Technical How to replace radiator fan on a Fiat 500

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Technical How to replace radiator fan on a Fiat 500

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Hello colleagues,

Is there anything else to be removed from the engine bay of the 500 1.2 with manual Aircon in order to replace the radiator fan? I only see 2 10mm bolts to undo and then it just slides to the left. Then it's just the 2 electrical connectors (motor and controller).

I'm wondering if I can test the replacement fan on the spot, with no major trouble, eventually in a parking lot without drawing too much attention.

Thanks in advance.
 
Hello colleagues,



Is there anything else to be removed from the engine bay of the 500 1.2 with manual Aircon in order to replace the radiator fan? I only see 2 10mm bolts to undo and then it just slides to the left. Then it's just the 2 electrical connectors (motor and controller).



I'm wondering if I can test the replacement fan on the spot, with no major trouble, eventually in a parking lot without drawing too much attention.



Thanks in advance.


typecastboy will be along shortly.... he’s the chap who could do this in his sleep [emoji23]
 
typecastboy will be along shortly.... he’s the chap who could do this in his sleep [emoji23]
Hi ,

You have it worked out already , yes just 2 bolts and slide out.

Have a look around forum someone recently had a fan problem, may have been on a panda which very similar.

Person took his fan motor apart and found the carbon/graphite contact that carries current to spinning part of motor was stuck in its holder so wasn't touching correctly. Person made contact able to move and it fixed motor.

Your fan should operate when a.c. is operating even when engine cold.
 
typecastboy will be along shortly.... he’s the chap who could do this in his sleep [emoji23]



Here I am ????

Yes, it’s just the two bolts and the two electrical connections then it just slides out. To test it, connect a wire to each terminal on the plug socket on the fan and connect to the live and earth on the battery. It doesn’t matter which way round as it will just spin the other way if the polarity is swapped. If your fan works it will spin.
 
You are amazing people, thanks for the guidance!

My fan spins, thank God for that, but touches the case somewhere. This and possibly some wear in the motor bearings are giving me an annoying vibration in the steering wheel when fan kicks in.

[Off-topic]: The AC compressor doesn't help either, it's more awful when the fan changes to 2nd speed (both engine cooling and AC on) because the compressor adds some roaring too (I suspect the compressor pulley is giving up on me, by the sound of it). That's next on my list, will have it checked soon :)

Anyway, if it's this easy to remove the radiator fan from the car, I'll take it out and give it a quick inspection. Maybe some cleaning will do the job.

If fan doesn't touch anywhere while taken out, connecting it directly to the battery comes in very handy indeed.

Will come back with the outcome soon.

Have an excellent weekend on, everyone!
 
You are amazing people, thanks for the guidance!

My fan spins, thank God for that, but touches the case somewhere. This and possibly some wear in the motor bearings are giving me an annoying vibration in the steering wheel when fan kicks in.

[Off-topic]: The AC compressor doesn't help either, it's more awful when the fan changes to 2nd speed (both engine cooling and AC on) because the compressor adds some roaring too (I suspect the compressor pulley is giving up on me, by the sound of it). That's next on my list, will have it checked soon :)

Have fun.. :)

In case you have a fan issue.. I made this guide

https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-mk2...ing-fan-budget-repair-new-fan-unit-gars4.html
 
The compressor shouldn't make any noise bar a click on start, if it does when was the a.c. last refilled noise often is an indication of low refrigerant?

I haven't checked refrigerant level in the past year since we bought the car, I think it's a bit low. The AC kind of struggles to cope with the recent high temperatures of around 35 degrees Celsius. I sometimes set it on level 3 and that's only ok-ish (level 4 makes the dash vibrate so I avoid it). I didn't know low refrigerant can cause such noise. Definitely gonna have refrigerant and oil checked, hopefully next week. Thank you, John202020!

varesecrazy, thank you for the tutorial, nicely written!
 
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They sometimes make a terrible team working together.

I had my radiator fan checked today. You wouldn't believe what caused the touching noise... The rezistor was broken apart and caught between the casing and the propeller, hence causing friction.
 

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I'm not sure if I damaged the radiator while replacing the fan, some fins were a little bent where the fan frame touched (it wasn't quite a straight forward pull out) - not sure if that was already there or I did it. I hope that as long as I didn't stick that with something hard, it would affect cooling performance (affected area has a small percentage after all). :(

Later edit: Sigh, I now wish I had taken one or two pictures of the radiator damage ...
 
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Just realised one thing after reading over the forum.

The compressor pulley spins freely when compressor is not engaged. This means when it's on, pulley is not rotating and shouldn't make any noise if worn. If this is true, i'm left with the suspicion on the compressor being either low on refrigerant or oil.
 
Just realised one thing after reading over the forum.

The compressor pulley spins freely when compressor is not engaged. This means when it's on, pulley is not rotating and shouldn't make any noise if worn. If this is true, i'm left with the suspicion on the compressor being either low on refrigerant or oil.
The pulley is always rotating when the engine is running.

If a.c. not on ,pulley still rotates ,but the rotor inside compressor does not rotate.
 
Oops, I understand now. Thanks!

Then rotor becomes a suspect too ... my principal suspect currently. I didn't hear a compressor that's too low on refrigerant, but what I'm having under the hood ... man, that can't be too good. :( Fingers crossed and hope to be easy fix.
 
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