Fixing PO's Wacky Radiator Fan Wiring

[thebigben]

Hey all,

Taking a stab at fixing some wacky wiring the van's previous owner did. My guess is that the radiator fan switch failed at some point, and instead of fixing, they wired the radiator fan directly to the rear blower switch to turn it off and on manually. The fan also immediately cuts out once the car is turned off.

I recently had a cooling overhaul done, and they replaced the radiator fan switch. They want $400 more to rewire the fan back to factory, and I'd rather tackle this myself.

I also have Small Car Dash A/C.

Any pointers for where to start?
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Ben

'85 2WD Westy w/ Peloquin TBD + 2.2 Subi (Kurt Vannegut)

[markswagen]

i'd buy a complete wiring harness for the radiator fan, and just replace it.
it's pretty much a stand alone harness, it integrates in a couple of spots.
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markswagen {mobile mechanic} san diego area all early VW's cared for.

619 201 0310

[wesitarz]

I don't have A/C. I rewired the slow fan to come on manually with A/C switch. This was done with a simple rewire at the resistor behind the headlight. There is a thread from years ago where I detailed my how to. It's probably in a thread about rad fan/resistor wiring. You could check there at the resistor. Use the Bentley wiring diagram and be aware there is a wire color error in the Bentley at least for my year 88. I recall testing which wires did what before making a simple change.
To future owners of my van, my hacks have worked for 20+ years so quit your bitchin' about me.

[rogertj]

85 is diferent from 88, my 85 does not have the resistor behind the drivers side headlight dont know if thats the same case as the year of the vanagon stated on the owner of this post is 85 in the signature
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Roger
Had a Carbureted ABA after engoing the heck out of it now going for ABA 2.0 Jetta EFI ill put a garrett in to the tin can later or maybe go electric?
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[MarkWard]

To simplify integrating my Vintage air to the radiator cooling fan, I went in a different direction. I wired my radiator fan switch to complete grounds for relays that ran the fan on low or high. This way I was able to use the trinary ac switch to also complete grounds for the same relays. It also made wiring the relays easier.
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[leecat]

I just pulled the radiator harness from an '85 yesterday. Super simple stand-alone harness, as Markswagen stated.

(Note this harness has the 'early' 'tall 43' relay that pegs the temp gauge on top of flashing the oil light when you are low on coolant)

Nightmare to route this with the dash in, gravy job with the dash out.

I'd consider scraping up a harness and just installing it complete - maybe a 10 minute job tops ONCE the dash is out.

[thebigben]

Thanks for all the suggestions — looking to see if I can find a complete harness, and figuring out what other tasks I should add if I end up pulling the dash

[rogertj]

BigBen if there's no continuity in the cable youre going to have to change as far as working on it without moving the dash, it can be done but I think I removed the instrument cluster but even then it was a little hard to get to the relays. So maybe yeah it's better to move the dash, those suckers are hard to get
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Roger
Had a Carbureted ABA after engoing the heck out of it now going for ABA 2.0 Jetta EFI ill put a garrett in to the tin can later or maybe go electric?
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[MarkWard]

When adding or modifying wiring, I like to use Bosch 40 amp fog light relays. They are affordable and have mounting brackets.

If you are using a 2 speed radiator fan, you'll need to get a little creative. Or you may want to add an auxiliary radiator fan.

Here is the problem you could run into. Unless it's very cold outside, you really need air movement across the condenser as soon as the compressor is on. Using a trinary switch, and a 2 speed fan, you won't have that luxury unless you use the high speed of the radiator fan, which is a little overkill.

I installed a later 3 speed radiator fan setup, which simplified some of the function.
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