How to replace a faulty twin fan motor

[jay8086]

Hope this helps someone.
This is a guide to how I swapped a faulty fan motor and blades from one side of the twin fans on my 306. If both fans are faulty repeat the process on both sides.
The first thing I’d say is this is just a ‘how I did mine’ not a workshop manual so take care, read up on the process, disconnect the battery, etc. Oh and the standard ain’t my fault if things go wrong trying this disclaimer. I also changed the relays between the fans and the ‘Bitron’ unit as Bitron made relays aren’t sealed and G. Cartier ones are. The ‘Bitron’ unit can cause fan issues so since I knew the other twin fan I was taking spares from was a fully working setup it made sense to change it too.

Guides to read before this

peugeotlogic.com made an excellent guide on the 306’s cooling fan operation principle. It’s very useful in fault finding the problem with the twin fans.
http://www.peugeotlogic.com/workshop/wsh...fanop1.htm

A guide on how to take the slam panel off – it’s in the Haynes manual and described below.

Ambrosio’s clear and easy to follow guide to removing the front bumper. It has photos showing exactly where the nuts and bolts are.
http://306oc.co.uk/forum/thread-7361.html

This link is from the 306gti6 forum. Post #5 is a very easy to follow way to fault find faulty twin fans.
http://www.306gti6.com/forum/showthread.php?id=111406
It’s also pasted below for reference:-
When you pull the brown sensor, both fans should kick in on low speed then a few seconds later both should go to high speed if alls well. If you only get the left hand one or none, check the relays which are located behind your grill in a funny square shaped black box above/between the fans. Inside you will see two green relays and one black relay box. Pull each one out to see if they have shorted out (maybe the right hand one IIRC), and or replace with some working ones. Failing that unscrew the connector which is on the bottom right of the rad and clean the connectors best you can. Apart from the above is where you have to get the fans out and test them to see if they are working/or change the Bitron unit which is located in the front left wheel arch at the top left as you look into the arch.

Tools needed

-Torx (T15 or T20)
-Socket set(s)
-A ratchet
-10mm socket [for bumper removal]
-8mm socket [for fog light removal]
-A selection of different length extender bars for the ratchet
-Philips screwdriver
-Flat blade screwdriver
-Stubby flat blade screwdriver
-A short handled ratchet with 10mm socket with a short handle and socket [this has to slide between the fan blades and squeeze between the back of the fan motor and the ac radiator]
-A 10mm spanner that’s quite short
-Needle nose pliers
-Side cutters



That may not be exactly what you end up using but it’s a good start.

What to do

Fully read the guide on how the fans work. Taking the fans out, although not as hard as I though, is still a pain and should be the last thing changed unless you know they are at fault. The one I replaced wouldn’t turn so dead fan motor.
When your tracing the fault I’d advice checking in this order, dash fuses first, under bonnet fuses, relays between the twin fans as getting the slam panel off is pretty easy, coolant sensors [there are 3 on mine], the Bitron unit, and lastly the fan motors.

-Dash fuses – These can vary between models and ages so best check your handbook although the guide from Peugeotlogic states what they should be but check your handbook or the Haynes manual for which fuse does what circuit.
In my 2001 phase 3 306 left fan relay and control unit are fuse 9, the right fan relay and change over relay are fuse 5 and the control unit is fuse 4.



-Under bonnet fuses – Same deal as the dash fuses. On my 306 its fuses 37 and 40 [fuse 39 is a spare].



-Relays between the twin fans – To get to the relays you need to take the slam panel off. It’s described in the Haynes manual on page 11.19 – 11.20 but I’ll describe it. Undo the bolt in the middle. On the top look for the 4 black circles, the middle’s pull out using something like side cutters then pull the other bit out. Slide the slam panel forward lifting the bonnet catch. The hockey sticks will need to come out too. The relays are in a triangular box between the fans. There’s a clip at the top and bottom that will snap but pierce the 2 circles on the relay box cover and use appropriate sized screws to hold the cover on. Check the relays and replace any that are faulty or corroded, I’d recommend G. Cartier relays over the Bitron ones as the G. Cartier relays I replaced mine with were sealed [old ones weren’t].




-Coolant sensors – Depending on your model you will have 2 or 3. If the temp gage is working then the blue connector sensor is ok. If both or either fans switch on when the engine reaches 97 or 107 degrees the brown coolant sensor / fan switch works. Disconnecting the brown sensor should switch the fans on. The green connector sensor is for the engine ECU. It’s linked into the air con, fuelling, and other stuff. I only knew mine was dead because pug planet told me so. You can test the sensor with a multi-meter, no idea what the actual value should be but it shouldn’t be open circuit or dead short.



-The Bitron unit – In Ambrosio’s guide to removing the front bumper look at the 4th photo down. The Bitron unit is behind the curved pipe. It’s not always made by Bitron, I replaced mine with the G. Cartier made one.



The fan motor – to get one or both of these out you will need the slam panel and front bumper off the car. Look at the above guides for Ambrosio’s guide to removing the front bumper. Look at the top of the radiator and find the 2 clips each side that hold the fan cowling and radiator in place. Lift the clips and push the fans forward and the push the radiator back.



Make sure the battery or fan relays are disconnected then use the small ratchet and short 10mm socket. Reach between the fan blades and start undoing the nut on the back. Use the 10mm spanner to hold the bolt at the front in place while undoing the 3 nuts at the back.




If you’re getting too close to the a/c radiator when undoing the 3 nuts at the back just push the radiator back a bit more. Once all 3 nuts are undone and out work the motor loose and if it still won’t shift pull hard at the bottom, it’s where the connection pins are.



Once the new fans in and bolted in place test that the fans are all working before putting the bumper etc back on.



Refit everything if it all works.

Enjoy

[Poodle]

When you describe how to remove the "slam panel" i think you mean the grill. The slam panel is the big black piece of metal spanning the front of the car that the bumper and lights bolt to, it's shown as still in place in all of your pics. You may actually find it easier to take the slam panel off as it goes, instead of removing the bumper you can undo the four bolts holding the slam panel on (one on each wing and one through the front plate on both sides of the chassis), unplug your lights, release clips and bonnet catch and lift off the front end in one piece, no need to remove the bumper separately. You'll find this also give you much better access to the fans.

If you disconnect the main loom connection to the fans you can take the whole fan unit out of the vehicle, which will make it a lot easier to tackle the motors. You just need to lift the rad and condenser slightly so the spigots on the bottoms are clear of the plastic fan cowling, then slide the whole housing forwards to take it out, the rad and condenser can just be sat back down on the cross-member until you're ready to refit the fans.

If you decide to stick to pushing the condenser and fans apart i would advise caution, the condenser has hard pipes attached that won't appreciate being twisted, so make sure these are unclipped from the chassis and be careful not to bend the bottom of the fan cowling too much as it's possible to snap it (been there, really annoying lol).

[Magenta Sunset]

may I suggest that if you want better access to the motor bolts, you can undo the centre screw to each fan blade.
NB; these screws are 'reverse' threaded!