Radiator fan switch - temporary override...

[FSARoyster]

Hi folks,

My rad  fan has stopped working.  Bridged the fan switch and the fan kicks in, so from what I've read, this means I need a new fan switch.  Can't get one until Wednesday due to the bank holiday, so was wondering if the following is asking for trouble.

Permanently bridge the fan switch, which will mean the fan runs constantly, once I've got to work remove fuse number 1, fan should stop, pop fuse back in for the drive home.  Or am I way off with this?  I'm concerned I'm going to start a fire or something, my knowledge of electrics is practically zero.

What do you guys think?

It's a Mk1 Golf GTI cabriolet, 8v, E-reg, engine code is DX I think.

Thanks in advance

Rog

[rubjonny]

worst case you'll burn out the fan, if it was me what  would do is keep the fuse pulled untill required, when moving along the fan wont need to cut in anyway its only if you're sitting still the temp will go up. if the temp gets to 3/4 pop the fuse in.

If you wanted to be clever you could wire up a switch, pop it between the fuse terminals with an inline fuse and put it in easy reach

[FSARoyster]

Hey John, how you getting on?  You managed to get your cab on the road yet?  Since you helped me through with the suspension issues, mines been quite good, even though it was only a GSF budget kit (£150ish) I'm quite impressed, only complaint would be that it's a bit harsh, and what with the car being so rattly the harder suspension just makes this worse, but it feels as if it goes around the bends a lot better.  Still got to get a new roof and fit that at some point, replace the whining gear box and put a new clutch in whilst I'm there, other than that I'm really happy, its funny how many looks you get driving a Mk1 cab, especially when you've got the roof down, not sure if they're admiring looks, or just people laughing at me

I love the idea of being clever, but not much chance of that, I'm still learning big time on all this electrical, mechanical, stuff, PC's are my area, and I've even getting out of touch on that front.  Anyway, I guess using the fuse as and when sounds reasonable, but small problem I have with that is, and I still wonder if this normal or not, but the fuse box in the cab is on the passenger side?  So not as easy to access as my Mk2 which is on the drivers side, saying that I'd probably have to get out the car either way so I could see where the hell I'm putting the fuse...

If I have the fan running for the 20 minute drive to work, is that going to do any major damage to anything?  I guess you could be stuck in traffic for longer than that and the fan would run, so I don't see it doing any harm, I just like the experts to point things out I'm completely unaware of

Thanks again

Rog

[rubjonny]

yeah there is that, didnt think of that one!  running it on permanently shouldnt do any harm, as i say just the chance it'll burn out as its running constant rather than in bursts.  it should be alright thouhg unless its on the way out already!

cab has been on the road for the last few months, really fun little car it is.  But now I'm selling it to make way for something cheaper to run over the winter, then I can get my MK2 back on the road for next summer

[FSARoyster]

Pleased you've got to have some fun in yours, up until Friday I've been enjoying mine, but now this is not fun...

Right, filled the res back up, ran the car with the cap off, squeezing pipes and hoping to get out any air that may be trapped. Kept an eye on the lower rad hose and this didn't start to get warm until the temp gauge was half way which makes me think the thermostat is working correctly. Top hose gets too hot to touch eventually. Due to the potential head gasket issue I thought I'd keep an eye on the exhaust as it all warmed up to see if I got lots of water coming out or steam, but all I got was possibly very tiny droplets of what might be water.

Decided to take the car for another test run, noticed the gauge getting towards the top, so put on the internal heater to help take away some heat, this helped, then after a run along a decent bit of road around 60ish, pulled straight over, wanting to have a look under the bonnet and before I got to completely stop a puff of steam came out the res side of the bonnet and a load of hissing, I'm thinking this isn't good. The red temp light never came on, let the car cool to below half way on the gauge refilled with more water and drove home, took another 5 mins and the temp barely got above half way, also kept the heater on full whilst driving.

Before I set out I found a small leak which I think is either coming from the rad or the lower hose that connects to the rad, will jack it up tomorrow and run it so I can confirm, could this be my issue, seems a bit harsh to me, but I'm not the expert obviously.

Any suggestions as to what I should try next? Riding 15 miles to work is going to kill me before the weeks out

Thanks in advance

Rog

[raferackstraw]

hi mate the hissing maybe the reservoir cap, it could be past its best

if your losing pressure from the system it will cause the engine to run hot

you could be losing pressure when your on a run as the engine will be reving usually above 2k and only then will the leak manifest itself
  i had a similar problem and found it was leaking where one pipe was attached to the waterpump,
  the water was getting past the clamp due to crusted coolant on the pump outlet but it only showed when the engine was above 2k, but it caused the system to lose pressure, and run hot
but the engine never overheated
   run the engine above 2k and see if you notice any leaks
i would also change the thermostat for a genuine vw one from a dealer

[FSARoyster]

Morning all,

Thanks for the reply Raferackstraw - I'll rev it up this evening, as I say I've got a drip coming from the lower rad hose, or maybe the rad itself, and the reservoir cap is one of the old black ones.  In the meantime, I've got a replacement water pump (I was given a box of spares when I bought the car), is it silly to just start changing stuff without knowing if its even broken?  I was also wondering if I could stick my Mk2 16v radiator in, just trying to eliminate things?  I'll order a VW thermostat and housing, plus a blue reservoir cap this morning, maybe even order new hoses, as I've noticed when squeezing mine they sound kind of crunchy, not sure if that's ok/normal or a sign of age...

Thanks again

Rog

[raferackstraw]

if you have a drip from lower rad hose when its idling it will only get worse when engine is reving,
eliminate that leak and fit blue reservoir cap before you change water pump. if it turns out to be radiator, the 16v rad is a dual core and should work if the hoses line up ok.
crusty hoses don't sound good, my own are supple with no signs of cracking so it maybe worth changing at some point.
eliminate that leak first cos its causing the system to lose pressure and thereby lowering the boiling point
make sure heater is to hot and heater fan running when your bleeding system
let us know how you get on 

[FSARoyster]

Well Raferackstraw it turned out to be a dead thermostat.  I've picked up a new one, with housing and rubber seal from VW this evening, will fit it over the weekend, annoyingly I forgot to order a blue cap for the expansion tank.  Also had a bit of a deal (I think) decided to get some anti-freeze whilst I was there, they only had the 1.5l bottles at nearly £9 a pop, asked the guy there if there was a bigger bottle, to which he replied yes, its £25 though, I thought not too bad as I paid £21 at halfords for 5 litres for the Mk2 a few months back, anyway, the good deal was that when he returned from out the back it was a 25 litre drum of the stuff!!!!  He did say it was the blue stuff not the red, but its better for the Mk1/2's he reckoned, not sure how true that bit is, but it can't be that bad, or maybe it is, hence he sold it so cheap...

Rog