Servicing the Radiator Fan

My radiator fan had been giving a strange kik kik kik sound whenever it switches off. Finally decided to open it up and check the condition of the fan. Btw, a check with a few spare part shop, the original fan costs about RM550+-.

Removing the fan is very easy. There are 3 bolts holding it. undo the bolts and take the fan out.  

Location of 2 out of the 3 bolts holding the fan assembly. The third bolt is located on the bottom right

It was quite tricky to un-clip the fan wire. First pull out the red part a bit, the press the yellow part and the clip will pop out fully.

Undo this small nut to remove the fan blade.

 This was the problem. A plastic bag had found its way into the fan motor. Removed the plastic and saw that the fan bearing was out of grease. Unfortunately its not possible to replace the bearing. Since the bearing was in ok condition. I decided to open up the fan motor and service it.

I really wonder how this happened.

After removing the plastic, saw the bearing was void of grease. This bearing is riveted onto the the motor body. No point trying to change the bearing. I don't think I'd be able to find anybody willing to change the bearing for me. The cheapest solution I found was to get a fan motor from a Proton Tiara. Price is RM80. Since this bearing still looked ok, I decided to open up the motor, clean it up, and re grease the bearing.

All opened up and ready to be cleaned. Sorry no more pictures of the cleaning process. My hands were too dirty to snap photos. I used petrol + paint brush to clean the motor. Then used compressed air to blow out dirt and to dry it. Put fresh grease on the bearing. I did the cleaning at my mechanic's place, since I don't have an air compressor at home. It is possible to replace the fan carbon. After cleaning, fixed back everything and the fan is as good as new.  :-)

Fan Resistor OBD code P0485

You know the TV series Ghost Whisperer? We’ll for the pass 2 days I’ve been experiencing Car Whisperer...lol.

While driving, the temp meter would suddenly max out with the stop light flashing then return back to normal. This would happen a few times a day while driving or when starting the car. Upon checking, the radiator fan only turns on high speed. It wont run on low speed. Testing the fan using PP2000 confirmed this.

A scan with PP2000, showed error  Code P0485. Possible causes of this :-

1. Fan relay

2. Fan Resistor

3. Wiring harness to the fan, relay or resistor is out of order.

This error code generally happens when the BSI detects the fan is not functions as it should.

So I began check the relays first. There are 2 relays, one for high speed and one for low speed. The relays are located beside the fan, happily hiding behind the panel.

To access the relays, you'll have to remove the grill first.

 Tested both relays and both were working fine.

The 2 relays. One for the high speed circuit and the other low speed.

 

Next to test was the fan resistor. Took it out , tested it with a multimeter and confirmed this was spoil. 

The resistor's location. Replace it and the fan works fine. Bought the fan resistor for RM70.

Glove Box Light

You know the saying, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”. Well, after months of wanting to do it, today I finally got down to actually doing it. Fixing my glove box light.

Items that you’d need :-

1.       Glove box light.

2.       Switch

3.       Wires.
 

[Update 5/10/2012]

I found the correct wiring for the glove box light. It a yellow connector located under the carpet behind the airbag/pre-tensioner ecu.

 So I rewired the lighting using this connector.
 

Removed the glove box. I also removed to front facia to make it easier to wire – up the light. Wiring was quite simple. For the power (+ve) I tapped from the cigarette lighter. And grounded it to the metal piece which holds the dashboard.

+ve taken from the grey colored wire.

Had to cut a bit to fit my light.

All in Place. Time to fix back everything.

Working Perfectly!!

Living At Pajam

Sorry Guys, this time, this post is not about my baby lion.

Most probably you found this page because you were looking for more information on the little town of Pajam, planning to shift here or settle down?

I’ve been living here for almost 2 years now. Overall, this is a nice quiet town to live in. But  I wished there was info online or someone to speak to  3 years ago to help me decide on my house purchase here.

Here I list a few important factors you should know before deciding on your purchase.

1.       The IBS system used to build the house does give excellent finishing. Nevertheless it has lots of drawbacks too. Many houses in my phase have walls which are not straight (dinding senget). In my house, a few walls are not straight. It’s quite hard to notice, but when you try to fix wall cabinets, picture frames, then you will definitely notice how crooked the walls are.

2.      I have had 2 doors frames changed because they were also crooked, which cause the doors not to close properly. From what I gathered from talking to the workers, most houses have this problem because the developer rushed to build these houses. Walls which are not straight is normal. I received my house keys about 3 months ahead of schedule. 

3.      These walls are not flexible; hence after a month or two, it starts to crack. Although the developer repairs the crack every time a complaint is made, sadly, these repairs does not last long. And if the cracks are bad, water seeps thru whenever it rains. So for the past 2 years, I’ve been having never ending wall cracks and leaks.

    This Crack appears on every single house here, its the wall where houses join each other.

This is my neighbour's house, end lot.

4.       House break-ins are very rampant in Pajam.  Houses which are not in a guarded and gated community has had many break-ins. Google “pecah rumah pajam” and you’ll understand. 

5.       If you have school going children, there are only 2 schools in Pajam, Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (T) Tun Sambanthan, and Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Kampong Baru Pajam. I’m not sure if there are any plans to build any new schools around here. You’ll have to look at either Nilai or Mantin for alternatives.

6.       There’s a rubbish dump(tempat pelupusan sampah) at Pajam town. 3 years ago when I decided to buy a house here, the developer assured me that this rubbish dump would be closed down soon. Now 3 years later and it is still there.  To locate it, drive pass Pajam town, heading towards Mantin. You’ll come to College Heights. Landmark is some white colour shop houses on the left. To the right you’ll see a row of old single storey shops. The rubbish dump is located behind these shops.  Almost every other night, there will be a horrible stench in the air. It is much worse when it rains. It’s so bad that when the smell comes I would have to run and close all my doors and windows. Sometimes the smell would come in the middle of the night, waking me up from my sleep. This problem is very bad and its solution does not seem near. I had no choice but to aircond the whole house so that we would be able to get a good night’s sleep without waking up in the middle of the night to this horrible smell. Part of the rubbish dump has been covered and converted to harvest biogas. I still have no idea when this rubbish dump will be closed for good, because for now there are still rubbish trucks dumping there.  Google “pencemaran udara Pajam” & “bau busuk Pajam”  for more info.

         Mobile phone coverage is poor in this area.  Forget about using mobile broadband in the house.  Because of the concrete structure used to build the house, Mobile signal is very poor in at the ground floor. Around the dining area onwards, there’s no mobile coverage in the house. This forced me to get a fixed line for safety reasons. Mobile coverage at the first floor is ok.

 

8.       KL is situated roughly 40kms away. Toll will cost you RM2.80(Pajam-Kajang), RM0.90(Bt.11 toll) and RM1(Bt.9 toll). On average, including jam, it will take 1 – ½ hours in the morning to get to KL (golden triangle area). Getting home from KL will take about 1hour or less by using Jalan Loke Yew to get back. Without Jam, it will take 30 – 45mins to get to KL, depending how fast you travel. Travelling to Putrajaya/Cyberjaya will take roughly the same time, toll free, driving thru Nilai à Dengkil à CyberjayaàPutrajaya.

9.       If you wish to commute by train, either use the KTM Kommuter @ Batang Benar station or the ERL @ Salak Tinggi. The Batang Benar station is about 5minutes from Pajam and the Salak Tinggi Station is about 15 – 20 minutes away.

This is the residence community portal. http://www.pchrs.com. I Hope this information has help you with your decision. All the best

Water In Air Filter Assembly

Problem : Water in the Air Resonator and Air Intake
Symptom : Engine dies off while driving. Difficult to restart engine. Lots of white smoke from exhaust pipe once car is restarted.
Cause : Broken Clip on the Air Resonator
Duration of Repair : 2 Hours

I think the clip broke after I drove over a speed bump and the bottom of the car hit it. Even though I went over it slowly, I guess it damaged the air resonator clip.

 

When the clip broke, the air resonator tilted causing it to dislodge from the air intake pipe. Lots of water got into my air filter. It was dripping wet when I took it out. Here you can see the amount of water in the air filter hose 

Even the original sealant that was used to seal the air resonator together was leaking. My mechanic took out the whole air filter assembly. He modified the clip and resealed the whole assembly using silicone glue.

Here's the clip that broke. After fixing the clip, Hassan (my ultra cool mechanic) tested the sealant of the resonator by using pressurized air blown into the air resonator. Residue water left in the resonator was coming out thru the sealant.

That's when Hassan decided to seal up the whole assemble with silicone. All done and drying under the sun.

 

All fixed and good to go.

 Here is where it got dislodged

After testing the car for 3 days, driving in the rain, All is good. If you've driven over a curb or speed hump and the LEFT FRONT ( PASSENGER SIDE ) has hit the road, I would strongly advise you to have your air filter assembly checked.