Ok, so just reading through the workshop manual, I realised that the Series III has an axillary electric fan.. I did not know this!

I checked on my car, it's definitely there but it's siezed. The fuse in the engine bay headlamp fusebox was blown. I put another one in, only to watch it blow again.

Firstly, how important is this fan? I'm assuming it's for the air-conditioner (not currently in use - winter).

Can I replace the fan with a generic electric fan? No funny wiring?

Thanks a lot.

EDIT: Mods please move, this is in the wrong section, my bad!

 

Triva: early Ser IIIs had two aux cooling fans. At some point....maybe 82 or so....an oil cooler took the place of one of the fans





No, no tie-in with the air conditioing. Activated only by coolant temperature. It comes on at 94ēC




Sure you can use a generic. Before adapting a generic, though, contact David @ Everydayxj.com and see what he has. I'll wager he has a slew of good used ones....and he never charges much for his used parts.

No funny wiring to replace the fan. just power and ground. it's a little funny upstream of the fan, though, as it's a looped circuit to allow key-off after cooling

Cheers
DD

 

Doug, you're an awfully useful and knowledgeable chap. Thank you very much.

 

Thanks, and you're welcome.

I hadn't noticed earlier that you're from SA....which makes buying used parts from the USA impractical, perhaps. But, still, a good used fan bought locally might would be easier that engineering the installation of a generic fan.

Cheers
DD

 

OliverB:

Yeah, I noticed that you are in SA. I was going to offer the one hanging on my shop shelf, left over from a prior project. I kept it thinking I'd remount it and wire it to come on with the AC compressor. I realize that there are issues with that and is way down on my to do list, more likely ion the never gonna happen status! So, offering it to you free except for the postage was not likley to be practical!!!

But, fans usually fail because of lubrication issues. I recently fixed a house fan by taking it apart snd cleaning out old congealed grease and reoiling it with simple three in one oil. The same that I use for the clippers that I trim my whiskers with!!

I've not examined the Jaguar fan to see if can be oiled. One way or another, I think it might. That would include drilling teensy holes as passages to the bearings/bushings for oil.


Doug's experience with these beasts is a treasure trove!
Carl

 

Thank you for the offer, however shipping to South Africa would be ridiculous.

I'll have a look around for a used fan and see what is wrong with my fan when I pull it out this weekend.

 

Ok, so I have replaced the auxilry electric fan with a generic. The old fan was not in fact siezed, but the bearing is shot. Could probably be fixed. In any event, this was not the only problem. With the new fan in, it still blows the fuse in the headlight box, smoke still comes out of the red relay... The fan tries to spin up (engine cold) before the fuse blows... Ideas?

PS: Guide below with pics for anyone replacing...

1. Locate electric fan in front of the radiators its screwed into a steel bar.


2. Unbolt the four bolts holding the bar in place and unscrew the lower radiator grille. You should now be able to pull out (with a little difficulty) the bar and fan together.



3. Unbolt old fan from bar



4. If you are replacing with original Jaguar fan, simple replace and refit.

5. If like me you are using a generic fan, you need to make a plan to make it fit.

New Fan:


I used a combination of tie straps and connectors I got with the fan to secure it (not the best I know).

New fan in place:


6. Refit the steel bar and bolt it back up. It also kinda holds this generic fan in place, so it's relatively tight.

Easy job.

 

OliverB:
That generic unit looks great and will probably move far more air than the unit it replaces, even when the latter was healthy.

I see a circlip on the original unit that seems to allow a removal of the blade assembly from the shaft and allow the bushing or bearing to be serviced. But, why?
Don't toss it just yet, you never know.

As the smoke comes from the relay, it suggests an issue exists there. In this application, a temperature sensor may complete the ground leg of the relay and close the points allowing current to flow and run the fan. A look at the schematic seems necessary. Check captainjaguarscathouse on the web for that.

You might sub in a known good relay and see if things improve.
Or jump the relay temporarily, power source to fan and see if it spins with no blown fuse or smoke. That would vindicate the wiring.

Actually, these fans seem to be kind of an after thought, primarily to run after shut down and combat rising under bonnet temperatures.

I just don't like the electrics to be working after I shut the key off and walk away from the car!! In a perfect (?) world, I would like a battery master switch to shut down everything on leaving the car.

Carl