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Astra van radiater fan not working.

Hi group!

Hope someone here can help me.

I've got an R reg Astra 1.7 turbo diesel van (drop head im told) It's been overheating so I see a leaking hose and have it replaced. The problem is still there. It's got the overheating and bubbles in the water resevior as if the head gasket has gone (am watching closely a similar post). I looked today and the radiater fan isn't working. The temperature seems to stay stable unless flooring it or in traffic.

I clipped into the two wires going to the fan and when put directly to the battery the fan runs but very hard and much louder than I would expect. It seems way too fast.

My question is, do I need to place a resister inline with the live or some other method of getting the right spin speed? I guess it's regulated normally by a temp sensor but I don't mind losing that ability if it means getting it to cool properly. At least then I can rule out (or not!) a leaking head gasket.

Any help would be appreciated.

David

Reply to
David_In_Devon
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sound as though the headgasket is already on the way out. could have been caused by the overheating.

Reply to
bongo

I would say that if it has been allowed to regularly overheat then the head gasket will be saying it's last goodbyes. My Rover's radiator wasn't working either, I found this out when it was idling in a garage. I tried to replacement thermostatic switches but had no joy so i reckon the ECU wasn't switching the fan on. I now have a manual switch in the car that I use whenever I feel the need. It does the job for a car with 138k miles and 14 years old.

Reply to
gazzafield

Find the fan temperature switch and short it out - that should make the fan come on all the time. I doubt it will cure your problem though.

Reply to
adder1969

Thermo switches aren't expensive - give Autovaux a ring. At least you can then rule that out, and if you're going to fix the car, you'll need one anyway if it's knackered

Reply to
IanDTurner

Thermo switches aren't expensive - give Autovaux a ring. At least you can then rule that out, and if you're going to fix the car, you'll need one anyway if it's knackered

Reply to
IanDTurner

Thanks to all that have replied so far BUT......how do I wire the radiator fan so that it comes on when I need it - say from a switch inside? As I said, the fan is working when connected directly to the battery. But it is running way to fast/hard. So I'm guessing it needs some sort of 'step down' resistor or something similar to make it run at the correct speed.

Am I right in thinking that for this fan that's what's needed? Apart from a new temp sensor - btw how much is one of these approx?

Thankyou,

David

Reply to
David_In_Devon

There will not be any sort of resistor in the fan circuit, it is designed to run at full battery voltage. Temp switch should be somewhere round £5.

Reply to
SimonJ

Take the connections off of the thermostatic switch (usually located somewhere on the radiator) and run fresh wire from them to a switch inside the car. There should only be two wires and it works on a simple on or off basis. You can add a switch with a light ( Like I did ) which is slightly more complicated but lets you now if you've let the fan running.

Reply to
gazzafield

Added precaution warning - make sure you use a decent size cable and FUSE it! Or just buy a new temp sensor so it works correctly.

Reply to
Coyoteboy

Just wanted to say thanks very much to all that have responded. Your help is much appreciated.

David

Reply to
David_In_Devon

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