Berlingo partner main coolant fan not running over heating

[MissSpentYouth]

A common fault on older PSA cars is the in line resistor to the main coolant fan fails. It is an open wire coil that suffers from corrosion, heat and vibration and with age simply snaps off at one end. Internal cabin fan suffers a similar fate. On many PSA cars its easy to change just remove front grill sadly not on a Berlingo.

If your main coolant fan doesn't cut in when you turn on the A/C then this is a likely cause similarly if you let the car idle for a while, once the temp gauge gets a bit past the middle the fan should cut in and cool it back down to the middle. You can see if the fan is running by looking through the front grill.

On my mums car when you turn on the A/C I could see the compressor switching in and the engine loading up but the fan was not running.

On A/C cars the resistor is grey plastic 0.8 ohms on regular cars it is black plastic about 1 ohms. This is because the fan need to run faster on AC cars to cool engine and cabin. You can cut a corner out of the wrong one to fit but obviously not recommended.

Remove front grill 3 torx screws in slam panel.

If you look through the bumper you can see the back of the resistor but sadly the bumper cover prevents you getting at it.

You now need to free off the offside drivers side of the bumper cover which is a real pain. undo a bunch of torx screws in drivers side wheel arch and along bottom of bumper cover. Remove offside wheel and wheel arch liner. The plastic fixings are a pain and tend to snap off they are 8p each from the dealer you need 6 per side. Just leaver them up with a large screw driver and try and pull them out with a special tool or pincers. 

There are now two hard to get at torx screws behind the headlight you need a 10mm long reach socket on one end these just need to be loosened. If you have metal headlight covers then two plastic rivets need to be removed going into the front wing, push the central plastic plug fully out (gets lost) then the rivet comes out easily.

Now the front bumper cover can be pulled away from the wing you may need to ease the plastic lugs out from inside with a screw driver. This should now afford enough space to get at the resistor without having to do the passenger side as well.

The resistor is secured with a large stiff cross point screw, don't round this off. The electrical connector has a metal spring on it that needs pushing in to release the connector. 

Even if your resistor hasn't failed I would replace it anyway after going to all this trouble they are only £10 ish on eBay. The middle pin is not used but you should read about an ohm across the 2 outer pins. If you pull it out you can usually see one end hanging off.

To test your fan you can clamp the loose wire back on with a small pair of locking pliers as a temporary fix.

When refitting push all the broken off plastic rivets into the holes try and locate the plastic dowels from the headlight grill.

[geoff]

Interesting post thank you for taking the time to share it.
Naturally I hope to never delve into the area of plastic bumpers - pet hate - but information is always good news.

[Art b]

A common fault on older PSA cars is the in line resistor to the main coolant fan fails. It is an open wire coil that suffers from corrosion, heat and vibration and with age simply snaps off at one end. Internal cabin fan suffers a similar fate. On many PSA cars its easy to change just remove front grill sadly not on a Berlingo.

If your main coolant fan doesn't cut in when you turn on the A/C then this is a likely cause similarly if you let the car idle for a while, once the temp gauge gets a bit past the middle the fan should cut in and cool it back down to the middle. You can see if the fan is running by looking through the front grill.

On my mums car when you turn on the A/C I could see the compressor switching in and the engine loading up but the fan was not running.

On A/C cars the resistor is grey plastic 0.8 ohms on regular cars it is black plastic about 1 ohms. This is because the fan need to run faster on AC cars to cool engine and cabin. You can cut a corner out of the wrong one to fit but obviously not recommended.

Remove front grill 3 torx screws in slam panel.

If you look through the bumper you can see the back of the resistor but sadly the bumper cover prevents you getting at it.

You now need to free off the offside drivers side of the bumper cover which is a real pain. undo a bunch of torx screws in drivers side wheel arch and along bottom of bumper cover. Remove offside wheel and wheel arch liner. The plastic fixings are a pain and tend to snap off they are 8p each from the dealer you need 6 per side. Just leaver them up with a large screw driver and try and pull them out with a special tool or pincers. 

There are now two hard to get at torx screws behind the headlight you need a 10mm long reach socket on one end these just need to be loosened. If you have metal headlight covers then two plastic rivets need to be removed going into the front wing, push the central plastic plug fully out (gets lost) then the rivet comes out easily.

Now the front bumper cover can be pulled away from the wing you may need to ease the plastic lugs out from inside with a screw driver. This should now afford enough space to get at the resistor without having to do the passenger side as well.

The resistor is secured with a large stiff cross point screw, don't round this off. The electrical connector has a metal spring on it that needs pushing in to release the connector. 

Even if your resistor hasn't failed I would replace it anyway after going to all this trouble they are only £10 ish on eBay. The middle pin is not used but you should read about an ohm across the 2 outer pins. If you pull it out you can usually see one end hanging off.

To test your fan you can clamp the loose wire back on with a small pair of locking pliers as a temporary fix.

When refitting push all the broken off plastic rivets into the holes try and locate the plastic dowels from the headlight grill.




noted..