Radiator fan problem.

[bam87]

Hi Guys, having a problem with the radiator fan not turning off when i turn the cars ignition off. I have to physically pop the bonnet and disconnect the plug to the fan. Any idea's on what to do to fix this??? (I have already looked at my fuse box, and its not wet or fried). Ironically this happened wed last week when there was massive downpour.

VW Golf 1990, GTI.

Cheers, Blake

[ryana89]

Straight out of a Bentley Workshop Manual for this model car.....

"On some models with gasoline engines, a cooling fan after run system, operated by a control unit on the fuse/relay panel, runs the cooling fan for as long as 15 minutes after the engine is shut off, as a guard against starting problems which may be caused by high engine compartment temperatures".

Its normal, and a feature many older European cars have.

[walshydub]

Straight out of a Bentley Workshop Manual for this model car.....

"On some models with gasoline engines, a cooling fan after run system, operated by a control unit on the fuse/relay panel, runs the cooling fan for as long as 15 minutes after the engine is shut off, as a guard against starting problems which may be caused by high engine compartment temperatures".

Its normal, and a feature many older European cars have.

Yep, he's right they all do it. All my Mk2's have done it from a 1.3 to 16V GTI
You are probably doing more harm by disconnecting the fan...

[RedMk2Gti]

I don't 100% believe that, if the fan keep running up to 15 minutes after the engine is stopped something must be wrong. The longest that I've seen in my car is about 1.5 minutes.

[walshydub]

Mine can run for up to 5 minutes on really hot days. Sometimes it runs for a minute or 2, stops for a few seconds the starts up again for a few more minutes. It's never bothered me as all my MK2's have done it.
15 minutes would be a little extreme but the fan would keep running until it got the temp down to a level where it would automatically shut off.
I don't think it is anything to worry about but unless it keeps on running without ever switching off.

[ryana89]

Its the job of a little sensor in the back of the engine bay (near the manifold) that decides when the fan run on feature is engaged or not, according the the Bentley Bible.

I think 15 minutes might be possible if the car has been red lined or been doing extremely hard work for the past 5 minutes and if the outside temp is high (say in the 40's)

[brad]

The others are right but if it runs beyond 15 minutes then the sensor is probably dead. IIRC, on failure, the circuit is closed. I guess they figure you are better off with a flat battery instead of an overheated engine.

[bam87]

Hi guys, i knew that the fan usually ran after the car was switched off, mine used to only cool for about 2mins then switch off, but as brad said, it ran my car dead. i have tried letting it run to switch itself off but the fan just keeps running unfortunately. Anyone know what it cost to fix/replace the sensor?

[ryana89]

GermanAutoParts.com



Around $20 or maybe hit Golf Loon with a PM.
Sorry for assuming it was the run-on and telling you stuff you already know.
Hope I didn't come off as a smart asss.

[bam87]

Nah mate no offense taken, any information is better then no information. Cheers for the info. It is highly appreciated!

[Munch]

I have a 1991 Mk2 Golf GTi 8V. Genuine Australian.

I have a loose, spare wire near the ignition coil and believe it should be attached to the radiator after run switch.

The problem is, I can't find the switch????

The wire is brown with an OEM female spade connector with OEM rectangular insulating shroud.
It also has black insulation over the brown wire. Everything points to it being OEM.

The wire is attached to the external side of the main engine loom and separates near the ignition coil.

There is about 8" of wire, but for the life of me I can't find anything for it to connect to?????


HELP!!!!!

[Munch]

[Munch]

[sports racer]

I don't have any wire like that on mine but I do have a lot of wires that aren't connected. I've even got doubled up plugs for the front indicators and parking lights that aren't connected.

My radiator fan used to work fine before I did a gearbox swap. After the swap I plugged all the wires back where they were supposed to go but the fan kept going for 10 minutes when I turned off the ignition. I bypassed some of the wiring and now it works normal but I've got at least 3 connections that aren't plugged.

Everything works so I'll leave it like that.