One cooling fan not working

[Steve-w5bag]

Hoping someone can help me fix this cooling fan issue on my Griffith 500 (1996)

The LH cooling fan is working but not the RH
I've checked the relay and replaced the fuse, the old fuse had not blown, but a put a new one in anyway (40a Fuse)

I've swapped the fan wires over, on doing that the problem swapped to the opposite fan, The LH stopped working and the RH started working so its not an issue with the actual fan its self.

Any suggestions / help would be appreciated

Thanks

[Yatesy350i]

Steve

Is your car on an after market ECU? I've never checked this to be true, but the last owner told me my fans are staggered. So for example one comes on at 85c and the second at 90c. As I say I've not checked this but sounds possible.

The other option is borrow a multimeter and check you have a supply. Could just be a broken cable.

[Steve-w5bag]

Thanks for your comments, it is a standard ECU, the fans have always come on at the same time and this is the very first time there's been a problem.

I have a meter, I'll check it tonight and expect to find no supply, i'll put an update on later.

I can't see where this wire goes, it seems to just disappear behind the radiator.

[drcarlos]

Steve-w5bag said:

Hoping someone can help me fix this cooling fan issue on my Griffith 500 (1996)

The LH cooling fan is working but not the RH
I've checked the relay and replaced the fuse, the old fuse had not blown, but a put a new one in anyway (40a Fuse)

I've swapped the fan wires over, on doing that the problem swapped to the opposite fan, The LH stopped working and the RH started working so its not an issue with the actual fan its self.

Any suggestions / help would be appreciated

Thanks

Both relays?

[Steve-w5bag]

Is there 2 relays?

The wiring diagram only shows one relay and one fuse.

It does make sense for there to be 2, I'll check this out, thanks

[drcarlos]

Steve-w5bag said:

Is there 2 relays?

The wiring diagram only shows one relay and one fuse.

It does make sense for there to be 2, I'll check this out, thanks

I assume the wiring is similar or identical to the Chimaera (LR loom), there are 2 relays shown side by side in the diagrams I have. They get triggered at the same time from the otter and are powered from the same fuse but some split and use otter trigger for one and ECU trigger (if they have an upgraded ECU) for the other.

[Belle427]

Im not sure what year it changed but some cars do have 2 relays so worth checking as advised.

[DVR V8]

Hi. Late 96 model year changed to 2 fuses, 2 relays btr diff and a white chassis. I have early 96 with 1 fuse, 1 relay. I had this problem and found another relay that TVR had fitted inside the fuse board. I put a thread on here about 4/years ago about it with pictures. Regards.

[DVR V8]

Hi again. Just found it from January 22. Lots of info. And what i found. Regards

[DVR V8]

Hi. I'm not sure how to create a link but it was entitled FRONT FAN ISSUE. Topic is started 1650-1680 days ago 29th December 2021. Lots of help with diagnostics ,drawing and picture of what i found. Regards.

[Steve-w5bag]

Thanks, i've had a quick look through your past post from 4 years ago.

so is that blue relay behind the fusebox?
sounds like it is and that i have to get the fusebox out to get at it,

i need to work out how to do this, i go and have a look now

[DVR V8]

Hi. My initial thought at the time was as its an early discovery loom TVR used up to 1996 and wired for only 1 fan where as ours had 2 so they had to modify the circuit and fit an extra relay for the second fan which I eventually found inside the fuse board with with an integrated fuse which had melted. Later 96 cars had a different fuse board. Regards. And yes to others, battery out and fuse board out. Can recommend using a felt pen to mark around the battery box before removing as its a pig to align when refitting. Regards.

[footnote]Edited by DVR V8 on Wednesday 24th June
19:13[/footnote]
Sorry just one more thing, when you remove the long bolt for the fuse board it will require resealing when refitting so no water in footwell.

Edited by DVR V8 on Wednesday 24th June 19:25

[Steve-w5bag]

i'm just looking at the car now, but i don't have time to take the fuse board out tonight.

I tested the fans with a multi meter and there is no power to the second fan as expected.

But something i just noticed, not sure if its significant or not, i just run up the engine from cold, when it got hot enough to start the fans, initially on start up, both fans came on together for a moment, then the second fan came to a stop after about 3 or 4 seconds ?

Why would that be?

[DVR V8]

Not sure. Could be a similar fault to mine but I think a strip down and investigation is required. I had a voltage at each fan plug and good negatives but with the additional relay faulty and melted i had no amps to make the fan spin. Good luck. Regards.

[DVR V8]

Something also not to overlook is that the 2 white plugs at the fans are absolute garbage. All the water running down the bonnet hits the plugs which aren't waterproof. Maybe one plug is badly corroded and resistive. Maybe a start would be to re terminate them with waterproof plugs with some nice new copper wire.

[Steve-w5bag]

thanks for that, but there are no white plugs on my fans, they must have been taken off already.

They are just wired in to a terminal block, which does look a bit odd, but it was already like that when i bought the car and i've owned the car for 22 years.

there are 4 wires going in to the terminal block one side 2 black 2 brown, the other side is the red and black to each fan.
one of the brown wires has no power showing on the meter when the fans are on.

is your car the same year as mine, early 1996?
there are some stickers on the fans dated Dec 1995

[DVR V8]

Yes mine is January 1996, built in 1995. Had it 22 years and experienced most problems in that time and improved lots but probably wouldn't use a connector block in a wet area.

[footnote]Edited by DVR V8 on Wednesday 24th June 21:00[/footnote.
Sounds like you may need some help with an auto spark to trace that cable. Regards.

Edited by DVR V8 on Wednesday 24th June 21:06