Arrived at work this morning and the 2 fans on the back of the rad in my Fabia vRS won't switch off. They've been on now for nearly an hour. Tried starting and running the engine for a few mins to see if they'd power off through that, but no change.

They seem to go to turn off, but then fire back up again. Just had a service, so all the levels etc should be fine.

Any ideas as to getting them to turn off?

Don't fancy having a flat battery by the time I leave work... :(

Not sure if it would work but you could try unplugging the coolant temperature sensor (if there is one on these engines...)

I'm wondering if it's a result of all the rain from yesterday - drove back through some of the worst rain I've ever encountered... wonder if the water has got into somewhere it shouldn't have.

Hmm... went back to the car for another look and after reading that the fuses for the radiator are in the battery case, I decided to open that for a look. As soon as I popped open the lid, the fans switched off.

I'm wondering if there was some water in there perhaps, and it needs to be dried out.

Will have to keep an eye on it though...

D'oh. Got to the car this afternoon, and even the fob wouldn't unlock it. Had to jump-lead it off of a friend's car. It's in the garage now, waiting to be diagnosed tomorrow, when the battery is charged again.

Had to fill the Scooby up for use... £50 and I bet I don't see much over 230 miles from it. Still, super-unleaded is over 10p per litre cheaper...

To conclude this, in case anyone else suffers a similar issue:

The technicians spotted that the wiring loom for the fans was loose, and had over time, been rubbing against part of the chassis. This had eventually caused the wires to be exposed, and shorted out the system.

Simple fix with a new loom and removal of the slack to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Bit of a result there Mr Pond.

So, just how many metres did you get out of a full tank in the scoob?

Bit of a result there Mr Pond.

So, just how many metres did you get out of a full tank in the scoob?

Well it is weather for swimming rather than driving. 200M? 250M.

I had to drive it sensibly, so managed a whole mile before it started to choke on the remaining fumes...

Slight difference in economy when I got back in the vRS - managed 57.1mpg on the way to work yesterday! I think the Scooby was about 22

Scooby still sounds better though...