Ducato Hi
- Thread starter Dazzz
- Start date
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Ducato Hi
Hi and welcome 
Charlie
Charlie
I had a little fun recently with the cabin fan.
I thought I had the normal fault where the resister thermal fuse blows as the fan wasn't working on any setting. I had a replacement thermal fuse so after checking the other relevant fuses I pulled it out and replaced it. with no impact.
A check with a volt meter on the wires going to the fan confirmed it was getting power and a resistance check of the motor confirmed there was defect in it. This should have been my first move!
For some reason my van has a bracket for mounting the glovebox hanging down over the fan enclosure. It is not possible to remove the fan from its enclosure without removing the bracket. But the bracket is bonded to the main rail which holds the dash together so removing it is no simple matter.
So after a lot of thinking and considering the risk of the dash never going back together properly if I pulled it all apart I decided to just cut the bracket off.
With that out of the way it is simple to pull the fan motor and I found the braid feeding power to the brush had worn through. A quick solder job and its was working again. I am sure this will fail again but it will give me time to source some replacement brushes from somewhere.
In order to put the cut bracket back together I designed and 3D printed a couple of joiners which hold the two halves together allowing a bit of glue to bond it more properly. The joiners are available on thingiverse if anyone needs them. Google Thingiverse, thing number 4267212 if needed
Hopefully this helps anyone wondering how to get access to the fan without completely dismantling the dash. Or maybe have a laugh when you easily and simply remove your fan to remove some leaves.
I felt like a butcher taking to it with an angle grinder but I don't see any other way and the eLearn was suggesting draining the air con, removing the steering assembly and all kinds of terrible ideas!
I thought I had the normal fault where the resister thermal fuse blows as the fan wasn't working on any setting. I had a replacement thermal fuse so after checking the other relevant fuses I pulled it out and replaced it. with no impact.
A check with a volt meter on the wires going to the fan confirmed it was getting power and a resistance check of the motor confirmed there was defect in it. This should have been my first move!
For some reason my van has a bracket for mounting the glovebox hanging down over the fan enclosure. It is not possible to remove the fan from its enclosure without removing the bracket. But the bracket is bonded to the main rail which holds the dash together so removing it is no simple matter.
So after a lot of thinking and considering the risk of the dash never going back together properly if I pulled it all apart I decided to just cut the bracket off.
With that out of the way it is simple to pull the fan motor and I found the braid feeding power to the brush had worn through. A quick solder job and its was working again. I am sure this will fail again but it will give me time to source some replacement brushes from somewhere.
In order to put the cut bracket back together I designed and 3D printed a couple of joiners which hold the two halves together allowing a bit of glue to bond it more properly. The joiners are available on thingiverse if anyone needs them. Google Thingiverse, thing number 4267212 if needed
Hopefully this helps anyone wondering how to get access to the fan without completely dismantling the dash. Or maybe have a laugh when you easily and simply remove your fan to remove some leaves.
I felt like a butcher taking to it with an angle grinder but I don't see any other way and the eLearn was suggesting draining the air con, removing the steering assembly and all kinds of terrible ideas!
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2013
- Messages
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- Points
- 172
When needs must, the devil rides. I had to use a bit of ultraviolence to change my brake light switch too!
