Well Thom,
You have raised a really good question, no the unit is not factory, all
Triumphs used a mechanical fan. The slot you refer to is, I suspect is an
adjustment to the temp sending unit. You may run a set of jumpers straight
to the fan and test the unit, and yes they do go bad. My son had two new
units go bad on his truck with in 3 months, he was not a happy camper. My
suggestion to you is to find a replacement mechanical fan and re-install it,
that way you don't have to relay on a relay to make the fan work.
Larry Zink
Z Group Racing and Performance
Houston, Texas
----- Original Message -----
From: thom kuby <thomkuby@iwvisp.com>
To: <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, November 06, 1999 11:04 AM
Subject: Electric fans/TR3s...help wanted.
>
> Greetings,
>
> I just joined up to this list...I am currently helping a friend of mine
> with his TR3...I think this car is a '59, maybe a '60, but I'll find out.
>
> I took this car in to do some badly needed front end work on it. My
friend
> is a retired gent (my neighbor) and I thought I'd help him out. I also
took
> this task on because old english cars fascinate me...in a perverse way I
> guess; I myself drive, restore, and race old Porsches, on a regular
basis...
>
> Anyway, when I took the TR out for a drive to evaluate the front end, I
> overheated...damn near immediately. Got it home, saw that the upper
> radiator hose was bad...OK...changed it, put everything back together,
> filled it up with coolant/water and tried it again. This time I stayed in
> my garage...good thing too.
>
> Now, here's the deal:
> 1. the car is fitted with an electric fan...
> 2. there is a plastic rocker switch, hooked to fan, beneath dash...
> 3. When I started the car, it went to 185-190 degrees very quickly (I
> understand 185 degrees is about right?)
> 4. But the fan never kicked in...I tried the switch several times-no
> difference.
> 5. there is a slotted shaft sticking out of the fan's control unit(?),
> adjacent to the radiator, it looks like an adjustment of some
sort...what's
> up with that?
> 6. do these things crap out?
> g. how do you test them? I was going to apply juice, straight off the
> battery to the fan motor,just to see if there's any current getting to it.
> 7. Are these things available anywhere? this setup sure doesn't look
> "factory" to me...
> 8. Ed (the owner) only drives this car to the local golf course and
> back...total running time of maybe ten minutes max (each way - small town
> we live in) He has NOT heard the fan run for a long time...if at all. So
> I think he's never in the car long enough, to have experienced the over
> heating...actually, he was afraid to drive the car any further than that,
> because of the front end problems, and that's where I enter this picture.
>
> Being a (air-cooled) Porsche guy...I know zero about these fans, and
> related bugs etc...
>
> So, I seek the collective wisdom of you more experienced Triumph Owners.
I
> really don't want to waste my time "chasing ghosts". Any comments,
> suggestions, guidance are all certainly welcome - looking forward to
> hearing from some of you. This is gonna be fun. The TR3 is fun, a hoot
to
> drive - I just gotta fix it.
> Thanks in advance; I appreciate your time.
>
> Cheers
> Thom Kuby
> Porsche freak, with a TR3 in his garage
>
>
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