[Yellow Campervan]

My van has the wax stat which opens and closes shutters on the back of the cooling fans.

The stat is seized so the shutters remain closed. The stat is on back order so the garage has disconnected one side and jammed the vents open on the passenger side fan.

So, should I get both fans jammed open, should I change the back of the fans for the later model which apparently don't have vents or should I get the garage to order a new stat and hope the rest of the mechanism is OK. Don't know when this part will be available.

This is part of the over engineering of T4s. (They made them well in those days which is why they last so long) Do these vents being open or closed bring any advantage, presumably there for a fast warm up of the engine and then should be open.

Advice please. Thanks

 

[Brookster]

My van has the wax stat which opens and closes shutters on the back of the cooling fans.

The stat is seized so the shutters remain closed. The stat is on back order so the garage has disconnected one side and jammed the vents open on the passenger side fan.

So, should I get both fans jammed open, should I change the back of the fans for the later model which apparently don't have vents or should I get the garage to order a new stat and hope the rest of the mechanism is OK. Don't know when this part will be available.

This is part of the over engineering of T4s. (They made them well in those days which is why they last so long) Do these vents being open or closed bring any advantage, presumably there for a fast warm up of the engine and then should be open.

Advice please. Thanks

Just remove the shutters thats what i did T:

 

[Skippyroouk]

The shutter actuator is a discontinued item, was unavailable over 2 years ago when I had to replace mine die to hamfistedness I:

They can be freed up, requires use of a sharp Stanley blade on the inside edges of they are catching on the fan motor housing. Some will say you don't need them, but VW think you do need them T:

 

[JonCa]

Given that I see mine open and closed and I don't seem to have any running temp issues I'm guessing they meet a need. probably more useful in winter months when you don't want the over-cooling that can occur if the wind just blows straight through.

I'd be guessing but I suspect the fans without vents are normally mounted on a different radiator with a different cooling efficiency.

 

[Skippyroouk]

Given that I see mine open and closed and I don't seem to have any running temp issues I'm guessing they meet a need. probably more useful in winter months when you don't want the over-cooling that can occur if the wind just blows straight through.

I'd be guessing but I suspect the fans without vents are normally mounted on a different radiator with a different cooling efficiency.

Exactly , that is why when I bought a new rad for mine there was a few different sizes to choose from T:

 

[T4Bruce]

This is what I did with mine .Disconnect the wax stat Move the rad into the service position and remove the shutter assy. clean everything and I sprayed with dry lubricant. Refitted and I now use the lever which previously connected to the stat to open or close them manually.i.e. leave them closed for short runs in winter but open them in summer.

 

[manwithtool]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191970193497?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

These any good ?

 

[Or_GazM]

My Norwegian van, which often has to start at -20C doesn't (and never had) these "Thermo Vanes".

However, it does have an Eberwhotsit under the wheel arch that fires up at 5C to warm the engine faster.

I'd go for removing the whole assembly, and just put up with the longer warm up time.....or put card board in front of the grill...Mini style in winter!

 

[Skippyroouk]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191970193497?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

These any good ?

The OP has a short nose van

 

[JonCa]

Those bay fans also look like they are closed so wax stat may be suspect.

 

[manwithtool]

If you're referring to my post the fans are mine and I put a bit of heat on them and they opened ok. Weird design and I can't see the point really. Still they're there if wanted.

 

[JonCa]

Apologies to manwithtool , just that they looked shut in the picture and would not have expected to see that.

 

[Geodawg]

Apologies to manwithtool , just that they looked shut in the picture and would not have expected to see that.

why not? they are operated by a wax switch. so they won't open uless it's hot enough to melt the wax to flip the switch

 

[Yellow Campervan]

Van has been for a service, so I got the garage to look at the fans... The mechanism was really corroded so they took the vanes out of one fan and jammed the vanes on the other one open.. Plenty of airflow for the summer now..

It seems that most people who have this problem, just remove the vanes..I know the engine will take a bit more time to warm up now..

 

[pgsi]

Doesnt the thermostat stop the flow of coolant through the radiator until the engines up to temp anyway? so cant see it being much different without them.
My 94 never had them from factory by the look of it.