Radiator fan switch
The submitter wrote: “During a road trip, the radiator fan crapped out and the minivan overheated. My old man used a household extension cord and a wall switch, wired it up, and viola, now you can turn on your radiator fan with the flip of a switch!”
11 Comments to Radiator fan switch
Leave a comment
Wouldn’t it be easier to jumper out the malfunctioning switch, so the fan is on all the time? Sure, it would take a little longer to get heat in the winter, but you wouldn’t have to worry about forgetting to flip the switch and blowing your head gasket.
that would work assuming the hot wire you selected is switched with the ignition, otherwise it would kill the battery after you turned the car off. I am surprised he figured out this repair on the side of the road.
This was all done on the fly. The old man never disappoints. He also came up with the “bird trap”.
Betcha it’s a Dodge Caravan. Worst POS I ever owned.
There is a lot to be said about older cars…belt driven fans..sure you lost horsepower but you never had to worry about this crap..I’d rather deal with a broken belt than some dam electronic switch.
I would hope this is just a temporary measure… if it is, good thinking on the fly.
This site constantly amazes me, what ppl will do to save a few lousy bucks.
Yes this is a Dodge Caravan..my van in fact lol love my dad for doing this lol hes the best. It is a temporary fix however it’s still like this at the moment till I get $ to get everything fixed but still working great! When you are driving you don’t need the fan on it works fine but after you idol a while it will overheat so that’s when I have to flip the switch and if I turn the van off with the fan running it will drain the battery. I don’t mind it works till I get the $ to fix it lol.
i had to wire a switch for a radiator fan on my old 86 mustang. mine was cleaner job than that. mounted a little toggle under the dash. was cheaper than a new coolant temp switch.
My 97 Dodge Neon also has the same problem, but same as like2bcold, it’s a much cleaner fix as it’s wired under the dash. When I first got the car off of craigslist, it was a much hastier fix. We took it to a shop to get it fixed, but it stopped working again within 2 weeks. So my dad rewired the manual switch and cleaned up the previous job. He even put in a switch that has a light when the fan is on so I don’t forget.
voila not viola