This is fitted behind my cooling fan and looks like a resistor. It has 1 live feed (brown) and 2 other wires (white & red) that become live as soon as they are connected. I have searched Google and can't find anything that resembles it. I want to know if it can be tested to make sure it is working OK.
Technical What is this?
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Technical What is this?
Fan resistorby looks of it
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If it sits above the rad, so airflow between the bonnet and grille will pass over it, it is the headlamp resistor for the dim-dip.
Before we had daytime running lights, the EU toyed with dim-dip. If the engine is running, and you turn on the sidelights, you should get headlamps at half power as well.
The requirements for this to be fitted was short-lived. 1986-1988, but Fiat continued later than most. Ford, Rover and Vauxhall/Opel had a few fires due to hot resistors. They all used resistors contained inside housings, and mounted in places without air flow around them. Fiat used these open resistors and mounted them where air flowed across them to keep them cool. No fires. Simple, effective.
Had this on my '87 and 91 Pandas.
Before we had daytime running lights, the EU toyed with dim-dip. If the engine is running, and you turn on the sidelights, you should get headlamps at half power as well.
The requirements for this to be fitted was short-lived. 1986-1988, but Fiat continued later than most. Ford, Rover and Vauxhall/Opel had a few fires due to hot resistors. They all used resistors contained inside housings, and mounted in places without air flow around them. Fiat used these open resistors and mounted them where air flowed across them to keep them cool. No fires. Simple, effective.
Had this on my '87 and 91 Pandas.
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I think Chris3234 is probably correct and headed me in the right direction because if I cross the contacts with a screwdriver the fan starts up. So, I don't think it is faulty. I am in Southern Spain and its extremely hot and the fan isn't coming on as it should. I'm thinking I can wire a temporary switch so that I can control the fan from inside the car as the temperature goes up. I can't think why there is a need for a resistor on the fan though.
Does it have air con?
I know a later cars have two fan Speeds for that reason
When I lived in Sardinia for a number of years the only classic Panda's to have air-con were police Panda's and that was a big box on the roof, like you see on refrigerated trucks. No it doesn't have air-con but I wish it did right now!
You may be right about the 2 speeds though. I will test that theory tomorrow. Too far down a bottle of red to play about now.
thats some pretty thick windings inside that resistor compared to the headlight one on my sisley.
here in the UK we never had any kind of 2 speed radiator fan. on really hot days here i can see how it would be a great help though.
i always found it funny to stick a screwdriver in the middle of the resistor and make my headlights dim and brighten as i moved it in or out. the kid in me wanted to find a way of manually controlling it so i could choose the level of "dim dip" i had heh.
here in the UK we never had any kind of 2 speed radiator fan. on really hot days here i can see how it would be a great help though.
i always found it funny to stick a screwdriver in the middle of the resistor and make my headlights dim and brighten as i moved it in or out. the kid in me wanted to find a way of manually controlling it so i could choose the level of "dim dip" i had heh.
My guess would be radiator fan resistor. Felicity, our old '92 plate Panda had the dim/dip headlamp system but the resistor was a much more lightweight affair - mounted on the O/S suspension turret if I remember - never had any bother with it.
My older boy's 2012 Punto - with air con - has a 2 speed radiator fan which is only working on fast speed just now. I know there is a resistor on the radiator cowl which is probably the culprit and I'm expecting it to look something like your illustration.
My older boy's 2012 Punto - with air con - has a 2 speed radiator fan which is only working on fast speed just now. I know there is a resistor on the radiator cowl which is probably the culprit and I'm expecting it to look something like your illustration.
resistors are a thing of the past now days on cars. it will be PWM controlled (pulse width modulated)
basically use frequency controlled transistor/MOSFET to turn it on and off very quickly (in the KHz) to reduce the speed. clever stuff! way less wastefull than the old resistors.
look for a heatsink on some kind of box. that will be it!
keep in mind though, faulty fan speeds can also be because of an under charged aircon system
Thanks for the suggestions. I've encountered this method of control in electronic (low current) applications (EGRs, carbon canister purge valves, etc) but this is quite a high current demand jobbie, pretty meaty (expensive) switching transistor and substantial heat sink needed? Anyway from all I've researched on it and the Haynes manual, it's a resistor pack I'm looking for on this 2012 Punto. Lack of refrigerant pressure would result in the Air Con just not running? but I would have thought I could still drive the fan via MES? (which is what I was doing).resistors are a thing of the past now days on cars. it will be PWM controlled (pulse width modulated)
basically use frequency controlled transistor/MOSFET to turn it on and off very quickly (in the KHz) to reduce the speed. clever stuff! way less wastefull than the old resistors.
look for a heatsink on some kind of box. that will be it!
keep in mind though, faulty fan speeds can also be because of an under charged aircon system
What I'm not so sure about is under what circumstances the 2 speeds are used? My guess would be slow speed when radiator coolant temperature rises. High speed when air con is engaged. That way even if the coolant is a bit on the hot side there would be sufficient air flow to cool both the air con exchanger and the rad?
regards
J
:yeahthat:
And yes it should be a resistor like the one above, just with one winding.
If you want I could have a look on mine, but I’ve sure you’re more than ok with looking at this.
Thanks Andy. The biggest problem I have with all the kids cars (except younger boys wife - the Jazz) is getting them to leave them with me for long enough for me to actually do anything meaningful. Boy are they in for a shock when I can't do this any more and they have to start using, and paying, garages.
In fact my younger boy had to get some small jobs done on his Astra by his local garage the other day as I was "hors de combat" with a shocking cold (man flue Mrs J calls it). I already had the parts - spark plugs, air filter, and cam cover gasket - I'd had them for weeks but he wouldn't bring me the car! The cam cover was leaking oil over the exhaust manifold and was slowly getting worse and the engine had a small missfire. Anyway in the end the garage did the work and also found a worn trackrod end and bottom suspension wishbone rubbers to be in very poor condition - I'm not surprised, this is his work vehicle, has well north of 100,000 miles on it and he tends to neglect it somewhat. He had reported hearing a small knock on speed bumps for the last week or so. The bill for labour, track rod end and wishbones came to just north of £200 (he collected the other parts from me and the garage fitted them). He rang me before paying the bill to ask if I thought he was being overcharged! I think he did pretty well actually.
In fact my younger boy had to get some small jobs done on his Astra by his local garage the other day as I was "hors de combat" with a shocking cold (man flue Mrs J calls it). I already had the parts - spark plugs, air filter, and cam cover gasket - I'd had them for weeks but he wouldn't bring me the car! The cam cover was leaking oil over the exhaust manifold and was slowly getting worse and the engine had a small missfire. Anyway in the end the garage did the work and also found a worn trackrod end and bottom suspension wishbone rubbers to be in very poor condition - I'm not surprised, this is his work vehicle, has well north of 100,000 miles on it and he tends to neglect it somewhat. He had reported hearing a small knock on speed bumps for the last week or so. The bill for labour, track rod end and wishbones came to just north of £200 (he collected the other parts from me and the garage fitted them). He rang me before paying the bill to ask if I thought he was being overcharged! I think he did pretty well actually.
