Do I detect the old BS

[Mad Spoons]

Guys i need your help.

My car had a bit of a funny turn on monday and started to over heat, now i can hear you all saying "its the water pump why didnt you search first", ahha but the water pump and thermostat were replaced a few months back and the symptoms were very different. see thread

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=97356

now it went into my local garage yesterday morning and was fixed by 4, they explained to me that they had replaced the "Master Fuse" which is underneath the battery, this apparently controlls the ECU etc but the Trip comuter is still showing milage etc from the previous week, surely if the battery had been disconnected this info would have been lost. what i want to know is that BS or does it really exsist?

 

[Mad Spoons]

anyone?

 

[phatchoonz1]

I presume it overheated whilst sitting in traffic??

There is a big fuse pack located right on the top of the battery, one of the fuses within this pack is linked with the coolant radiator fan motor, I would imagine that this is the fuse which has blown. I've got a Mk4 golf that does exactly that.

Now the real question is... why has it blown? Most probably because of a problem with the fan motor itself and it's trying to draw too much current to start the fan - usually meaning the fan is knackered.

As far as I know, the fans on the LCRs are quite a common fault (my LCR has already had a set before I bought it, aswell as the water pump failure and i'm sure there's a few other people on here that have had fan problems).

For now, i'd replace the fuse, like they have done already, but keep an eye on it, if it blows again, you want to get the fans checked out really.

 

[Darth Tater]

MS

If it's not the water pump/thermostat I would think it's more likely one of the fuses on top of the battery

1 is responsible for the cooling fans (do a search as a million threads on these). If so I hope your in warantee as it's an expensive business to have them replaced otherwise (over £800 in my case).

Basically they start to fail, not cut in, draw too much current, blow fuse, not work, overheat...

Best get it checked ASAP

 

[Mad Spoons]

Yes, in traffic its getting warmer, but if in clean air (moving) its failry constant, but the radiator fans dont kick in. it seems to be working ok at them moment so fingers crossed its sorted.

i wasnt aware of the radiator fans being a bit iffey. its out of warranty so whats the cost of new fans

cheers for the reply Martin

-------
Jamie

 

[Mad Spoons]

oh jesus, 800 quid? is that from a dealer or a local garage?

i dare not put my air con on now incase it goes again.

can someone post a piccy or explain to me where this mystical fuse is as if i can replace it in about 10 minutes my self its a lot cheaper than paying a garage 200 quid to give me some flannel

 

[Darth Tater]

oh jesus, 800 quid? is that from a dealer or a local garage?

i dare not put my air con on now incase it goes again.

can someone post a piccy or explain to me where this mystical fuse is as if i can replace it in about 10 minutes my self its a lot cheaper than paying a garage 200 quid to give me some flannel

That was main dealer mate, no complaints with the work they did, parts (new fans) are approximately £400 with same for labour as a lot of the front end has to come off to fix

Asked Seat for goodwill payment as 5 weeks out of warantee but no joy sadly

I can't post pic as at work but remove your battery cover, the black plastic square that stays in the middle will then flip up once unclipped. I can't recall which fuse it is unfortunately but poss 40 amp? That may only be a temporary fix however as it's the fans/motors themselves that go, the fuse blows due to the malfunction. Tis a very common prob on Mk IV Golfs as well as Mk 1 Leon's

Turning air con off will help but if you idle in traffic temp will rise, sorry

 

[dj_hektik]

yes I had that problem with my Golf mk.4.

Fuse blew twice then main fan failed. 240 pounds for both fans.

 

[acidstrato]

when this happens on the ibiza you just replace the fuse box? 30odd quid no bother jobs a gooden? surely its the same in the leon...id be very surprised if it aint

why you'd replace the fans for that ill never know!

 

[Mad Spoons]

i wont be using the air con till summer just in case thats what caused the problem. but if i can see where the fuse is then i can replace it myself.

surely a squit of the magic liquid that is WD40 into the fan will solve the problem???

 

[andycupra]

im not aware of any fuses under the battery.
there are a few on top of the battery... you can easily check these, pop bonnet list off battery cover then you can see fuses. (kinda dog bone shaped)

dont think it sounds like BS from the garage, it may just be that the word 'master' fuse doesnt describe it well. when you see that there are several fuses you will see.

 

[Mad Spoons]

guess i will have to wait and see how much they are trying to charge me for the work.

do i have to buy replacement fuses from Seat/Audi/VW/Skoda if so, price/part numbers would be a bonus.

cheers for your help so far guys.

 

[wakko]

Hi, I've had exactly the same thing on mu Cupra R. Had to call out AA first time round but by the time they came i'd already sussed it was a 40A fuse located on top of the battey in a plastic "fuse box". It was easy to spot as it was the only one with a big gap in the middle. Anyhow, its caused by internal resistors in the small fan for the air con breaking down. This causes the big fan to pulse on and off and can blow the big 40A fuse that supplies both the fans. I've heard a new fan can cost £400 but i also wonder if the resistors in the small fan could be replaced. Resistors ain't £400 thats for sure. £10 at most. The fuse blew again tonight so it looks like i'm going to have to get it booked in tomorrow. Lucky it's still under warranty.

 

[mmfb]

My dealer said in thier experince the fuse going is a sign the water pump is on its way out. Its a pre-cursor to the pump failing in thier opinion. They told me this after the fuse was chnged, and then a week later the pump went as well.

I know you say its only just been cchanged.

 

[wakko]

As far as i can tell the fuse only supplies the radiator fan and has nothing to do with the water pump.

My owners manual says the fuse is "Radiator Fan, 2nd level 40A"

 

[CupraR-Rog]

The fans should still work even with that battery top fuse blown...

The fans work on a 2-stage setting. Usually the 1st stage fails (resistor pack burning out or motors burning out), which then causes the 2nd stage to pulse on and off - the fuse blowing being a sign the fan motors are on their way out.

My leon drove for several months with only the stage 1 fans working until I could get hold of a new battery top fuse - didn't overheat even in summer traffic jams...

With the fans working properly, there's hardly any need for the stage 2 fans to cut in.

For info, regarding the fans and pump being related, there was a 20k-ish mile gap between my fans going and my water pump going, but only a couple of days between the water pump going and the 2nd set of fans failing on stage 1!

 

[Mad Spoons]

i am sure the problem is when the A/C is runing at the same time as the fans.

too much current being drawn. guess i will have to wait till summer returns to find out.