Hi,

 

Newbie to the forum - hi.  I have a UK 2006 Fabia 1.4, 100bhp (BBZ?).  Can someone identify please whether these two parts should be connected and what they are?  They look like they should be.  I had a recent bump into a ditch at the front (it's a rally car) and it may have disconnected these two - perhaps as I pulled all the earth out from under the engine!  I wondered if they relate to the fans as only one of the fans (nearside) seems to be coming on at a temp of around 98-99 degrees.  My Haynes manual suggests that fan 1 (the offside one?) should come on at 91-97 degrees, which is not the case.  I can't see in the manual what this connector is for.

 

This is looking down (the fan shroud is the large black part) and then also through the driver's side wheel arch.  The car has a sump guard.  Air con has been removed.  I've not tried just plugging them together as I'd need to get the car on a ramp to get the sump guard off.

 

 

Many thanks, Jon

The last picture shows your A/C compressor, so it's the wiring to that, I think.

The radiator fans should always come on together, so it looks like you have some faults with one or both of those.

Check fuses first, but there's a common fault involving the internal low-speed resistors inside the fan. For a 2006 car I think the smaller fan will only be single speed, so that rules out the internal resistor. 

I'll tell you which fuses to check shortly.

 

 

 

Ah, interesting about the a/c, maybe that's been disconnected intentionally? (I bought the car prepped by the previous owner, who removed the a/c - or at least, there are no controls in the car to operate it!)

The fuses, I think, for your car will be strip fuse no.3 in the battery-top fuseholder with a red/black wire coming from it, for high speed fan action (sounds like this is all yours may be doing), and blade fuse no. 8 for the first speed,  further over under a cover (30-Amp one). Check blade fuse no. 9 while you are there (5 Amp).

Edited 16 March, 20206 yr by Wino

Thanks.  The strip fuses look ok. The box to the side is a little grubby and I'm having trouble opening it, so will try that later (got to do something else briefly right now).  Thanks again.

No worries.

Here's a link to a guide for DIY repair of the low-speed fan resistor fault, should it be useful:

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/404143-radiator-fan-repair-courtesy-of-vortex-here-and-uk-mkiv-forum/

 

I found this wiring diagram in the downloaded service manual

S180 is fuse 8 atop the battery

F18 are the radiator fan thermoswitches, one temp dependent switch in one (for the smaller fan?), two temp dependent switches in the other (for the bigger fan?)

V7 are the fans.

If I'm reading this correctly it suggests just the one fuse for both speeds?

Fuse 3 (S164) appears to be power-steering related.

 

Though underneath the diagram it says 'Thermoswitch and radiator fan vary according to optional equipment (does not apply to models with air conditioning)'

That's the non-A/C wiring diagram, completely different.

ha! ok 😃

This diagram with my annotations may help more, feel free to ask questions though;

 

I checked both pairs of 30A and 5A fuses under the cover on top of the battery and all seem ok.

I have noticed the offside fan has some damage and is not spinning freely, compared to the other,  Could this be the cause of it not running at all?

Pic and video of damage:

 

 

Yes, it's likely that the motor is kaput, try running it straight from the battery to see if it spins under power.

Is it the blades catching the cowling?

Yes, it's rubbing as I try and spin it round.

How to try and run it direct from the battery?  Wires from the battery to....? 

There's a pair of rectangular 3-way connector pairs ( one for each fan) near the lower radiator hose. You could try powering straight into the fan side of the appropriate one of those. Need to clear the mechanical obstructions first really for it to be worthwhile.

I guess it clearly needs replacing anyway, so maybe not worth the hassle.  Thanks.

Ok to drive a little with just the bigger fan, do you think? (I had it idling for 45 mins or so until the second fan came on at 98 deg ish)

 

As for the topic title, I guess that can stay disconnected as I don't have functioning a/c.

Yep, no problem, the little fan only really reqd when aircon is in use, and if (and it may not be the case) the low speed of the main fan isn't working, it'll just cut in and out of full speed as reqd. 

Can test both speed functions  of the main fan by shorting the pins of the thermoswitch connector, unplugged from the thermoswitch. 

Switch on ignition, then short the brown wire pin to each of the others in turn. One should bring the main fan on at low speed, the other at full speed.  Access isn't peachy though, and keep fingers/hands clear of the blades!

 

Edit: Use a thickish wire for the pin shorting and don't be alarmed by biggish sparks.  The fans take quite large inrush currents as they spool up.

Did you check fuse 9 on the battery?

Edit2: actually a thin wire will do fine, and sparking will be minimal here as it's only the relay coil current, not fan start-up current. Fuse 9 is the ignition 12V feed for the high speed relay

 

Edited 17 March, 20206 yr by Wino

Great to know.  Let's see if I can identify the thermoswitches   (may get a chance tomorrow when it's daylight again)

 

Yep, fuses 8 & 9 (well, all 30A and 5A ones) checked on top of the battery, and they looked ok.

39 minutes ago, jonmad said:

Great to know.  Let's see if I can identify the thermoswitches   (may get a chance tomorrow when it's daylight again)

 

 

Can't miss it, single package with twin thermoswitches inside, three-way electrical connector onto it, a few centimetres above bottom rad hose.

If you're unlucky, the release tab for the connector is in an awkward orientation.  Push connector firmly onto thermoswitch while releasing tab to remove friction that otherwise makes it stick. Once you hear it click open, then pull connector.

Access probably better from below.

What's interesting is one damaged fan doesn't explain why the other one isn't coming on until 98 degrees.

Where are you getting such a precise temperature from?

According to this page (second item 6), the first stage switch should come on at 95°C which is pretty close to your number, and may well be what the bottom of the radiator is at when the head is at 98?

https://volkswagen.7zap.com/en/rdw/polo+derby+vento-ind/po/2003-253/9/959-959052/#6

(that's a VW page, but same switch I'm fairly sure)

Car Scanner app with a bluetooth OBDII dongle.  I can't remember whether it was 98 or 99 and the fan only came on for a few seconds, but then I was parked on my driveway revving it only to 1500rpm or so.

 

This is from my Haynes manual.  I read it as the second speed not cutting in until 99, and that's when the main fan kicked in for me, but from your description it could have been the first speed cutting in, at the top of the range it quotes here?

Edited 16 March, 20206 yr by jonmad

Test by shorting loom connector pins as described above.