Pincher Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 Just been sat in traffic and the coolant temp went through the roof and the 'Stop Check Coolant' warning beeped on the DIS. Checked the fuses under the battery cover and it has melted! Got a replacement blade fuse but it doesn't fit As a temparary measure, I've hooked it back up with some 30A fuse wire until I can get a replacement - should I be driving with this???? Bang goes my trip to Guildford tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidmark Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 Is there coolant in the header tank / bottle thingy ?? are the coolig fans running [now you have replaced the fuse] ......? cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pincher Posted July 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 Plenty of coolant (was only serviced in March) Fans are running at a constant slow speed but pulsing on fast for 5 - 10 seconds every 30 seconds or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy32 Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 Hi Pincher, sounds like you have the dreaded fan problem, its something to do with a resister that fails and then nackers the fuse, it means new fans which should be done under warrenty. I had mine done a while ago it is a common problem on Golfs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R32Ash Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 Does indeed sound like the dreaded fan problem. If it's not under warranty and you're handy with the spanners and soldering iron, apparently there's a fix available whish doesn't require the replacement of the fan/motor units. Instructions are to be found somewhere on uk-mkivs I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattcony Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 Think you ment something like this link, yours links back on its self Ash http://www.uk-mkivs.net/forums/thread/449470.aspx cheers matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R32Ash Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Think you ment something like this link, yours links back on its self Ash http://www.uk-mkivs.net/forums/thread/449470.aspx cheers matt [/ QUOTE ] Oops! Cheers Matt, that's what I was meaning to link to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pincher Posted July 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 Great - sounds like a whole world of aggro. Unfortunately, I'm out of warranty so could be in for a nice bill (I'm no good with a soldering iron!). Thing is, the fans have always been like that (pulsing) ever since I've had it - I guess maybe the extra-warm weather tipped them over the edge to failure. Bugger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rs32 Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 not sure how friendly your dealer is but if it's a well-known problem perhaps you can agree a sensible split on the cost ? would start with a polite enquiry, mentioning you know that it is a common problem and would they be prepared to meet you half way etc etc. Either the service manager or warrantly manager would be a good place to start. Be sure to say you have noticed the pulsing problem for a long while but you never realised it was a serious problem until the fans gave up. if you catch them on a good day, you may get somewhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pincher Posted July 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 Agree with you there - softly, softly, catchee monkey usually works better than going off on one. I'll try the local VW dealer tomorrow and if I get no joy, will call VWCS and explain the situation to them. Just seen a post over on UKMKIV's that someone managed to get a 70% goodwill discount after speaking to Head Office. I think I may be able to use that as a precedent. I'd rather not do the resitor mod as there is no warranty attached to it and I'll probably be outing the car in the near future and would rather let the next owner have a 24 month warranty on any replacement fans (even if it means having to stump up the full amount) Car is dumped on my SIL's driveway at the moment as I'm not sure that having a bit of 30A fusewire in place of a 40A blade fuse is an ideal (short-term) solution, even though the fans are working again, as is the AC. Anyone know if I would do any damage if I were to drive it like that for a few days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TP27 Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 Sorry to hear of your woes Pincher. Seems Geo is having the same issue with his just now. At the Meet last weekend there were all sorts of noises from the fan. Hope VW sort it all out for you. TP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy32 Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 The pulsing fan is the one for the air con, if you turn the air con off you'll be putting less stress on the 30 amp wire you have used, just meens driving with the windows down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pincher Posted July 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Sorry to hear of your woes Pincher. Seems Geo is having the same issue with his just now. At the Meet last weekend there were all sorts of noises from the fan. Hope VW sort it all out for you. TP. [/ QUOTE ] Just one of those things I guess - can't be helped. Having read the thread over on UKMKIV's it's just a bit disappointing that VW don't seem willing to admit to a problem even though they must have replaced hundreds of fans - they'd rather take the £500 a time. Not very good for Customer satisfaction though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pincher Posted July 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 [ QUOTE ] The pulsing fan is the one for the air con, if you turn the air con off you'll be putting less stress on the 30 amp wire you have used, just meens driving with the windows down. [/ QUOTE ] So having it on 'Auto', set at Lo isn't a good idea then Has yours been done Roy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy32 Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 Yep had mine done a while ago, my dealer kept telling me it was a hi precision fan and wasn't until they compared it to another R they agreed there was a problem and then changed them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKLooney Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Anyone know if I would do any damage if I were to drive it like that for a few days? [/ QUOTE ] Not sure if I would leave an underrated fuse wire exposed in the fuse box. There would be a small chance of it overheating and causing a fire hazard if it was overloaded for an extented period of time. Would get a proper fuse asap... 70% goodwill discount sound good, but was labour 70% discounted too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pincher Posted July 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 Presume so - the poster indicated that he paid around £125 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james1978 Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 So if the fans belts on for a couple of secs,Around every 30 secs,Is this a problem.My car (only when the air-con is on),Keeps doing this.But the temp is fine????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pincher Posted July 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 Sounds like it make be a problem. Having read & re-read the thread on UKMkIV's, I think what you need to do is start the car up and make sure that you have the climate set to Auto. Then open the bonnet - the two fans at the front should be on slow all the time. If they then pulse to fast for a short burst then go back to slow, you may have a problem. As far as I am aware, this has always been the case with mine but I just assumed it was normal behaviour. The temp display was always at 90(ish) ever since I bought the car. I am assuming that the hot weather meant that the fans were working harder to compensate and just gave up the ghost eventually. You'll know because the fans stop working altogether, the temp display goes up to the red zone when stationary (comes back down when moving due to airflow though) and one of the blade fuses under the battery cover will be knackered. I'd recommend that anyone with a MkIV (not just R32) checks it out to see what happens as you could be in for a nasty surprise one day I'll post up progress on how I get on although I suspect that I've got a nice bill coming........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R32Ash Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 [ QUOTE ] As far as I am aware, this has always been the case with mine but I just assumed it was normal behaviour. The temp display was always at 90(ish) ever since I bought the car. [/ QUOTE ] I'm pretty sure that the display shows an arbitrary value of '90' for any temperature between a set upper and lower limit. So it'll show 90 whether the coolant sensor is sensing it's 80C or 100C (for example). It only goes up to the red when a threshold is reached. I don't know why it's like that, but I'm almost certain it's true! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazr32 Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 i have heard of this before, it is designed to read an average temp so as not to worry the driver/owner of the vehicle, as the needle could move quite erratically if this setting was not used.no harm is being done to the engine so no need to alter the reading until something goes wrong as is the case with the fan problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbucket Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 FYI - I know from personal experience that if the fans are broken, they will not run at all on the low speed. ie. after putting the aircon to auto the fans will remain completely stationary, then start pulsing from off to high speed and back to off. This causes the fuse on the battery to eventually pop as it subjected to repeated current surges. I find it odd that yours are running on the low speed, but then repeatedly going to high. Mine never goes to high even in the hottest weather? EDIT, thinking about it they do take a while to spin down, so maybe that is what you are seeing when they appear to be on low.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pincher Posted July 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 dogbucket - you've now got me confused (easily done ) I know for a fact that they weren't working yesterday when the temp went through the roof 'cos I had the bonnet up to check the fuses. When I put the fusewire in and started up again, I looked at them and they were definitely spinning. They then spin up to a higher speed and make more noise for a short while before returning back to normal. So they only don't work if the fuse blow. Not sure if this means my fans are knacked or not? Maybe I should just whack a new fuse in and see how I go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy32 Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 The only time the fans should spin fast is when they are cooling the engine i.e when in a traffic jam. When the air con is on they run constantly slow untill the engine requires cooling. If they pulse in any way then they are faulty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pincher Posted July 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 OK - so mine are definitely fecked - thanks for being the bearer of such joyous news Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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