condensor fan operation (clarify)

[88911inga]

Guys, I have an 88 Carrera and noticed my condensor fan not working the other day. Now I'm trying to figure out why. I checked the fan itself and it ran with 12V. Then I traced the wires back to the relay on the fender closest to the front. I had 12v on pin 30 and ground on 85 but nothing anywhere else. What controls the power to the condensor blower? From reading past posts, I gathered it SHOULD work with the A/C on in any temp and any speed. Right?? All other components work fine and the A/C blows cool. Any and all advise appreciated. Thanks, Brad

[88911inga]

Anyone?? TIA, Brad

[Thomas Owen]

According to my Bentley manual wiring diagram, the blower motor is grounded on one side and gets +12 from pin 87 of the blower relay. The relay itself is energized by the a/c blower switch (grn/wht') to pin 86 of the relay.
I could make a scan of the page and email it to you if necessary.
Good luck -

[Thomas Owen]

Jim, you are correct about the temperature switch for the '87, but the Bentley shows is is not in the circuit for the '88. He may need to trace the wires to be sure...

[88911inga]

Guys, thanks for the heads up. I had a couple of projects shift my priorities yesterday, so I didn't get to follow up. I'll let you know what I find. From what I'm reading here, that fan should be on when the compressor is. Looks like time to break out the old multimeter. )Thanks again, Brad

[Early_S_Man]

My Bentley manual shows the condenser fan getting power from the air conditioning relay in both '86 - '87 diagram #88517, and '88 - '89 diagram #88545 ... Wht/Grn wire.

[derkpitt]

While your at it, put an in-line fuse on that fan.
The wiring is unprotected.

[curiousone940]

Brad--I am having the exact situation on my '89 and I can't seem to understand what seems to be a very basic wiring situation. The condenser blower fan works just fine hot wired to the battery....when the compressor is running, I'm getting what appears to be 12-13V on the gr/wht wire. According to my multimeter, the brown wire is properly grounded. I've tried bypassing the connector....still no cigar......changed out the relay (both the AC and the blower motor relay) with no luck. The AC itself is cooling fine, so I'm not inclined to make a big deal out of what little additional cooling capacity I might be losing from the front fan. BTW, looks like the previous owner added the P-part for an inline fuse (7.5A) to this part of the wiring as suggested in this thread. Would appreciate having the benefit of your trouble shooting on this subject and I will do likewise.

[kuehl]

ooops, how did this get here

[curiousone940]

While attempting more trouble shooting on this issue this evening (i.e. checking for voltage and ground at the relay itself), the condenser blower fan started working after I switched relays and did some jiggling on the relay socket. It appears in my situation I either have a marginal relay and/or a bad connection point(s) between the relay and the socket. I was getting 12V at the harness at the blower motor, so I am speculating that the problem is on the ground side of the relay and/or socket itself. I'll double check the connection points on the relay socket and make sure everything is solid there.

[88911inga]

Guys, thanks for the advice and schematics. It turned out to be an intermittent relay fault. Ordered 2 yesterday, just in case ). Thanks again, Brad

[vwleadfoot]

was it the relay in the very front of the trunk area or was it the red relay at the front of the fuse panel? Please advise.

[86 911 Targa]

Originally Posted by derkpitt

While your at it, put an in-line fuse on that fan.
The wiring is unprotected.

Also, check for dash light fusing, evaporator relay fusing, and headlamp relay kits.

Good luck,

Gerry