Well I've discovered the strongest part of the Seicento! The union between the cooling fan and the motor shaft - 'n'er twixt shall they part' - but the motor will disintegrate rather quickly... I'm sure many have been there before me
- seemed like an easy fix - I'd already had the fan assembly off to get some spray grease into what sounded like dry bearings, which worked nicely for a week or so, but the dreaded screech returned... (though, of course, grateful for small mercies that the fan was actually cutting in and out ok )
Managed to tap on a smaller socket and discovered LH thread securing the fan to the shaft (that's a Fiat first surely..?) - in fact it's that tight, it doesn't need a nut
long story short then, the fan assembly is now toast as I ran out of patience...
oh and the screech was from a seized rear bearing spinning in its spring plate mounting by the looks of it... never had any cooling fan issues with Pandas twice this one's age... though I'm still a fan

It works! - ha ha, after a cup of tea I must have mustered a bit more patience...
Held together with about 2 dozen tie wraps to secure the front bearing plate on the motor it should keep me going till the new one arrives
Can anyone point me to the relay that operates the fan..?
It would be a good time to look at the possibility of adding a manual overide sw onto the output side of the relay

...pretty sure it's one of the red ones on the main fuse board - the big blue one is for the hazards...
Have I read somewhere that the fan should cut in within 30 seconds if the manifold temp. sensor is disconnected on the MPi ..? - if so I could soon locate the relay this way

Sorted! Let it run yesterday until fan kicked in - very quiet - purring like a kitten - amazing what a bit of oil & grease can do - and they say there are no servicable parts on the fan module
I wonder how long the tie wraps holding the motor together would last if I didn't fit the new one straight away... :tempt:

After pulling the relays one at a time while fan was running and nothing happening, I realised it must be one behind the ECU. So armed with test lamp this morning I discovered that the relay for the fan is indeed the one nearest the bulkhead behind the ECU, so it'll be a simple matter to fit an o/ride manual sw - either wired via a 30A sw (using equal size cable) or via a 2nd relay.
Where to mount a switch though..? Illuminated and visible would be good...


ps. nothing happened when I unplugged the sensor connector, even after 2mins (except for MIL staying on for a few miles thereafter until it realised it was getting a signal again)

looking fwd to fitting a temperature gauge next... :slayer:

Looking again at that on tidying up - it would make a neat job to get another relay and holder as there's free space to clip it on the same carrier

Got me a relay yesterday - the guy said it was an 02 plate, but when I got there it was X reg - not a problem, but the cable colours are different - noted here just to remind me ('cos I'm old lol) - the blue circles are scotchblock connectors for ease - it's a bit tight up against bulkhead but do-able. The blue thicker lines are for 2 bullet connectors - all straightforward - a 10A fuse is what came in the attached fuse holder so I just left it, as I needed to get to work, but a lower amperage poss better. Connecting the blue/white and orange operates the relay which switches the fan in parallel to the existing relay

All I need now is a switch... I was thinking of mashing into the existing centre console switch panel, as there's a blank either side, but it looks like it comes as a complete assembly. So for the easiest somewhere low down where access is simple.

While I was there, I noted the earlier cooling fan has a plastic cover on the back of the motor, which mine doesn't have (nor does the new one) - so I got that as it looks like it will fit with a slight mod with a few tie wraps and should help preserve the motor a bit...

Also - as I don't like to see ball bearings visible in the wheel hub, I decided to try fitting some grease centre hub cap covers off a Punto which I'd conveniently parked next to... the first tapped straight in so I bought the pair. When I got home I went to fit the other side... which don't fit... (cap too big)
How do I come to have mismatching hubs..? Must have had a wheel bearing on one side with an earlier/later style hub..? so that's another job on t'list

new timing belt today (and tensioner as I had a slight whine at certain revs) - water pump replaced at same time (though nothing wrong with existing except for plastic impellar... :yuck

Oh, and good chance to show that tie wrap motor repair... :devil:

Tie wrap repair still holding