Check your radiator/condenser fan operation NOW

ymz said:

You should be able to do this yourself in less than an hour... someone who does this regularly should be able to do it in far less... You'll need the correct Torx bit, and disconnecting the wires may prove a challenge if you haven't been down there before, but... Try http://www.autopartsway.ca/ for the pricing on a replacement fan... (If you have a New Beetle, then things get a bit more expensive...) Or else, just drop in on Brandon...

Yuri

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thanks, today was extremely tough without turning on the A/C, as I now know that only my little fan works. It says on the website, part cost about $90, and is a half'n hour job, I will call to get some quotes from Brandon anyways for my 1.8T that requires some work as well.

GD said:

Please post back your results as I think I have the same symptoms

Thx

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Glad you got yours working.

My rad fans do come on when ac is switched on but power to the compressor is intermittent.

OK, sounds like first step is to get the fans working. Not sure it should be cycling so fast at idle (Several seconds on, several seconds off) but until I have the fans going good, further diagnosis is likely a bit pointless. I may throw the manifold gauges on just to see.

Also appeared to be some noise came from the engine bay a couple of times when I was stopped in traffic after being on the interstate. Hard to classify but almost like something making a noise when the clutch was engaged. I turned the AC off for a couple of minutes and it seemed to clear up. May have been someone else's car though (I've had that before)

Well, I just put the gauges on. Bear in mind these are HF specials.

Resting pressure was off the scale on LP and at 130 on HP. Engine bay was still warm from earlier exertions so nothing too worrying there.

At idle, LP was 45-50, HP was somewhere around 300-350. Compressor was engaged continuously, even after running for a while (It has cooled down from earlier). Put some pedal down to around 2krpm and the cut in/out started to happen. Hard to get a measurement from the gauge but the HP was up near 450.

So looks like it definitely needs both fans. And without them, it hammers the compressor pretty hard, in something like a 10 second on, 10 second off cycle. That can't be good for it. I was thinking of making the fans an "every oil change" check but I think the "every fill up" suggestion is more reasonable. At the *very* least, it's something to check before you put the AC on for the first time coming out of winter.

As for the old AC, I don't have an plans to head to SC but if I hear of someone or you know someone around TN, let me know. I wonder if I could put a travel bug on it

I'll also take a look when I have the fan apart. It might be possible to make an epoxy casting of the brush holder for those who've had theirs burn out. Presuming mine haven't of course. Mind you, at 170k, Iwouldn't be surprised if the brushes have worn all the way out anyway.

I would not run it any more, until you had the fans working. You are bouncing on the high pressure cutout. If it ever fails, then you will blow your safety valve on the compressor.

DanG144 said:

You are welcome. Glad you found it.

Dadgum mice.

Are you saying your cabin fan is not blowing? or that it is blowing warm air?

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It was blowing warm air. I took it back to the AC shop today, the tech mumbled something about a sticky valve or regulator or something; I don't remember. Anyhow the AC is now blowingvery cool air but not cold air, well not as cold as it used to be. I'm going to call him back tomrrow since he was only in for a few hours today.

Note what it does when your engine is cold. If it blows cold air then, and warms up as your engine warms up, then it is probably a temperature mixing door sticking - the thing your red and blue knob is supposed to operate on a cable.

If it never gets cold then it could be either the TXV sticking or the internal compressor displacement control valve.

Is this fan, part. no. 6X0-959-455-C-M36 the same fan as 1J0959455F? Just want to be certain before ordering because it's not returnable.

Also, because my fan's motor burned out, do you think I'll also have to replace the control module?

Thank you.

Also, has anyone ever bought from here:

http://www.volkswaparts.com/1J0959455FRadiatorFan.htm

I like the fan price, but would like feedback.

sooner said:

Is there a correlation factor or relationship using this method.?

"Use Safety Pin, check correlation of high pressure to G65 % duty cycle. If correlation is bad (say 10% error?) then replace the G65 sensor."

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Look in post #1. There is a link to a table that correlates pressures, temperatures and G65 readings.

Obviously you have to have a high pressure gauge and a meter capable of reading duty cycle to check the correlation.

Mass. Wine Guy said:

Is this fan, part. no. 6X0-959-455-C-M36 the same fan as 1J0959455F? Just want to be certain before ordering because it's not returnable.

Also, because my fan's motor burned out, do you think I'll also have to replace the control module?

Thank you.

Click to expand...

Can someone help with the part number check? I am not able to help.
Dan

Called a few guys, Say it will cost between $180-$240 to fix it, and 1.5 hour labour. Can't seem to find Brandon's number.

Mass. Wine Guy said:

Is this fan, part. no. 6X0-959-455-C-M36 the same fan as 1J0959455F? Just want to be certain before ordering because it's not returnable.

Also, because my fan's motor burned out, do you think I'll also have to replace the control module?

Thank you.

Also, has anyone ever bought from here:

http://www.volkswaparts.com/1J0959455FRadiatorFan.htm

I like the fan price, but would like feedback.

Click to expand...

The listing states the applications, as for the cross reference what is the 303 # , not dealt with this supplier.
What are the meter readings on the burned out fan.

DanG144 said:

A4 fan troubleshooting

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Fantastic write-up, saved me $$hundreds. Thanks for the assist as I now have AC and it cost me less than $10. When's the last time anyone has had AC repairs for under ten bucks?

I thought my Beetle had a bad fan controller as the 30 amp cooling fan fuse was not blown. It was however stuck in place. After using a big pair of pliers and mangling the fuse to get it out, I found the problem. The fuse was burnt on one of the tabs, just as you described.

I unscrewed all the nuts on the blade connectors and marked the order of the fuses and wires. I then to removed the single hot wire lead to the top of the battery terminal to pull the entire blade fuse assembly for cleaning. The two halves separate pretty easily with a thin bladed screwdriver to reveal the connections for the three 30 amp fuses. I cleaned all these connections with 320 grit sandpaper, re-aligned the bent tabs, and gave all the metal parts a light coating of wd-40.

I then assembled everything everything, recharged the AC (Walmart $7.27 a can), and replaced all the 30 amp fuses with new ones (Walmart - $1.38 for five) and was back on the road in my little AC capsule beating the 98 degree humidity here in Houston.

jdross440 said:

Picked up TYC fan assembly yesterday (cost 135). Installed it last night. Works great. Before installing I hooked up the old unit (passenger side fan) to battery and then the new unit. The new one puts out more air. Also the new one is made out of heavier plastic (including shroud), weighs more and is a much better molding). It also has a rubber divider strip down the center that the Advance unit didn't have. I will take the Advance unit back for a refund on my way home.

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Fans are working great. Found out Rock Auto also sells this fan assembly for $123.79 + shipping.

Fan apart

Well, I got the fan apart. Brushes look to be in good shape along with the commutator. Looks like the brush holders melted very slightly, causing the brushes to be held in place. No telling how long it's been like this. Think I'll just give the holders a clean up with some very fine grit emery cloth so they slide freely. Does anyone think there's any lubricant worth trying with these? maybe some of that graphite stuff you use for locks?

Holy moly, wife calls me today from out of town and says the A/C is not working right, she starts up the car after it was parked (middle of day, hot as heck) and says the A/C is not blowing real cold and not blowing as much as it should inside. Says it got colder as she drove down the road. I checked this tonight and find that the driver side fan (03 Golf) is NOT working with the key off test. Started it and seemed to blow pretty cold for just idling, but it's also 9:30 and considerably cooler than 4 pm would have been. Had the whole system replaced this time last year so it is fairly new (maybe I should have known this THEN)...I'll check the fuse links tomorrow and see what gives with that driver side fan, but I won't operate the A/C without it...

Both fans appear to be the identical unit. Only the numbers changed.

How does one recharge the A.C. themselves? Is it very hard?

any one have any ideas for ac cutting in and out on a 98 jetta? I was told it is probably my fan control module, anyone have a diagram of where it is on a 98?

Just call me two-fan-freddy.

Reassembled and tested the larger fan the reinstalled. key in/engine off/ac on and both fans are turning (yay). Fired up the engine with fan speed 1. HP at 270 psi. Fan to 4, HP at 270 psi. Rev to 2k, HP=270, finally rev to 3k and HP is still at 270

By George, I think we've got it.

So, lesson is, even 1 fan out is enough to beat on your AC, possibly to the point where it will fail.

I'm considering knocking up a microcontroller that would keep an eye on the duty cycle and give a warning if the PSI get too high. Anyone interested?

270 psig seems high for both fans running. Is that from your HP sensor readout correlation, or is that from a set of gauges?

Richy_T said:

Just call me two-fan-freddy.

Reassembled and tested the larger fan the reinstalled. key in/engine off/ac on and both fans are turning (yay). Fired up the engine with fan speed 1. HP at 270 psi. Fan to 4, HP at 270 psi. Rev to 2k, HP=270, finally rev to 3k and HP is still at 270

By George, I think we've got it.

So, lesson is, even 1 fan out is enough to beat on your AC, possibly to the point where it will fail.

I'm considering knocking up a microcontroller that would keep an eye on the duty cycle and give a warning if the PSI get too high. Anyone interested?

Click to expand...

I'm new to the forum, but having a similar issue. The fan on the driver's side makes a loud noise, but the one on the passenger side runs quietly. I don't know what this means, or if i should replace both fans. I've seen a complete assembly that includes both fans somewhere on the web. I haven't been using the AC since the noise started for fear of causing more damage to the AC.

I would replace the noisy fan.

Dan

I'm having some trouble with my AC.

Both fans come on when the AC is switched on, but the clutch never engages. I tried jumping it with 12 volts from the battery and it didn't click on. I'm thinking new clutch coil?

I tried to measure the resistance but it doesn't change when I put it on the clutch's prongs. I guess that'd make it infinity.

yes, bad clutch coil.

I seem to have the same problem, my A/C just stopped and I went through the A/C checklist form the first post and it would seem the clutch coil is done. When I checked the resistance on the clutch coil it was reading a big "0"... hence I think that pretty much sums it up for me. I did ensure there was voltage coming to the compressor... It was reading 9.15 volts with the compressor unplugged. But the zero resistance seems very bad.

What would cause the clutch coil to go belly up? Does anyone know whether there is a diode in the clutch that could be replaced?

Anyone know where you can purchase just the clutch coil?

No diode.

I have never bought a clutch coil, but they are available.

Try Worldaire or Polar bear, or many other sources.

Ensure you know which compressor you have prior to ordering a coil.

DanG144 said:

270 psig seems high for both fans running. Is that from your HP sensor readout correlation, or is that from a set of gauges?

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That was from my HF gauges. I've read that they are not very accurate but I'd expect them to be within 30psi. It is pretty hot down here at the moment though so perhaps a higher pressure is to be expected? I could get a duty cycle reading from the sensor I expect.

daffy_duck530 said:

I seem to have the same problem, my A/C just stopped and I went through the A/C checklist form the first post and it would seem the clutch coil is done. When I checked the resistance on the clutch coil it was reading a big "0"... hence I think that pretty much sums it up for me. I did ensure there was voltage coming to the compressor... It was reading 9.15 volts with the compressor unplugged. But the zero resistance seems very bad.

What would cause the clutch coil to go belly up? Does anyone know whether there is a diode in the clutch that could be replaced?

Anyone know where you can purchase just the clutch coil?

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If it's reading 0, make sure you're doing the measurement right. I'm sure it's possible to fail short but it's more likely to fail open (which would be infinite resistance). If your multimeter is not auto-ranging, make sure you have the right scale too.