360 Cooling Fan Operation | FerrariChat

360 Cooling Fan Operation

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by jim94-348, Apr 17, 2012.

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  1. jim94-348

    jim94-348 Formula Junior
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Aug 19, 2010
    971
    Greenville, NC
    Full Name:
    Jim
    Does anyone know specifically how the drivers side cooling fan works? I've read through dozens of old posts and looked in the workshop manual but I don't see anything that lays out the exact procedure on the low and high speed setting.

    My car doesn't seem to be cooling properly when it idles. The driver side fan comes on but it only seems to get low speed and never goes high. It is my understanding that there is a dual speed setting. I have checked the fuses and they are okay. I understand that there is a temperature switch on the passenger side fan that operates this. Is that correct or is there one on both radiators? Does it go to a relay for the higher speed and if so which one? It appears that the temperature switches are a common problem from the posts I have read. Any help would be appreciated before I have to get in and start tracing everything.
     
  2. FerrariDublin

    FerrariDublin F1 Rookie

    Jun 14, 2009
    3,452
    Dublin, Ireland
    Full Name:
    Greg
    Mine is RHD. The right hand fan (which also has the AC condenser) comes on early and is generally sufficient to maintain satisfactory temp. The left fan comes on at a higher temperature. If I want to check operation I have to block the inlet on the RHS with a piece of carpet and only then will the LHS fan will turn on. I don't think either are actually twin speed, just on or off.

    WSM indicates just one sensor fitted to the one radiator. First contact closes at 92c/198f and the second one closes at 97c/206f.
     
  3. jim94-348

    jim94-348 Formula Junior
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Aug 19, 2010
    971
    Greenville, NC
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    Jim
    I'll try blocking it and see what happens. I didn't realize it is 206. The driver side fan seed to be turning but not pulling much air. I'll check it more closely. Thanks
     
  4. bill.jones

    bill.jones Karting

    May 29, 2009
    64
    Adelaide, Australia
    Full Name:
    Bill Jones
    On my 2000 model 360, both fans come on together.
     
  5. mikeyr

    mikeyr Formula 3

    Jun 17, 2004
    2,154
    Santa Barbara, CA.
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    Mike Rambour
    I just went through this today, neither of my fans were working because I was low on fluid, after filling up with coolant only my right fan comes on, the car never gets hot enough for the left one to come on. I am pretty sure that is the way its supposed to work and not both at the same time at low temps.
     
  6. FerrariDublin

    FerrariDublin F1 Rookie

    Jun 14, 2009
    3,452
    Dublin, Ireland
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    Greg
    When you need your second fan you gotta' hope it's going to work. I'd be inclined to run the car till it gets hot enough for the second fan to come on. Suspect you could also kill the power to the first one to get the second one to come on easier.

    Peace of mind (for me) is knowing the second stage of the thermostat and the second fan are both working properly.
     
  7. mikeyr

    mikeyr Formula 3

    Jun 17, 2004
    2,154
    Santa Barbara, CA.
    Full Name:
    Mike Rambour
    I agree I do have to hope its working, neither were working because I was low on fluid to start with, really BAD design to have the sensors so high in the radiator that when you need the fans the most, they don't work because you are low on fluid. In my rather poor defense, it was a new car to me and it just went through a PPI so I did not check the coolant level.

    And the same subject, in my FIAT 124 Spider that I drove around for 34 years, I wired a switch and light on the dash to bypass the fans and force them on. The light would tell me when the fan was on and if I was stuck in traffic on a hot day I could even hit the switch and turn on the fan before it automatically came on, I could also turn it on when I turned off the ignition if I wanted. It was still automatic, just that I could "force" it if I wanted to, I am very seriously thinking of doing that on the 360, a little LED partially hidden somewhere to show when the fans are on and maybe even a toggle switch to turn them on separate of the automatic operation.
     
  8. Crowndog

    Crowndog F1 Veteran
    Rossa Subscribed

    Jul 16, 2011
    7,042
    Fairfield,Pa
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    Robert
    I did this on my '69 Jag XKE. Suggest using a relay then you can use a micro sized switch which will be easier to hide. There are also combined switch/indicator light buttons that are really small.
     
  9. mikeyr

    mikeyr Formula 3

    Jun 17, 2004
    2,154
    Santa Barbara, CA.
    Full Name:
    Mike Rambour
    with the modern stuff, you are right it should be easy to hide it all...guess I have to look into doing this.
     
  10. FerrariDublin

    FerrariDublin F1 Rookie

    Jun 14, 2009
    3,452
    Dublin, Ireland
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    Greg
    Personally I don't think you need this.

    If the radiators aren't full with coolant and allowing proper circulation no amount of fan activity will make much difference.

    What is important is that you test and ensure that both fans are capable of automatic operation. If there's a problem it will likely be a seized fan motor or a faulty thermostat switch either of which should be easily diagnosed and/or replaced.

    Don't get me wrong, a manual override switch to force fans ON can't do any harm but it requires human intervention and the danger is that it would be overlooked at the very time it is needed.
     
  11. mikeyr

    mikeyr Formula 3

    Jun 17, 2004
    2,154
    Santa Barbara, CA.
    Full Name:
    Mike Rambour
    I am not trying to override the automatic operation, I would be a fool to try that. The fans will still work as Ferrari intended, just that I can turn them on if I want to when in traffic on a hot day.

    Then again, once my cooling system is back to normal maybe this idea will seem stupid :)
     
  12. ferralc

    ferralc Formula 3
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Sep 2, 2010
    1,943
    San Diego CA
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    Fernando
    Sorry to revive an old thread but I like to perform a search before asking already answered questions.
    I saw today that only the passenger side fan was working, according to one post on this thread the drivers side starts working at higher temperature, but another post says both fans work at the same time.
    Can somebody please confirm which way radiator electrofans should work? My car is 2003 spider
     
  13. FerrariDublin

    FerrariDublin F1 Rookie

    Jun 14, 2009
    3,452
    Dublin, Ireland
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    Greg
    Not sure I know the definitive answer but my car runs its fan on the AC side at low speed a lot of the time. I feel this has more to do with cooling the condenser than the radiator calling in for coolant temperature.

    In the above scenario one can push the stop button on the HVAC panel and the fan will generally turn off pretty quickly.

    With AC set to Stop ...

    When coolant temperatures get relatively high I can get the fan on the opposite side going with nothing happening on the AC side. When temperatures get higher again I will have fans operating on both sides.

    Probably not a lot of help to you, but bottom line is you can have either the right or the left fan operating on its own or you can have both at the one time, all depending on whether or not AC is on or off and also coolant temp.
     
  14. Jey360

    Jey360 Rookie

    Aug 2, 2016
    1

    My 360 also had overheating issue and the reason was radiator fan not working at expected temperature. Looking at the car facing the front of the car where you can see the head lights, RH radiator has to be on at the temp around 80-90 degrees and LH one has to work below 80 range and also when heater is on. But it didn't turn on so the temp went over 110 and bulfed as it reaches 120 C degree. I changed thermostat but not solved, i checked all pipe lines but no problem, not a single driplet of leak, changed the expension tank cap but unsolved, cchecked Fuses but no problem. And finally Fan Actuator in the fuse box that looks like a relay was replaced and from that moment, the fan worked fine and overheating stopped. One final thing I was thinking to do was to change the head gasket which costs a fortune but thank god I found the problem... FYi
     
  15. Mercedes

    Mercedes Karting

    May 1, 2018
    67
    Full Name:
    Orlando mercid
    Where is the fan actuator that looks like a relay located.never heard of A actuator relay


    Sent from my SM-A600T1 using FerrariChat.com mobile app
     
  16. AndreB

    AndreB Karting

    Jun 8, 2018
    237
    HTX
    Full Name:
    Ndr
    Antone knows where is this actuator?


    Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
     

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