Citroen C3 2003 1.4 cooling fan problem

[dennis9112]

Hi, I purchased the above car a couple of months ago from a dealer with just one months warranty, I took the car for a test drive which was fine ,however on my way back I got stuck in traffic and the car was running at 3 bars on the temp gauge when all of a sudden it jumped to red ,I took it back and they replaced the fan with a donor fan from another C3 they had on the forecourt, I then checked to see if the fan worked and it did,however a few days ago when stuck in traffic on the motorway it happened again were it jumped straight to red and started beeping, I surmised that the fan was not cutting in , I had to keep turning the engine off and restarting ,once I got moving again the the engine cooled down ,my car as AC and when I switch it on the fan does not go round,i put a volt meter at the plug with two thick wires going to the fan and it was showing 12v,could anyone please help on this matter as it realy leaves me thinking what journeys I can do just because the fan wont work .Thanks

[Lighty]

Worth checking the thermostat, had one in This week with an intermittent problem like this but it had a switch built into the housing, not sure if yours has on an 03 plate

[uncle buck]

Dennis,
not sure if your car has one but if it has the cooling fan resistor could be the cause, it was on our Xsara.

Take a read through both pages of the thread in the link below it may help.

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... =3&t=23877" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Cheers.

[addo]

Early C3s need the cooling fan replaced by one with a helper relay. New this is very dear, from a breaker it will be affordable. Look for the giveaway grey relay near the top of the fan.

It's the character of the early design cooling fan, to give false alarms.

[Lighty]

The cooling fan for the C3 comes complete with all this attached, along with its own little ECU , in excess of £200 from psa

[Richard_C]

Can't help with advice on fixing fan control, but if you find yourself in traffic and overheating you might just get temporary relief by turning heater up full fan on high and open the windows. The heater matrix is a small radiator. Had to do that in my Hillman Hunter going up steep hills in summer, back in the 70's.....