Hi, I've been reading the threads about radiator fan issues on the Testarossa & would appreciate any thoughts & suggestions to help me diagnose the particular symptoms on my 1990 Testarossa as they seem to be a little different. The fans have been perfect & predictable for the past 10+ years. Once the temp hits almost precisely 195 they come on, the temp gradually drops & then the fans turn off. The car will gradually warm up again with a bit of traffic & this process repeats itself. My last two trips to a cafe about 30 mins drive away with outside temperatures about 25C/80F have had the same symptoms: On the way to the cafe my car gradually warms up to 195, the fans come on & it cools down as normal. After a break for coffee, on the way home it gradually warms back up but keeps going above 195 and by the time I get home & stop it is close to the tick above 195 & the fans are completely silent. I turn the car off, turn back on without starting & the temp is high & the fans are still off. If I restart the car the fans still don't come on. As it has repeated this on the last two outings & the fan works fine on the outward journey I presume the fans themselves are fine. It sounds like something is not working when it gets hot for a longer period but then works again a few weeks later during a different outing. I would really appreciate any thoughts & suggestions. Cheers, Gary.
2 options of failing: fuse board temperature switch in the left radiator try to jump the both fan relays and see if the fans are working. I think they will do. then connect the 2 wires at the temperature switch and see/hear if the fans working I think corrosion in this temperature switch ???
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I think there is a separate relay for each side? If so, then as both fans work after I leave home but then both fail to come on later, I presume it can't be the relays? Anything I should look for on the fuse panel that would cause all fans to stop working part way through each journey? Thanks again. Gary.
You're diving in too deep, IMO. Easiest first thing to is just connect the two terminals together on the thermoswitch in the bottom of the LH radiator (simulating a hot/closed thermoswitch) when you have the problem (no fans with hot temperature shown on the dash gauge) with the key "on": If the fans come "on" = replace the thermoswitch. If the fans don't come "on" = then dig deeper (and glad to comment more if you wind up here). (Not impossible for trouble at the fuse-relay panel, or relays, to take out both fans, but most often those only take out one fan = you have a higher probability that it is something in the thermoswitch system. Of course, it never hurts to unplug the horizontal white connectors at the bottom of the fuse-relay panel and inspect them for any burned/frazzled terminals.)
Hi Steve, thanks for the thoughts - I will give that a try first. The only strange thing is that the fans do come on after I leave home & the car warms up for the first time, its only later on that they don't. Then the next trip is the same, they work initially & then don't work later.
WooHoo - successful diagnosis! Steve - thanks so much for your suggestion. As it only failed well into the drive (luckily predictably) I ended up connecting a switch to the purple-black wire as per your very helpful photo in this older message: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/testarossa-radiator-fan-issues.144730/page-2 With the key turned on I flicked the switch & the radiator fans on both sides come on perfectly. I just took the car for another drive & sure enough the fans worked on their own on the drive to the cafe but on the way home the temperature went past 195 & didn't turn on so I flicked the switch & the fans came on manually. So this proves it is definitely the thermostat switch on the radiator. I notice in one of the parts websites that it says the new Ferrari part 168008 has a lower temperature 171 - 180F than the original. Are there generic versions of this sensor, or is it best to get the genuine Ferrari part for something so important? Thanks so much Steve & Joe - I was getting worried about fuse panel issues so this was a great outcome! Its a very cool 25C here in Australia (being middle of Winter) but we really need working radiator fans in Summer! Cheers, Gary.
this is what was my thinking first and have written it in post 2 here good to know what was the failure. enjoy the car
Glad that you found that earlier post as that's an easier location than getting under the car to make the connection. Your symptom of both water fans coming and going was/is much more a sign of something wrong in the (shared) thermoswitch system rather than in the separate downstream power stuff running each fan motor independently. Not important to use the F part. The original part number of 101507 shows that it been used on many F models since the early 1970s. There should be information in both the 308 and TR part cross-reference threads, but that's your homework. Oh, you should still be worried about that (unless you've gone to one of the better replacements) .
