Test radiator fan off the car

[al_dente]

Hi folks,

My cooling fan isn't working - it's the type with no resistor.

I have a couple of spare fans in the garage, so I plan to put one of those in (swapping the resistor for a gold one at the same time).

The fans I have are untested, so I would like to test them on a spare battery to see which is the best one - before putting on the car.

I'm sure I saw a how-to somewhere where the fan was mounted to a makeshift wooden frame and connected to a car battery, but I can't find it anywhere. I think it was one of Arctic's how-to's maybe.

Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

[macafee2]

I have been advised to make sure the fan is securely held down when I wanted to do a test on a spare fan but no mention of a wooden frame as far as i recall

macafee2

[Arctic]

Hi Alistair.
Yes that was me way back in 2011 quite soon after i made up an extra loom to fit to the car through the wheel arch liner latch, which then fits to the fan and i test them outside the car up against the bumper.

You could always remove the bumper 20 minutes work and test all your fans using the demist test, once you have unplugged the loom from the car add the fan and prop it up or get someone to hold it for you while you press the demist button

You could also have a quick drive to mine with your fans, and use my extra loom.

[vitesse]

And if you use Toaf to check the fans you can regulate the power output by using the sliding bar.

Otherwise I've nailed the fan motor to a plank while testing as even without the blades there's a fair bit of torque.

Regards

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by al_dente

My cooling fan isn't working - it's the type with no resistor.

Your other option Al is to repair your 3 speeder (which is quieter in operation than the resistor type). It most likely just needs some new motor brushes.

I see that you have a diesel so to check your spare fans and control boxes use the demist test with Arctic's testing loom connected to your car.

Simon

[al_dente]

Thanks for the help folks. I think I will just take the front off tomorrow and plug them in to test.

One of my fans has SRB2 on the control box - is that OK for a diesel? The other one has PMW2, which I'm pretty sure is a diesel version.

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by al_dente

One of my fans has SRB2 on the control box - is that OK for a diesel? The other one has PMW2, which I'm pretty sure is a diesel version.

The SRB2 control box cannot be used on your diesel Al. PWM2 is for a diesel 2 speed fan with resistor. M47 was the coding on the control box lid for the original diesel 3 speed system and it sounds as if that's what you've got at present.

Don't throw away your 3 speed system will you. Arctic may like it for refurbishment.

Simon

[al_dente]

Thanks - that explains why I have two fans in the garage! I must have realised I'd bought the wrong one, so bought another

Yes, I'll hang on to the fans. I'm hoping to attend the Nano meet next month, so will bring them along.

[al_dente]

Update: I tested the fan, it didn't work. Fitted a new gold resistor (bought from Jules years ago). Tested again and it was fine :-)

I've swapped the fan over and put everything back together. However, I've got to the stage where I need to re-fit the bumper and I have these two torx bolts left. Does anyone know where they're from? It must be the sun - I can't remember where they came from.

[al_dente]

Worked it out...