Kenlowe fan problem

I had a major overheating problem in heavy traffic and realised the fans were not coming on. The light on the switch was coming on no problem and the fuse on the dash was not blown. Once the engine cools a bit the Kenlowe light goes goes off and I can drive again.

Reading the other threads they mentioned the relay. What realy do I need to replace this please. Can anyone mention anything else? Are there any other in line fuses.

Sounds straight forward enough. Trace the wires from the fans backward, they will probably be earthed close to the fans, once you have identified the ground follow the supply wire(s). The power feed should be attached to a relay, that should be the one you need to change but make sure you get the right relay with the correct continuous current rating.

Thanks Kev.

I was tracing the wire and I have some that has melted and separated. Do you think 3mm sq wire should do the trick to put a new section in. I have found a 40 amp in-line fuse in a fuse holder. What connectors do you suggest?

lorri789 said:

Thanks Kev.

I was tracing the wire and I have some that has melted and separated. Do you think 3mm sq wire should do the trick to put a new section in. I have found a 40 amp in-line fuse in a fuse holder. What connectors do you suggest?

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1: Fans draw a lot of current, melted wire says get bigger cables and make sure radiator is 100%, if the fans run for a long time the cables are going to melt and so might the relay (done that!). I currently have 40 amp relay on the fan circuit and so far so good.
2: Dunno about cable size - you need to know what the current draw is for each fan (assuming dual fan set up). An option might be to use two relays and two sets of cabling, will reduce current through the respective circuits and offer some degree of "redundancy" if one fan shorts.
3: Connectors? mmmmmm........... BIG ONES!

Watch the fuse rating there. 40 amp at 12v is like 480watts. what are the fans rated at?

HTH

It's a dual fan set up indeed. I have no idea what sort of rating the fans are, all I know is they are old. I read that 30amp fuses kept blowing for folk, so they just popped a larger fuse in.

I'll need to give it a better look at tomorrow as it's windy and snowy. I'll run some better auto wiring and go from there.

stick a viscous back on lorri.

3.5 efi said:

stick a viscous back on lorri.

Click to expand...

That's what I did.Never knew where I was with Kenlowes, sometimes they came on when water splashed on the controller. Eventually they stopped coming on when needed. No problems since I put the viscous fan and cowl back on, temp needle steady as a rock.

I might just do that. I'll keep my eyes peeled for one. the Kenlowe was on when I bought the Rangie.

one can buy from say car builders solutions a controler for the fans..

Thanks for that zen. it's nice weather this week so I'll get the wiring sorted first and then go from there.

Be careful just sticking a bigger fuse in. If the fuse is 40 amp it will not blow till over that and it's unlikely you have 50 amp cable to the fans which is probably why the cables melted due to a possible fault and to high fuse rating for the cables. Effectively your cables acted as the fuse.

I would wire seperately to reduce cable load.

I've been running with a single 16" pacet fan for 8 years now and never had an issue

Thanks I'm running 30amp fuse and see how i go.

I run a twin Kenlowe Fan setup.

The fans themselves, are very reliable and shift a lot of air when needed. The problem is with the 1950s electrics. A bymetalic spring switch with a coolant sensor you have to force in to a pipe. REALLY!?

After loads of problems and general unreliablility Ive done the following.

Over rated the electrical items IE
New 60A Relay
50A Cable
50A Fuse.

Ditched the crap thermostat thing and bought an in line heat sensative switch.https://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http...9QEwAQ&usg=AFQjCNEeIn8-S2rCr2Oca9igGEKh7U5KzA

It's been 100% since and the V8 lump stays lovely and cool.

Hmm there is no LIKE button or I AGREE button on this forum (Well not that I can find)

But I go 100% along with Georgey Dee's reply. Sound electrical advice.

Also just noticed Georgey you must be relatively local to me (I'm by Snetterton race track) where you at mate?

Yup, thanks guys. I took Gregs advice and have had no probs since.

We defo need a like button!!!

when i fixed my mates kenlowe that hadn't been used for a while i found it would keep blowing the fuses but not spin. seems some crap inside of it was causing a short.

blasted it with air, and hand span it to get it going a few times and it seems to be fixed (this was a year ago)

Yep, I did pull a fair bit of crud out.

Just to add to some very helpful suggestions, the x fan controller may be worth looking at, and has been said making sure the fans run properly .
The x fan switch and a relay, couple of fuse holders and all should be well.