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Thread: Electric Cooling fan turning the wrong way

  1. #1
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    Electric Cooling fan turning the wrong way

    I have a 300 TDI that has had constant cooling problems (2 head gaskets so far). I have replaced the pump, thermostat and viscous fan, just in case, and had the radiator flushed (no, not rodded yet). I also have some ancillary temp gauges installed (at the thermostat, in head on the exhaust side between cyls 2 and 3, and in the hose to from the Rad to the pump) just to keep and eye on things. Its better but still not rock solid.

    Today I looked at the right hand electric fan, and it is turning the wrong way - blowing air forward towards the grill! The left is doing what I expect, blowing through the condenser. I checked the wiring and nothing funny there (brown wire on pin 1 in connector C182 is +12V). Bench tested the unit and the fan continues to blow the wrong way. The fan blades can only go on one way so it all looks to spec (except the air direction).

    Has anyone ever seen this sort of thing?

  2. #2
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    Try reversing the polarity, that should make the fan spin in the opposite direction
    You only get one shot at life, Aim well

    2004 D2 "S" V8 auto, with a few Mods gone
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by trout1105 View Post
    Try reversing the polarity, that should make the fan spin in the opposite direction
    Doing that will cause it to rotate in the other direction,but be carefull that the blades are cupping the air,which will be the correct blade rotation.
    Paul

    D2,D2,D2a,D4,'09 Defender 110(sons), all moved on.

    '56 S1,been in the family since...'56
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    Polarity Reversed

    Yes reversing the polarity was the obvious answer, and I have done that; but the question in my head is how did it get like that? I seems the fan itself was incorrectly wired so it may have been like that since the car was built.

    The temperature gauges now show nice consistent readings, though when stressed (3rd gear hill climb) the temp crept up to 102C - but even then the fans were not engaged.

    Regards,
    Late Again.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by LateAgain View Post
    Yes reversing the polarity was the obvious answer, and I have done that; but the question in my head is how did it get like that? I seems the fan itself was incorrectly wired so it may have been like that since the car was built.

    The temperature gauges now show nice consistent readings, though when stressed (3rd gear hill climb) the temp crept up to 102C - but even then the fans were not engaged.

    Regards,
    Late Again.
    3rd gear up the hill with A/C on and you got the 102°C ??
    (auto or manual?)

    I was having similar heating up issues, only that mine(auto) was getting up to close to 120°C.
    Now I can see 100°C with A/C on, and usually not more than about 83-85 on a hot day(~30-35 is ambient) up a hill, third, struggling to sit at about 60-80 k/h.

    What exhaust temps do you get?

    Last summer, I mucked about with various settings for fuelling and it helped.. eg. try to keep EGT down to a maximum of 600°C, but then it just had zero power.
    So I tweaked it back to where I can just max it out to 700°C .. and just manage it myself with the right foot, ie. try to manage it to more like 650 or less if possible.
    But then I removed the grille, and it not only dropped coolant temps on a hot day to the low 90's with the A/C on .. it also dropped EGT by a minimum 50°C too .. so I tweaked IP back to get a bit more power.

    Another thing to be mindful of, is the condition of the exhaust .. or more specifically the mufflers(if you still have both fitted). If one or both are blocked up due to age, or just rusted a little inside, then you get more exhaust temp, and hence hotter head = hotter coolant.

    As for the reversed A/C fan, most likely reason is that someone previously must have changed/replaced/fixed that fan, and just got the wiring wrong. Have you had the D1 since new, do you know all it's history.. etc.?
    Arthur.

    '99 D1 300Tdi Auto
    '03 D2 Td5 Auto

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    To respond to a number of Arthur's questions :
    Its a manual, so 3rd gear almost full boar up hill at 70Km/h, a/c on, for a climb of about 2-3 Km sent it to 102C.

    Exhaust temps didn't get above 600C - but up the hill, with reasonably high revs kept the EGT below 500C.

    I have seen a number of references to removing the grill but I have a pair of 7'' Hella spot lights sitting in front of the grill and folding them flat (i.e pointing to the sky) didn't make any difference on another recent trip (prior to finding the fan). So I do wonder about whether air flow would make that much of a difference to my Disco.

    As for service history and how it got to be like this: I have only owned this a a couple of years, but the wiring is correct polarity at the fan connector, and from the connector to the motor does not look to have ever been disturbed. I had thoughts about the fan start capacitors failing or some such, but there is no hesitation in the way the motor starts, so I doubt that is the case.

    Regards,
    Late Again

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by LateAgain View Post
    To respond to a number of Arthur's questions :
    Its a manual, so 3rd gear almost full boar up hill at 70Km/h, a/c on, for a climb of about 2-3 Km sent it to 102C.

    Exhaust temps didn't get above 600C - but up the hill, with reasonably high revs kept the EGT below 500C.

    I have seen a number of references to removing the grill but I have a pair of 7'' Hella spot lights sitting in front of the grill and folding them flat (i.e pointing to the sky) didn't make any difference on another recent trip (prior to finding the fan). So I do wonder about whether air flow would make that much of a difference to my Disco.

    .....
    100°C with A/C on at full bore .. basically what mine does too.
    But when I took the grille off, dropped the temps, on the same hill, basically 30 mins later(took about that to return down, stop, remove grille, to do the test run again) .. dropped coolant temp to mid 90's.

    When I got my D1, it came with large Cibie rectangle spot/flood lights. Worked ok. replaced with a very slimline LED bar. Made no difference to coolant temps tho.
    So I think(guess/hypothesis) is that the grille itself is a major restriction to flow through to the rad .. going by what I've tested so far.
    That is, because the grille restricts the air flow by a certain amount, spotties don't make as much a difference.
    In effect the lightbar was wasted money, bought thinking it'd help with coolant temps .. but I do prefer it's light over the Cibies, so not totally wasted.

    Other things I've tried: I've removed the fan shroud. Reason is of my own stupidity .. I broke mine trying to remove it once. Been sitting in yard having been epoxied(close to 18months or more now).
    Made no difference whether it's on or off. I now leave it off, due to the fact it makes no difference.
    On my D1, the fan makes little difference in everyday running.
    Over winter with fan on or off, I get 80-83°C coolant running around town, stuck in traffic, or driving the freeway run to work and back.
    Only above 18°C ambient do I see high 80's with the fan off.
    Only time fan on/off makes a difference is running up a hill at highway speeds(ie. engine under some load). Up a hill up to about 60k/h with fan off, makes no difference(maybe a degree or two).

    But with A/C on, I get roughly similar running to your 102°C under load .. so give or take some variance in gauge and or sensor .. from what I've read, and seen myself so far, I reckon this seems to be about par.

    My next test(when I get a chance) is to replace original copper rad, with an aluminium rad I got ages ago. Looking inside the rads, the aluminium rad has much larger fin tubing .. maybe 2x the width as the copper core rad.
    I'm hoping these larger tubes will help with cooler running with A/C on.
    Other thing I'm keen to try is a Saudi grille mod. I don't want to chop mine up, just in case it makes no difference, so one day I'll find a decent second hand grille, chop out the centre bars and replace with 10x10 steel mesh to make a Saudi type grille.
    These Saudi grilles are rare as hens teeth for D1, a little more common for D2, and going by some experience from some members, it seems to help.

    With A/C off, mine doesn't doesn't budge off it's normal 80-83°C tho!
    So all my efforts are to be sure that if I ever need the A/C, for example on a dusty fast-ish road or track, I can use it for hours on end if needed.

    On out trip to the VHC last week, in slow arduous offroading, I didn't use A/C, and hence I didn't get a lot of dust in car.
    But once we hit some faster 40k/h tracks, dust was unbearable in the sense that food/clothes .. everything was totally covered in dust(which I hate).
    Luckily the faster dusty tracks drives were short, I managed temps by turning A/C on/off when required, but kept vents on recirc, and just put up with it.
    Arthur.

    '99 D1 300Tdi Auto
    '03 D2 Td5 Auto

  8. #8
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    Assuming there were no other vehicles in front of you stirring up the dust it would be better to have the fan ON bringing fresh air in the front & PRESSURISING the interior so dust wouldn't enter through door & window seals however if there were other vehicles in front then it would be worse.

    Discovery's have two exhaust vents under the rear bumper ends which you can feel good airflow from by putting your hand underneath with fan on High speed.

    Works for me.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4bee View Post
    Assuming there were no other vehicles in front of you stirring up the dust it would be better to have the fan ON bringing fresh air in the front & PRESSURISING the interior so dust wouldn't enter through door & window seals ....
    Actually, very surprising, my D1 is in very good to excellent condition.
    Part of that are door seals that actually seal, same with window seals, same with rear door seal.
    Deepest water crossing came up half way up the door, an I was sure I'd get some leakage into the cabin floor .. none!
    Did have both car in front sometimes(my brother), but I'd stay back maybe 1 or more km to allow dust to settle.
    More so it was other vehicles coming the other way. driving into their dust trails, hard to see and the obvious dust into vehicle issue.
    Arthur.

    '99 D1 300Tdi Auto
    '03 D2 Td5 Auto

  10. #10
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    On out trip to the VHC last week, in slow arduous offroading, I didn't use A/C, and hence I didn't get a lot of dust in car.
    But once we hit some faster 40k/h tracks, dust was unbearable in the sense that food/clothes .. everything was totally covered in dust(which I hate).
    Luckily the faster dusty tracks drives were short, I managed temps by turning A/C on/off when required, but kept vents on recirc, and just put up with it.


    So how come everything got covered in dust?

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