from vw heritage ?

[Oldiebut goodie]

It's just a standard 40A relay - get it anywhere.
You really need to get a cheapo multimeter - you need to check so much on these old vans it is well worth spending £5 on one.

3 wires should mean 2 stage fan and 2 relays I would have thought but without checking the voltage at the connector you won't have much of a chance in tracking down the fault.
You need to clean up those earth crowns to remove the chances of electrical gremlins there also.

[sternal]

Had a spare hour this afternoon

The fan works directly connected to the battery (good news)

Went to the local car spares shop to get a standard 40amp relay they didn't have any all he had were 30amp standard relays of which he had two different types ! Said take both if one works then great bring other back went home tried both neither work ! Does it have to be a 40amp in order to work ? I wouldn't have thought so ?

I obviously need to see if there is any voltage going through to where I bridge it but without a volt meter that's not possible at the mo.

As the fan works when connected direct is it worth fitting a switch(as mentioned a lot on here) and not bothering with all the investigation work ? Or buy correct 40a RELAY and going from there ?

thank you so much for all your help so far...

(ps just got back from B&Q to get a cheap mutlimeter will check in the morn)

[Oldiebut goodie]

The point is - if you have a 2 stage fan putting a 40A relay in no.5 position will not get it to work as it is for the 2nd stage only and the 70A relay is for the first stage.
Are you absolutely certain that you don't have the 2 thick red wires going up above the earth crowns?

I have never had the fan come on in my van - it has never overheated and everything tests out as in good working order. So.....

[sternal]

Are you absolutely certain that you don't have the 2 thick red wires going up above the earth crowns?

absolutely nothing and nor has it ever been !





taken from another thread I DONT HAVE THIS !



And since I don't have this it must have been removed at some point in its life or never fitted ! Which is why relay no. 5 was missing ! What ever relay I fit the fan WILL NEVER WORK Correct
Yes ? No ? so if this is the case then it will need to be wired in with a switch just in case I should need it ?

Or that mystery relay is hiding some place else *update* its not hiding any place cos those said wires arent there just had a recheck...

[Oldiebut goodie]

You see the red/blue wire on mine in the pic above - do you have that at the rad switch connector? If so look for it in the loom behind the fuse box that should lead to whatever relay you have. That is the first stage trigger wire for the relay.
What colours do you have at the switch connector?
Who knows what has happened to a van's wiring over 25 years

[sternal]

You see the red/blue wire on mine in the pic above - do you have that at the rad switch connector?

pretty sure I can see that on a picture i have its way to dark to check now outside !


if you look at this picture you can see that red/blue wire




if thats going red/blue to no.5 space then....wtfk ! will check in the morn

Flipping heck I do choose em !

Oldiebut goodie are you an electrician by chance ? thanks a million so far

[Oldiebut goodie]

No! Make sure that it is a red/blue and not a blue/red - it gets hard to make them out when they are wrapped tight.
But you really must clean up those earth crowns - there is a lot of corrosion on one!

[sternal]

ah hah will double check the red/blue wire very easy to make that mistake !

Whats the best way to get to earth crown ? I got big hands !

Jobs tomorrow
1 clean earth crowns
2 reconnect one of the two relays and check for 12v(with multimeter) at radiator end/checking which one of the three is live first ! and see if I can get the fan to go
3 follow wire back from rad switch to under dash
4 post pics and loads more confusion on here !


cheers Oldiebut goodie top bloke ! (given my past record on here !)

[Oldiebut goodie]

I've got big hands also - a real pain getting under the dashboard anywhere - I usually end up with a slice out of me whenever I get under there!
Take them off completely and you can then clean up the contacting faces underneath. They are held on by a large phillips/pozidrive screw in the centre - you can see one in the photo of mine.

[sternal]

engine running


did a multi metre test

middle wire = earth

red\white voltages going down but when engine running and key out this is reading 12v now earths cleaned reads 12v engine running

red/blue dead ! and dead whatever relay was put in

red/blue wire ends up at 5th relay space !

now to clean earth crown


******earths cleaned up and relays in and bridged the fan switch it kicks in ! and thats with either relay and keys out....

[sternal]

took van for a run and then parked with engine running for a while needle goes just past halfway, fan not cutting in...so the bit in the rad is prob dud as well...or just never gonna work cos of the other relay missing ?

[Oldiebut goodie]

As I said - I have never got my radiator hot enough for the fan to come on. New rad switch, all checked out.
You may well just have a single speed fan. What wires caused the fan to operate when you bridged them?

[sternal]

What wires caused the fan to operate when you bridged them?

with either relay and no ignition on

red/black (middle) to red/white(left) fan on

&

red/white(left) to red blue(right) in other words two outer wires

someone or something has obviously played with the wiring at some point in the past

You may well just have a single speed fan.

Should I do this with a switch that I operate manually ? I have lost the will to live and fitting a new rad switch loosing coolant only for it not to work just seems like a waste of valuable time and its all guess work...

Instructions to fitting switch ? Guessing 30amp switch and in line fuse etc...help on that bit !



JUST TO ADD THE VAN IS NOT OVER HEATING BUT LIVING IN LONDON I FEEL I SHOULD HAVE THE OPTION OF IT WORKING !

Oldiebut goodie thanks for all your valuable help

taken from the samba

let say you just want to fire up the low speed fan:
ground the ground connector, then get yourself some nice 8g or 10g wire, and connect it to the battery positive side(WITH A FUSE INLINE!) and run it down to the fan area, then grab yourself a nice relay (bosch 40amp units work nicely, and since you'll be in a "water prone" zone maybe get one thats sealed) the relay contacts will be 30, 87, 87a, 85, and 86... connect your constant source from the battery to contact 87 on the relay, then connect contact 30 to the fan "low speed" input contact, using the nice large guage wire. from there you ground contact 85, and contact 86 you run up to the dash where you're going to put your switch and connect it to said switch. on the other side of the switch you need a power source (not high amperage, this is just enough current to trigger the relay, we're talking milliamps here, but you still want to FUSE this wire as well) connect this power source wire to either a ignition switch wire (if you only want to fire up the fan with the key on) or connect it to a constant power source (if you want to fire the fan with the key in or not)... and thats it!

sounds compacted...or not ?

[Oldiebut goodie]

This may be how yours is.....
Going by the vanagon wiring , the first stage doesn't have a relay and is is run directly from the rad switch via the 30A fuse wire red/white power in and black/red or red/black power out.
2nd stage will be red/blue to the relay from the rad switch with the output to the fan via the red wire.

If you had a ground on one wire at the connector something is wrong!...
Jumper from red/white to red/blue should give you high speed fan and jumper from red/white to black/red or red/black should give you low speed. Looks like that 20A fuse should be a 30A also.

I am not sure that the no.5 relay is used on mine for this fan at all! (As I have that separate 70A relay for the 2nd stage)