Kenlowe blows fuse

Been trying to set up a Kenlowe fan in my 300 TDI. Following the instructions I turned the adjustment knob fully clockwise, ran the engine so that the temperature gauge was halfway between N and H. Then slowly turned the adjuster knob back towards C. When it reached C, the fan blades jerked and stopped.
Temperature gauge pointer and fuel gauge pointer were now as in the ignition off position as fuse number 8 in the main fuse box had blown.
Checked all wiring connectors were in the right place. Checked fan motor free to turn - OK.
Changed the 10 Amp fuse and tried to set the knob to let the fan cut in again four or five times - fuses kept blowing.
Tried again with 15 Amp, 20 amp, 25 Amp and 30 Amp fuses - still blows them.
Fitted brand new genuine Land Rover OE temperature sender AMR 1425 -fuses still blow.
I can switch the fan on manually without any problems by the Kenlowe over ride switch and the fan runs nicely.
I have spoken to a Kenlowe engineer who did not know why there is a problem, but he's promised to look into it and get back to me.
Can anyone please help me out ?

Are you running the fan from a relay? only the switch feed comes from the dash on mine.

tottot said:

Are you running the fan from a relay? only the switch feed comes from the dash on mine.

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Yes, I have a relay which is part of the Kenlowe kit. I fitted their over ride switch also. everything is wired up as per the supplied wiring diagram.
I had a similar Kenlowe kit that I fitted to a Series III that I owned about 20 years ago and had no trouble with that at all.

Surely there should be no connection between the Kenlow and the vehicle fuse-box, the Kenlow has its own (adjustable) sensor does it not and then you provide a new (fused) supply and over-ride switch?
Unless you have linked into the existing temp sender for some reason I can't see why this is happening, you must have linked into the vehicle system somehow.

Litch said:

Surely there should be no connection between the Kenlow and the vehicle fuse-box, the Kenlow has its own (adjustable) sensor does it not and then you provide a new (fused) supply and over-ride switch?
Unless you have linked into the existing temp sender for some reason I can't see why this is happening, you must have linked into the vehicle system somehow.

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Apologies for not replying sooner but my lap top has been playing up and wpould not allow me to type. Anyway, yesterday I moved the power supply from where I had it connected. I had it wired to the power supply on the back of the rear wipe switch as I have no rear wiper and it was convenient for hiding the wiring.
So I moved the wire and attached it directly to the battery. Well it no longer blows number 8 fuse in the vehicle fuse box, but instead blows the 30 Amp in-line fuse for the Kenlowe.
Still waiting for the Kenlowe engineer to get back to me, but I am suspecting a faulty relay.

Sounds over complex to me. All you need is an X-Fan switch, some wire, a relay and a fan off ebay. Should set you back less than £50 and take 30-40 mins to install.

Electrical

300bhp/ton said:

Sounds over complex to me. All you need is an X-Fan switch, some wire, a relay and a fan off ebay. Should set you back less than £50 and take 30-40 mins to install.

Electrical

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Yes I know, but I have all those bits already. I've just sent of to CBS for a new relay so I'll see how that goes.

Have to say, I don't really understand how you are blowing fuses. Not vehicle ones.

The fan should be connected directly to the 12v via the relay. And the switching (manual switch or thermostatic) device then connected to the relay. When the switch is closed it tells the relay to send power to the fan.

300bhp/ton said:

Have to say, I don't really understand how you are blowing fuses. Not vehicle ones.

The fan should be connected directly to the 12v via the relay. And the switching (manual switch or thermostatic) device then connected to the relay. When the switch is closed it tells the relay to send power to the fan.

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I had the power supply connected to the power supply on the back of the rear screen wiper switch, because it was a convenient place to attach it and I have no rear screen wiper.
Therefore, when the fan cut in it must have fed back up the wiring harness to the centre of the dashboard and into the dash wiring back to the fuse box via the circuit feeding the fuel gauge and temperature guage blowing fuse 8 and killing the fuel gauge and the temperature gauge.
I received my new relay from CBS this morning less than 24 hours from ordering it on line. I'll swap it for the kenlowe one on Saturday and we'll see then if the original one is faulty. Diagnosis by substitution !

Electric fans suck a lot of amps. If you are trying to drive the fan from a wiper switch feed. Then I suspect this is unwise. And may run risk of melting wires and fire. But you may not be meaning this.

300bhp/ton said:

Electric fans suck a lot of amps. If you are trying to drive the fan from a wiper switch feed. Then I suspect this is unwise. And may run risk of melting wires and fire. But you may not be meaning this.

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I thought the unused feed for the rear screen wiper was safe enough, but I left it attached to the wiper switch so that it was tidy. This wire from the vehicle harness to the wiper switch is quite thin so there may have been a risk, but on checking this morning I found that fuse 8 also covers this feed. No wonder it was blowing .... only 10 Amp fuse.
Funny thing is the in-line 30 Amp fuse supplied by Kenlowe is listed as optional fitting.
That's the one that's blowing now that I have changed the power feed to one direct from the battery. Maybe if I remove this fuse and replace it with a simple wire feed, that may fix the problem.
Still waiting for an answer from Kenlowe engineer.

LifetimeLandy said:

I thought the unused feed for the rear screen wiper was safe enough, but I left it attached to the wiper switch so that it was tidy. This wire from the vehicle harness to the wiper switch is quite thin so there may have been a risk, but on checking this morning I found that fuse 8 also covers this feed. No wonder it was blowing .... only 10 Amp fuse.
Funny thing is the in-line 30 Amp fuse supplied by Kenlowe is listed as optional fitting.
That's the one that's blowing now that I have changed the power feed to one direct from the battery. Maybe if I remove this fuse and replace it with a simple wire feed, that may fix the problem.
Still waiting for an answer from Kenlowe engineer.

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Might save a lot of time and trouble to get rid and go back to viscous fan Or none at all, unless you do a lot of towing.
Most seem to have trouble with Kenlowe, don't think the new ones are very good

Turboman said:

Might save a lot of time and trouble to get rid and go back to viscous fan Or none at all, unless you do a lot of towing.
Most seem to have trouble with Kenlowe, don't think the new ones are very good

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+1 on the Kenlowe, another brand that used to be good but has been exploited.
A set of fans from a breaker is the best bet, most FWD cars have electric fans and a suitable stat costs less than £15.

I installed a Kenlowe fan on my 200tdi which worked perfectly well. Did a trip across the desert in Morocco without any problems. I had to change my Rad so at the same time I reverted back to the Viscous fan. I put the Kenlowe fan on thinking it might allow the engine to warm up quicker in the winter time and might improve the heaters in the Defender. Didn't make any difference what so ever. Plus the Viscous fan also cools down the intercooler which the kenlowe didn't.

Turboman said:

Might save a lot of time and trouble to get rid and go back to viscous fan Or none at all, unless you do a lot of towing.
Most seem to have trouble with Kenlowe, don't think the new ones are very good

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I still have the new viscous fan that came with the engine, but I don't plan to use it. I won't be doing any towing.
This morning I fitted the new relay and ran a test bringing the engine up to working temperature.... then the fuse blew again. So it seems the original relay must have been ok.
Decided to check the wiring. I disconnected the wire from the over-ride switch where it was on a piggy back spade connector on the relay ( where the power comes out of the relay towards the fan ). Ran the engine up to half way between normal and hot on the temperature gauge and adjusted the Kenlowe thermostat until the fan kicked in.
This time it kept running and didn't blow any fuses. Let it run for a few minutes and noticed that the temporary wire running from the battery to the relay was getting hot.
Switched everything off and disconnected the wire. This wire was a little too thin for what I was doing so next plan is to fit heavier wires where necessary then run it on test again.
It's a bit of a challenge now finding where to take the 2 power feeds from for the fan and another feed for the over-ride switch as they really need to be only live when the ignition is live.