MK2 8v 1998 golf My radiator fan is not cutting in, causing me temp gauge to go up to 3/4, then coming back to 1/2. I,ve checked the fuse it ok.
try the temperature sender. its screwed into the radiator, towards the bottom, and has 2(?) wires on a connector going to it. cost about 5-10
well, it seems like its already not working!! sorry. erm, i think that you will find it will sort out the problem, but are you saying that the fan does not cut in at all?? or only when it gets to 3/4?? check the oil cap for signs of mayonaise, it "could" be a head gasket problem looming, but don't stress about it yet. it could be the simple temp sensor. Edited by: Davs
It does,not cut in at all, the oil cap has very slight mayonaise The head was done 12months ago/ 8000miles
yes, if i,m in traffic but on the straight it comes to 1/2, I,ve the fan has three pins, which 2 can be connected to the battery to test if its working,
Check the fuse as there is a good chance that it has blown, if the fuse is ok then get two bits of wire strip back the ends and try a direct feed to the rad fan to see if it is working if it works the next step is if you have a dvm check the resistance of the temp sender in the corner of the rad if you cant get a reading from it it has open circuited and failed change the sender if you havent got a dvm you will have to assume that it is the sender and change and as it has already been said they are not costly. Hopes this helps.
IIRC, unplug the 3pin plug from the thermoswitch on the radiator. You then need to bridge two of the contacts on that 3 pin plug. I can't remember which two exactly but you can't go wrong. Only one pin is +12v, the other two are stage one fan speed and stage two fan speed. So, as I said you can't go wrong.
if your sat in traffic it will sit at 3/4 cause thats when the fan comes in, if it doesn't go past that point i wouldn't worry if its at 1/2 when driving thats fine.
You can check the sender. You need a continuity tester, a pan of water on the hob and a thermometer. You just connect the tester to either pole of the sender (which you have removed previously of course!!), heat the water and note from the thermometer the temp at which the circuit is closed. Haynes will tell you what temp this should be.
If you do the wire trick on the fan swich connector and the fan does work, you know 100% that the switch on the radiator is at fault. If the fan hasn`t move for a while it could be siezed, which may pop the fuse, so if the fuse has gone as well you know you`ve got a temp switch fault and fan fault! (does that make sense?)
wired up the fan with +12v and bridged the other connectors i only got little sparks so i assume its the fan, I'll try tommorrow if I can get some daylight. Thanks for all your help.
Try removing the connection from the temp switch at the radiator the middle terminal should then be shorted to the left side, if everything else is ok (and the temp switch is fauly) the fan will run, shorting of the middle teminal to the right will also make the fan run, one way slow other fast, cann't remember which way is which. This has happened to me , as a temp measure i found an old rocker switch, which fitted perfected, and on hot days & urban runs ficked the switch on after starting the car.
Thanks I tried that myself and nothing happened so I took the fan to local garage for testing (second opinon) confirmed what i thought, bbrought another from a place of fulham palace road made sure he tested it, was ok. got home fitted in the dark with 10mm spanner (neighbour borrowwed socket set, never seen again) It still doesn't work. fed up might buy a nova.
did you look at the fuse if so try replacing it anyway sounds like your not getting a feed to the fan if its not kicking in on a new one if its not thefuse then its a wiring problem i would say ?
Have you tried a direct feed from the battery to the fan? Earthing the middle connection will make the fan run if its good. I'm assuming that its a three pin connection at the fan and the temp sensor? Edited by: sundodger
if you wired 12v to the fan and then also tried to bridge the connector at the same time you might have shorted a fuse. check the fuses and then try bridging the connector without any seperate fan connection. I think the connector has some markings on it from memory which should help identify which is which. If that don't work buy a meter with a voltmeter and a continuity tester
Thinking back when I came of my weekend break the 23th nov, (The weekend of Heavy rain) My passenger footwell was flooded I thought this strange and put it down to the rain even sent a post regarding this. The fuse is ok The fan has been replaced tested The sender unit I'll replace. Could this be a leak in the cooling system causing the radiator not to switch the sender unit.
