Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 09:22:34 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Radiator fan resistor
In-Reply-To: <CANEuo0hAvrBoGB=pmwn-g2h5cJVDzLoG1o+pcPOHT=XSM=_R+Q@mail.gmail.com>
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Ken,
Sorry I didn't order from you. I guess after other sources told me they
weren't available in frustration I went to the dealer. My point though is
that an improved part is now available. This may also explain why the usual
supplies of this part is drying up as this part was much more expensive than
the last time I purchased them even at the dealer. As I am a frequent AC
user even in my vans these things fail often. At the last failure my fan
decided not to run at all. The high speed did not work due to the ground
connection for the relay and the AC relay failed to provide power for either
of the AC fan speeds. Re-doing a solder connection on that relay took care
of that! Anyway, being stuck in traffic, watching the engine overheat, and
not having the fan work was very frustrating. With an improved part
available even at that increased cost it is worth it to me if I get
increased reliability. With almost 260K on this engine I hate to lose it now
over a fan resistor or ground wire.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
kenneth wilford (Van-Again)
Sent: Saturday, July 27, 2013 7:38 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Radiator fan resistor
Dennis,
We have them. Not sure why you didn't contact us about it.
I think the failure on these is related to air flow (or lack thereof) more
than anything. They aren't in a good air stream like all of the other
resistors that VW used in their fan systems. Usually they mount them right
in the air stream and they last forever. This one is mounted behind the
headlight so you get extra heat from that. If you aren't going down the
road there is no air flow at all. So here is the worst case for these,
idling, with the AC on, and the headlights on. Some people run their
headlights in the day time when on trips. That would make it even worse in
the summer. If we could move the location to behind the fan, above the
spare tire area, I think you would find that they would live a lot longer.
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com
On Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 10:56 PM, Dennis Haynes
<d23haynes57@hotmail.com>wrote:
> Last week the fan resistor in Fun Bus failed on the way to see my son
> in the hospital. As many of us know the Vanagon resistor is no longer
> available and we have been using the Eurovan version part #
> 701959263D. The dealer list for this is now $103 so I tried to order
> from a number of list vendors with no luck. So reluctantly I ordered
> one form the dealer. I picked it up today and guess what! It has been
> redesigned. It will still fit in the original bracket but it is oval
> in shape and the resistance wire is considerably larger. It appears
> they finally realized the original design just couldn't handle the
> load. Anyway, it look like it is worth the cost if it reduces the
> failure rate. Unfortunately for us Vanagon folk we still have to adapt
> the wiring.
>
>
>
> Dennis
>
--
Thanks,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com
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