| Author |
Message |
Snowshoer
Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2014
Posts: 41
Location: Marquette, MI
|
 Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2016 6:14 pm Post subject: Radiator Fan blew apart! |
 |
|
Did my maintenance today and bad things happened! I replaced the aux water pump and that went well and my replacement of the coolant sensor which I thought controlled the dash gauge went in ok also. My dash gauge was not working all the time but I was using the scan gauge to monitor temps which is why I decided to mess with it. I put everything together and was running van and checking for leaks and all was good. Took on a test drive and I noticed the cooling fans were running at full throttle (which I never heard before!). I was turning around to head for home then BANG!!! I shut the van down and jumped out and there was coolant pouring out of the van and plastic everyplace. I pushed the van off the road and inspected under the hood and found the drivers side fan blew apart. It took out the radiator hose and who knows what else. So I called my friends for a tow and pulled it to my friends house. Upon inspecting the damage I found I need a new hose, fan, and serpentine belt. Does anybody have a good place to look for this stuff. Europarts SD has stuff but shipping is like $40.
Does anybody have any idea why this happened? I can't figure out why the fans turned on high, unless that sensor caused it. The gauge was working so I am at a loss. I also checked the A/C when I got back and fans don't come on at all, I was not running it during the test drive. Why don't they come on anymore with the A/C?
Sorry for the long post but I am looking for answers,
Neil. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
jjvincent
Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2016
Posts: 1422
Location: Bethlehem, PA
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 5:05 am Post subject: Re: Radiator Fan blew apart! |
|
|
Many years ago it was common for EV fans to explode. They came out with an updated version to keep this from happening. Seems your EV is one that had not been replaced. If I were you, I'd change out the other one too just to be safe.
As for your fans coming on, just type in "fans" in the search bar above. You'll see plenty about resisters and various items people have checked and their solutions. It's some good reading and will help with you diagnosing the problem. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Snowshoer
Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2014
Posts: 41
Location: Marquette, MI
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 5:44 am Post subject: Re: Radiator Fan blew apart! |
|
|
| The fan that blew apart was an origional, the passanger side looks new. I bougtht the van last year. As far as the fan resistors I did jump the switch to test the fan speeds and they seemed to be working. I am leaning to the new sensor I put in had something to do with everything. When I get the new radiator hose to replace the cut one I am going to put the old sensor back in and see what happens. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jjvincent
Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2016
Posts: 1422
Location: Bethlehem, PA
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 6:15 am Post subject: Re: Radiator Fan blew apart! |
|
|
| I would log into the ECU and watch the temp. If it's working correct and the gauge is not, then log into the dash and see what codes are there. You can go through a test on the dash to make sure every gauge works. The gauge gets it's info from the ECU via the CAN. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Snowshoer
Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2014
Posts: 41
Location: Marquette, MI
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 6:56 am Post subject: Re: Radiator Fan blew apart! |
|
|
| The scangauge was reading 165-167 water temp on the test drive. I think the new sensor is causing my troubles. I'm going to put the old one back in when I replace the cut hose. How do you test the dash gauges?? I have been relying on the scangauge because the temp gauge on dash was so erratic working sometimes and other times nothing. That is why I tried to replace it. I should have left it alone. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jjvincent
Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2016
Posts: 1422
Location: Bethlehem, PA
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 7:39 am Post subject: Re: Radiator Fan blew apart! |
|
|
I thought you had a VAG-COM. Scan gauge can't do any of that.
165-167 is too cold. Best thing to do is just start the van, let it sit. Feel the upper and lower hose for when the thermostat opens up. Then after that, the fans will kick on once the fan switch in the radiator gets hot enough. The thermostat should open at around 175F. Then the temp should go up to around 190F and then fluctuate as the fans and thermostat cycle. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Snowshoer
Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2014
Posts: 41
Location: Marquette, MI
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 12:54 pm Post subject: Re: Radiator Fan blew apart! |
|
|
| The 165-167 temps was on the test drive with a cold engine, normal temps are usually 176-190. I will get back after it Weds and see what I can come up with and post back. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
gakali
Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2007
Posts: 448
Location: Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 3:02 pm Post subject: Re: Radiator Fan blew apart! |
|
|
Your van is a '99 right? I believe that the sender for the temp gauge and the sender that sends the temp to the ecm use different thermistors. To confuse things even more - different switches are used for the fan control via the big relay block and the ugly green resistors. No ecm control of the fans on our '99 vans. So there are 3 separate units (a brown, a blue, and a yellow I think) that do 5 separate things here. 1 two pin and 2 four pins.
It's also easy to get a wrong part as there are lots of switches/sensors that look and fit the same but have different specs and slightly different part numbers so be careful when replacing.
_________________
Why do it? Because you can.
1999 Eurovan
2003 A4 Avant 1.8T Quattro
1992 W201 190e 2.3 Mercedes
2006 W220 S600 V12 Twin Turbo 5.5 Mercedes |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
