Radiator cooling fan

[vito84]

Hi guys
how can you see in the picture my lotus europa cooling fan and switch thermal (N°2)are unconnect, and the water temperature gauge doesn't work.My questions are:
where the water temperature gauge take the temperature?
How's the connection of the thermal switch N°2(the N°1 i think is not an original part of the Europa)?
There's someone that can post a picture of your own car cooling fan and switch connection?
Thank you to all

[EuropaTC]

Hi there,

Firstly, is it a Renault or Twin Cam engine ?  If it's a TC, then the gauge sender is in the engine bay, an electrical sender plugged into the head IIRC. If you have the TC then I can photograph mine tomorrow morning and post up.

The cooling fan is an odd one because it doesn't look standard.  The sensor plugged into the top hose looks very much like the aftermarket Kenlow ones which were popular here in the 70s/80s (and probably still are for all I know).  Anyway, I have the same sort of arrangement on the Elan which has a sensor in the top hose going to a sort of control box thing which has a rotary dial from where you can set the temperature at which the fan cuts in at. There's also an override switch in the circuit to bypass the sensor if you want to. 

If that is the case, then I have the instructions for mine and they are probably similar. I've posted the general arrangement & wiring, I can do the full 4 pages if this is what you have there.

Brian

[vito84]

hi Brian
My car is a lotus Europa twin cam.

[EuropaTC]

Ok, here's a shot of my car and the temperature sender for the gauge.  As you can see it's screwed into the head next to the heater valve and the wiring disappears into the loom.  I'm hesitant to state what the colour of the wire is simply because mine is old and stained, so I'll no doubt get it wrong. I'd check with the wiring diagrams on the forum if I were you.

I can't help with the otter switch in the radiator, I do have one but it's never been connected in my ownership. Again, Joe's links to the wiring diagrams will be the best bet there.

Brian

[vito84]

ok in my car the wire connect to the sender is blu and i need to check the gauge because there aren' t blu cables.
however your car color it' s fantastic and the engine cover it' s the same of mine. The car come from uk and the numero chassis is 7111211128P.

[jbcollier]

The wire is green with a blue tracer (GU on wiring diagrams).

http://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/cms/files/colour_code_for_vehicle_wiring_-_new_order_2.pdf

[Grumblebuns]

The pictures show the fan and radiator setup on my TCS. The fan is not original but the wiring from the fan is. Per the wiring diagram, power flow is through the fan, the Otter switch to ground when the Otter switch closes which then starts the fan.

Whoever did the wiring splices for your fan did a crappy job. I also added a shot of my coolant temperature sender. The wire color is green. If there was ever a blue tracer, it has long faded.   

[BDA]

Very clean and nicely done, Joji!

[Grumblebuns]

Give credit to the previous owner, he did a great job. My only contribution was the ceramic coated exhaust in the second picture. I have a new Otter switch on order to replace my burned out one. Not looking forward to draining and filling the coolant system again.

Joji Tokumoto

[jbcollier]

If that is the push in style switch, make sure you have a new rubber as well.

Use plastic wrap under the rad cap to seal the system.  Then, if you work quickly, you should lose very little coolant.

[Grumblebuns]

Good tip on using plastic film under the cap. Plan on replacing the switch today. We'll see how much coolant leaks out using the process.

Joji Tokumoto
Fallbrook, Ca

[BDA]

Just to echo John's comments, I replaced my screw-in switch (without the plastic film - nice idea) and the coolant loss wasn't too bad. I think you'll lose a lot less than you think. You will have to burp the system again, though of course.