Car's gone bonkers

Vertigo

Vertigo

Vertigo

Soldato
Joined
28 Dec 2003
Posts
16,502
Just got back and upon exiting the car I noticed that the engine fan was still going. Now I know this is supposed to happen if the engine is particularly hot and needs more cooling but firstly I wasn't caning it particularly and secondly I've never known the fan to stay on in this weather, only in summer.

Sure enough, ten minutes later and it's still going. I've tried starting and stopping the engine a couple of times but no joy. Will check it again in a while but it looks like the electronics have gone bonkers and it's going to be on all night. Thankfully it's not an irritating alarm type of noise that will annoy the neighbours all night but I could well wake up to a flat battery :(

Don't you just love German build quality :rolleyes:
 
Audi A3 2.0TDI

If it hasn't turned off in another 30 mins or so I may go for a spin to see if it helps. Not sure what else I can do really.
 
Look in the relay panel on the left side fender well in the engine bay. There will be a relay for the radiator fans. Pull the relay, give it a sharp rap on the fender, then put it back. Sometimes Bosch relays can get stuck with a abit of gunk on the contacts, and a sharp jarring will knock it loose.

If all else fails, just take the relay out when the car is not in use until you can get it into a garage for diagnostics and repair.
 
Mickey_D said:
Look in the relay panel on the left side fender well in the engine bay. There will be a relay for the radiator fans. Pull the relay, give it a sharp rap on the fender, then put it back. Sometimes Bosch relays can get stuck with a abit of gunk on the contacts, and a sharp jarring will knock it loose.

If all else fails, just take the relay out when the car is not in use until you can get it into a garage for diagnostics and repair.
Click to expand...
Will go and have a look now
 
The fan probably has its own thermistor, when mine failed it just left the fan off permantly and I got a HGF in heavy city traffic :( Yours is probably better designed and just stays on permantly if failure should occur. A flat battery beats HGF :)

Take the negative lead off the battery for the night, make sure you have any radio code, etc that may be lost by doing that
 
ARG, ****** Audi :mad:

The manual notes the positions of the fuses for both the radiator fan sensor (10 amp) and the output stage (50 amp), yet pulling either of these does nothing at all.

There are three relays in there (with space for a fourth) but the book says nothing about their functions. I've tried pulling each of them and no joy :(

I'm not sure about disconnecting the battery, the connections look bloody solid so I'll have to root around in the garage for a suitably sized spanner. What precautions should I take if I decide to disconnect it? Am I liable to get sparks and such? As you can probably tell, an engine bay is an alien world to me :)

I don't care about the radio code as if needs be I shall take it straight to the dealer and tell them to sort it out, my main concern is the alarm. How is disconnecting the battery going to affect this? Not sure I want to leave it without the alarm on all night.
 
I can have a look but light is limited out there.

My previous post was a tad confused with regard to the fuses. The fan sensor (F8) does nothing when pulled, but the output stage fuse position is actually empty!
 
You just need a normal spanner or pliers to lossen the bolts on the terminal connectors, its really simple. They are only there to stop it coming loose with the engine on.

If you worried about leaving it without an alarm, you could remove the battery alltogether for the night. There will be another clamp & bolt to secure the battery itself, again its just a simple thing there as a precaution.
 
I doubt you would be able to lock the car without the battery so you may want to remove bits and bobs from it too.

Somewhere will be a Fan fuse. Just pull that out.

I imagine that a thermometer or the control module is busted.
 
Right, battery disconnected and fan has finally stopped :D

Tesla, tell me about it! The boot isn't a problem as it's a microswitch and servo so you can't open it at all without power. The passenger door however, has no lock on it, either on the outside or the inside. After disconnecting the battery I found I had no way of locking the passenger door. The procedure then went as follows:

  • Re-connect the battery
  • Get in the driver's seat and lock the whole car from the inside using the central locking, which obviously doesn't activate the alarm
  • Use the driver's inside door handle to open the door, which only unlocks that door
  • Disconnect the battery again
  • Close bonnet
  • Close driver's door and lock with key
Strewth!
 
Vertigo

Ring Audi Assistance they have a free phone number its normally on your tax disc holder see if they can help!

If you can't find it i will go and grab the number of mine.

P.S if it isn't on your tax disc holder check your manual under useful numbers

Velocity
 
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