Can you test an engine cooling fan out of the car?

Post by **scot850** » 24 Mar 2022, 16:50

I removed the engine cooling fan from my 2000 'R' to repair the fan surround which had been damaged a while ago.

Anyway, I have the complete fan assembly out of the car now and before re-fitting it I wanted to test both it and my spare fan unit to see if they are both ok. The current fan motor makes a clicking noise but did run fine prior to removal. I will be really sad to re-fit the unit and the fan does not work for some reason. I tried a jump pack with the ground lead onto the black connector terminal on the outer frame of the fan, and the red/live to the green and red (alternatively) but nothing. I also tried my 4A trickle charger but again nothing. Is it just because I need a lot more power to make it run?

Thanks,

Neil.

Post by **erikv11** » 24 Mar 2022, 17:09

I've definitely successfully tested -98 fans out of the car just using battery voltage and two wires, don't remember exactly where I connected the wires. Sounds suspect if it won't spin up.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forum ... hp?t=35886

Post by **scot850** » 24 Mar 2022, 17:33

I'm wondering if I am just not using enough power. I'll try the battery.

Thanks Erik!

Neil.

Post by **scot850** » 24 Mar 2022, 19:36

I tried to check if the the fan motors to confirm if they are the same but other than Siemens brand name there does not appear to be any part number on them, but according to Volvo Villa website they are all the same back to 93 850.

What is different is that on my 2000 the fan surround is different with a couple of molding differences in the top RH rear of the surround. This holds 2 relays (?) although not sure if that is what they are as there is also the normal fan relay above the radiator as normal.

: Fan support differences; PXL_20220324_215326606.jpg (2.92 MiB) Viewed 1412 times

This is the units that look like they can be added to as they slot into each other:

: Additional fan relays; PXL_20220324_224019365.jpg (2.63 MiB) Viewed 1412 times

They fit into the system with 2 pigtails and connect onto the main power cable from the fan motor.

What I did notice is that on both fan surrounds the short air intake to the ECU/TCU box has a hole in it. Naturally the part is NLA so I have used black gorilla tape on both sides.

Not sure why there should be a hole in this pipe unless it rests against the back of the intercooler and wears a hole in it?

Neil.

454cid · Post by **454cid** » 25 Mar 2022, 02:36

scot850 wrote: ↑24 Mar 2022, 16:50 I tried a jump pack with the ground lead onto the black connector terminal on the outer frame of the fan, and the red/live to the green and red (alternatively) but nothing. I also tried my 4A trickle charger but again nothing. Is it just because I need a lot more power to make it run?

I'm not sure about the jump pack, but modern chargers typically need to see some voltage present already to "turn on", so powering something with them does not work.

Post by **abscate** » 25 Mar 2022, 03:25

Let me know if you need the connectors to split to the fan and I’ll clip them out and send them to you.

My T5 fan froze up from sitting and I had to swap in a spare , tight in the turbo engine room

Post by **scot850** » 25 Mar 2022, 09:31

Even for my lack of electrical knowledge, I just looked up the fuse for the cooling fan. 60A!!! No wonder a 4A charger made no effect on it. I'll have to use a battery to produce enough current as Erik advised!

Neil.

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 25 Mar 2022, 14:00

If you just want to check the fan motor,
your jump pack has plenty of juice.

Just unplug the motor and connect
directly to it. Even if you have reversed
polarity, the worst thing that can happen
is that it will run backwards.

Post by **scot850** » 25 Mar 2022, 14:27

That is what I originally thought. But nothing happened when using the jump pack which claims full charge.

I will pull the battery onto the work bench and run son wires and see what happens. You only die once...............!

Neil.

Post by **scot850** » 25 Mar 2022, 17:29

Pulled the battery and put on my workbench. Found my 2 test cables with clips one end for the battery and small crocodile teeth to connect to whatever. I recall I made these for the last time I was testing the relay and fan in the car.

I also found a perfect cable lug that fitted the female end on the cable positive wires. A crocodile clip clipped firmly to this.

Both fan motors fired up and ran great. The alternate had a slight squeak but then I think the car had been standing for some time before hitting PnP/junkyard. A small squirt of WD40 and it spun up quietly. So now I have a spare 98 turbo fan support and a spare fan motor I don't need. Too late now to return to PnP.

Neil.