None of my fans work,

[Bongo bango]

Hi, I'm new to the bongo, but have heard horror stories about cooling issues, mine has had a head gasket and radiator 6 months ago, bought it 2 weeks ago but none of the fans ever come on, the temp gauge never goes higher than a third of the way up, but I'm sure it's hotter than this, can all the fans be converted to manual?

[g8dhe]

Have you checked the sensor that tells the ECU to turn the fans on? Have you checked that turning the Aircon on turns on the fans as well?
Manually controlling the fans is a recipie for disaster!

[Northern Bongolow]

The lecky plugs to the fans are just inside the bonnet, clipped to the top of the fan shrowd. There are 2 plugs, one for each fan. They suffer badly from corrosion as they catch the weather/ traffic spray. Unclip them, clean up, then as Geoff says switch on your Aircon to test.

[mikeonb4c]

Hi, I'm new to the bongo, but have heard horror stories about cooling issues, mine has had a head gasket and radiator 6 months ago, bought it 2 weeks ago but none of the fans ever come on, the temp gauge never goes higher than a third of the way up, but I'm sure it's hotter than this, can all the fans be converted to manual?

Is the cab heater giving nice hot air? If not could be no thermostat fitted (or stuck open) and this would prevent engine reaching operating temp esp when on the move and in cold weather.

Switching aircon on should make the rad fans operate so you can check they're working. But i'm not sure it'll tell you whether the temp sensor whose job it is to trigger them is working.

[Bongo bango]

Thanks for the responses. I tried switching the aircon on and still nothing working. So before I go any further I should just check the electrical plugs? Where is the sensor/switch to tell the ecu to turn the fans on? Also is this controlled in any way by the temp gauge, because I'm pretty sure it's not working properly.

[Bongo bango]

Also yes, the in-cabin heating controls work perfectly, everything from cold to roasting hot as selected. The receipts from the head gasket work has a thermostat listed on there so I'm assuming this was fitted at that time.

[mikeonb4c]

Thanks for the responses. I tried switching the aircon on and still nothing working. So before I go any further I should just check the electrical plugs? Where is the sensor/switch to tell the ecu to turn the fans on? Also is this controlled in any way by the temp gauge, because I'm pretty sure it's not working properly.

Does sound like something is wrong on the sensor/ecu side of things. I'm no techie but Geoff is expert on Bongo electrics so hopefully he'll be back with thoughts. I recall when my Bongo had a new head fitted that the engine block temp sensor got broken and had to be replaced. So thats defo an item to check.

[Bonneville]

One of mine failed, the other made a bit of a groaning noise so I think they may be prone to it. Unlucky if you have both dead at once but possible.

Disconnect the connector to the fan and put 12V down it (to the fan). Even on a bench power supply it should spin. If you don't have one, run a pair of leads direct from the battery but be careful not to short them.

[Bongo bango]

OK, I disconnected the plugs to both radiator fans and ran wires straight from the battery and got both fans to spin, so at least they are OK. The terminals in the plugs are greener than the emerald city, I gave them a rough clean up but still no joy, so will clean them better tomorrow. Also there is a plug half way along the slam panel that looks like it's part of that harness, I'll clean that up better too. Does anyone use contact cleaner that they recommend?

[g8dhe]

Not a lot of difference between any of the proper contact cleaners, spray on clean and it will have evaporated completely even the WD(40) company make a real contact cleaner.

[teenmal]

BB,
You might be barking up the wrong tree here, the cooling fan will not come on until the ECT triggers the ECU, and the coolant needs to be HOT.

You have proved that the fans work with a remote 12 volt supply, the ECT on the drivers side of the engine has a connector, if you disconnect the connector then switch on the ignition the fan should run, proving the wiring is OK .


The AC fan will not come on if the AC is needing recharged etc.

[Bongo bango]

Well there is a strong possibility that the ac is not charged, so that could explain why the fans don't come on with ac. What is the ECT? I can try disconnecting that and see if that puts them on.

[teenmal]

The sensor is item number 18-840c on the near rear of the cylinder head drivers side

http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... mgno=.html

[Bongo bango]

OK, I disconnected the sensor as described, switched on the ignition and the driver side radiator fan came on, so this would suggest its all working OK?
The passenger side fan didn't come on, but does this only work if the air con system has gas in it and is switched on?
Also, the scavenger fan didn't come on, but does this only come on if the "engine bay" temperature is excessive as dictated by the sensor above the cylinder head?

[g8dhe]

Both fans should work together, they have two operating speeds, but both together so sounds like one of the connectors or motors need sorting.

Scavenger fan is seperate and controlled by its own sensor under the handbrake.