Cooling fans issue

[chillcupra]

My car cupra tdi had its 20K service done today at a local vw specialist. They picked up a few issues:

1st: Front brake pads are down to 2mm..are these expensive to replace?

2nd: They said the cooling fans are not working, however i do 300 miles a week and never seen the temp gauge go above 90 and never had car stop due to overheating. Is there a check i can do with vag com?

Thanks

 

[Ric 2001]

1. £80 for front pads.
2. Don't know.

 

[muddyboots]

I presume the Cupra brake pads will be pricier than the "normal" pads ?

With regards to the fan - it would only ever be used if the engine got really hot while sat idling in traffic, but the TDIs hardly give out any heat when idling, which is why they never warm up on the driveway in winter, so I guess the fans will very rarely come into play anyway.

Do they know for a fact the fans don't work, or did they just think "the cars been sat idling for half an hour and the fan hasn't come on" (which could actually be normal) ?

 

[andycupra]

got air-con? turn it on. Do the fans come on at a slow speed?
They should come on when air-con is used. (certainly is the case on leons)

 

[chillcupra]

Will give that a try. Cheers

 

[muddyboots]

Doesn't the aircon use a separate fan to the one used for engine cooling ?

I know it does on the Passat, can't remember about the Ibiza.

 

[chillcupra]

Just had idling and put the air con on and 1 min later both cooling fans came on so god knows what the garage was on about???

 

[andycupra]

Just had idling and put the air con on and 1 min later both cooling fans came on so god knows what the garage was on about???

if the ibiza is the same as the leon, the cooling fans have two speeds. slow and fast.
the slow speed is used when the aircon is on and possibly for initial cooling. then there is a fast speed (quite loud) for better cooling.

On the leon the slow speed can fail and thats whay i suggested you check this as this is the most common cooling fan issue that i am aware of.

Im not sure if the cooling fan should come on immediately if you use aircon or if it waits as it did with yours.

The other possibility is that the fans dont come on if the engine is hot due to an issue with temp sensors. Temp sensors are another issue that fairly wel known.
However the fans are actually rarely needed on the ibiza and leon unless at a standstill for a period or very slow traffic.

I guess to check this you could run the car and leave it and monitor the coolant temp. it really should hardly move from 90 and the fans come on.
I guess it may show on vag com or may not. if the sensor for example is reading incorrectly then it wont show, as the sensor says everything is ok. It the sensor died then perhaps it would show.