[Bimmer84]

So when I took my golf in to get the cat put on. I had the mechanic look it over (I took it to a privately owned Volkswagen/Porsche/Audi mechanic) and he said everything looks good on it except my 2nd fan.

Seeing as I am a new VW guy. I have no clue what he is talking about but he said that my golf has two fans. one of them wasn't working and that I should have it replaced if I want to use my A/C. He said it would cost $500+ to replace it. I told him not to worry about replacing it (because I want to).

I did some research and is this what he was talking about needing to be replaced?
VDO® FA70262 - Dual Fan Assembly | O'Reilly Auto Parts
If so, how easy are they to replace? I found the replacement section in my Chilton's book about the radiator but nothing specific about the fan. Just to remove and reinstall it to replace the radiator.

 

[Shameless]

taking off the rad clip is a really simple process.

You may need more diagnosis than this. It may not even be the fan but a fan switch or something. You should unplug the fan and use your chilton to power the fan with a battery or something, see if it will spin with power. Then you know the fan works and it's something else.

 

[Bimmer84]

ok cool.

Do I need to replace both the fans as an assembly or just the one that doesn't work?

 

[Shameless]

that looks like an assembly so I'd imagine both.

 

[Bimmer84]

well I need to do some investigation but I was curious about something. When you are looking down at the fans from the front of the car, it is the right fan that doesn't turn on with the A/C unit.

Should I not use my A/C? I am not exactly sure what the second fan does.

 

[Shameless]

The A\C condenser is actually in front of the radiator. You a/c will work with a second fan not firing just you won't get very cold air because it can't cool the gas inside very well, which will slow the amount of liquid you have available to depressurize to create the chilling effect..

The second fan just brings more air through the radiator and ultimately to the condenser, not only when the A/C is on but this is also the cars way of cooling down the coolant system when it peaks into the 3/4 to over heating range. So it's important that you replace the fan with or without A/C.

 

[Bimmer84]

The A\C condenser is actually in front of the radiator. You a/c will work with a second fan not firing just you won't get very cold air because it can't cool the gas inside very well, which will slow the amount of liquid you have available to depressurize to create the chilling effect..

The second fan just brings more air through the radiator and ultimately to the condenser, not only when the A/C is on but this is also the cars way of cooling down the coolant system when it peaks into the 3/4 to over heating range. So it's important that you replace the fan with or without A/C.

Thanks for the info. I plan on replacing the whole fan system after I test it and make sure that is the culprit but I am just curious if it was bad to run my A/C in the mean time.

 

[Bimmer84]

so I did a little more research on my fan problem and I have found so many opinions. This is the problem:

When I turn my car on, neither fan works. When I turn the ac on. The passenger fan works and the driver side doesn't work. I read on another forum and someone said to see if I can "push start" the fan with my finger and see if get it started but it doesn't. It actually had slight resistance after moving about 3 inches. Then it gets tough to turn all together.

I am assuming that when I push either fan, they both should spin freely (assuming the engine isn't running). I am also assuming that when I turn the A/C on, both fans will start up immediately. Am I safe in my assumptions. This pretty much leads me to my first troubleshooting step...

 

[jessabug]

You can replace just the fan that doesn't work. I've done just that in two of my cars. Got the fan from German Auto Parts and got it replaced. Works like a charm now. And yes, the fans should both turn pretty easy by hand. If one isn't its time to replace it.

But just in case you want to do more troubleshooting, this is a good resource for how-to's for troubleshooting the fans: Check your radiator/condenser fan operation NOW - TDIClub Forums

 

[Bimmer84]

thanks Jessabug. That had all the info I needed.

 

[Bimmer84]

So I followed the suggestions and all the info from my Chilton's book and I jumped both the passenger and driver side fans. The passenger fan works just fine at both hi and low speeds. I couldn't get the driver side fan to run at all in hi or low speeds. Looks like my fan is bad. It may not only be the fan but I know where to start.

I found a replacement fan on autopartswarehouse.com I am curious if anybody knows of any other parts websites or anywhere I can purchase JUST the drivers side fan instead of the whole fan system. I tried the search button but with all the threads, PARTS is quite a common word.

Thanks in advance.

Oh yea. I am not worried about having a stock replacement if someone wants to point me in the direction of something aftermarket

 

[fukn_dubn_gti]

jessabug said she got hers from german auto parts.

if im not mistaken the drivers fan only kicks on when the car hits running temp.. mine seems to only turn on when its warm out and i have the car hot hot hot.

 

[Bimmer84]

That could be true but wouldn't it still come on (assuming it worked) if I jumped it straight to the battery?

 

[Burned]

yes. I broke down in arkansas (living in knoxville at the time heading to texas) due to my temp sensor failing. I ended up rigging the fans to the battery with a wire i got off a passer by at a gas station.

 

[jessabug]

I think most of the good vw parts sites will have single fans. German Auto Parts for sure does, as I got mine from there. Partsgeek.com also has them. ECS Tuning probably does, but I don't recall. Also check 1stvwparts.com and autohausaz.com.

 

[fukn_dubn_gti]

yes. if wired directly to battery.. you would bypass the switch and yes. would run.

 

[Bimmer84]

Thanks Fukn, I kind of figured it would.