Practically Classics Forum

As the weather was good, even if I wasn't I did make a start
on the car. There was another miss wire due to me not being
able to see the colour difference between two wires. I also
took the chance to remove that little board that was supposed
to give the rev signal for the tach. Yep it was fried!



Another reaso n for the old girl not turning over was that the
wiring loom had stopped the gear selector arm getting into park
properly. The loom has been moved out of the way but now the
gear cable will need adjusting again. I managed to get to crank
the engine but she wouldn't fire up.

The temperature sensor must be fecked well and truly, as the
dash gauge went off the scale and the ecu had the fans blowing
full pelt. There was signal to the relay and power to the relay
for the fuel pump but that wouldn't engage unless relay bypassed!

What the feck is going on? This all worked no problem before!

Mitsuru wrote:What the feck is going on?

Teething troubles. You'll sort it, see you at Ryhope!

This little temp sensor has been a right royale pain in the rear today!
Derek and the guys at Sewells tried their best, but Chrysler had really stacked
the cards in the past when it comes to replacement parts. Now made worse by
as the dealer put it "fiat taking over control of The Chrysler Group"

Derek's computer gave him the same information that all none chrysler/dodge
run garages and dealerships get, which is wrong! I even showed Derek and the
guys the actual sensor to compare with what they told was the correct sensor.







The info they were presented with for all mk1 neons and other vehicles that might
use the same sensor was for a squared plug 2 pin/wire sensor. It was clear that
my next stop to track down a new sensor was the dealership has now changed from
being a merc and chrysler, to a fiat/alfa/saab and then chrysler/dodge dealership.

The fiat dealership stated it would have to be ordered especially from Italy not the
USA! the cost of the new sensor over £40, and they didn't say if that included tax or
shipping.

Rockauto were cheaper on cost at £6.25 but add postage of £18.63 then 20% tax.
Still cheaper but too long a delay as bot 2 weeks from ordering to receiving.

There are a couple on ebay by British sellers, I have emailed details of the original
sensor and explained the incorrect info that all most all but the dealers have, asking
to identify what they have. one is £16 the other around the £25 mark. If they have
the correct one I could have it by Wednesday.

After reading a thread on the neons.org regarding the solid state relay and how the
ecu uses only one wire for pulse control of the fans to generate the effect of having
two speeds(I think thats how I read it)it brings up a question of fan control with the
intrepid ecu. The intrepid has to output wires to control the fans, I assume possibly i
incorrectly that one will be for slow and the other high fan speeds. any idea on how
to get around this problem.

I finally got the info on those sensor which are supposed to be for the mk1 neon.
And they are not suitable as they are the 2 pin/wired type of sensor. So rather
than mess around I have gone onto rockauto and placed my order there. Delivery
1 to 6 business days.



It has been too cold and wet to even touch the old girl. And I'm not too well myself,
so getting Christine ready for the Ryhope Car Show is looking slim to impossible.
Whitby Kustom might still be possible, that is if I am luck(don't hold your breath!)

Rockauto are fantastic but I find their international shipping to be a bit expensive.

Out here in the UAE we have access to a service called "Shop and Ship" which is provided by courier called ARAMEX. They give me an address in the USA (as well as several other countries including the UK and China) that I can have stuff sent to in order to take advantage of cheap handling costs in the US. They then bring it to Dubai as airfreight at a cheaper rate than the major courier firms plus they also then deliver to my home or workplace 80 miles away from Dubai at no extra cost. Something like that sensor would cost £7 to get from the New York office to here. It's quick, too -I usually get stuff within 36 hours of its arrival at the UK or US depots.

I wonder if any other couriers offer a similar service with a final destination in the UK?

Edit: these people appear to:
http://www.borderlinx.com/pages/faq/bil ... delivering

While the temp sensor is currently in Houston TX and it will be a few days till
I get to install it. I though t it might be an idea to look at the Radiator fan &
it's wiring, and ask for some suggestions on how it might be done.

Here is the wiring setup which is in the Dodge Intrepid. As you can see from
the diagram it has 2 separately operated fans one high speed and the other
low speed. I do not want mine like this! And the fans fitted are universal
which re on or off, and both are exactly the same high output.




So I have put together a basic diagram as a starting point so anybody can have
a think about this and suggest idea on how to replace the pulse control relay
setup of the neon's old ecu, which will not work with the Intrepid's ecu .




Sensible suggestions remember that what vehicles might be available in the
local scrapyard (if I'm ever able to get there) And IF I have to buy parts off the
internet or ebay I am within a few quid of my overdraft limit!

Weather not been to nice, the rain has been that heavy the leaves have been
shredded off the trees!

Luxobarge wrote:How much more than a standard car is that insurance? In other words, what's the additional premium you're paying for it being a modified car?

Going back to the subject of your insurance for a moment, what's the answer to this Aaron?

I'm curious to know, as I have friends who are in the process of doing engine swaps too.

Cheers!

Why don't you want to connect one fan to each output?

I think that it is better to have it so that the first comes on as it starts to get hot and the second comes on later, when the first fan can't keep the engine cool enough by itself? Otherwise, the fans may come in for a few seconds, cool the engine (quickly) and cut off; whereas, if a single fan comes on for longer, it should maintain the temperature without problem (and use less power), and the second would only come on when the engine is really hot - in traffic in hot weather.

I would suspect that Chrysler had some reason for making the fans run independently and they have had a lot more experience of these engines than any of us!

Aron, I'd tend to agree with Tractorman here. Most makers - in cases where more than one fan is fitted - have one that rarely if ever sees any use and another, usually the larger of the pair, that kicks in more frequently. As long as they're not the same arrangement as found on some in line VW 1.9PD engine applications - where the first is a viscous coupled mechanical fan and the second an electric one that does so little work it will usually have died when the car was a year or two old - then I reckon the progressive idea is sound. You can always engineer in a means of switching between both, one or the other and one followed by the other.

That will work if the ECU outputs will drive the fans directly and the low speed output remains "on" when the high speed is active. If not you need something like this


In low speed mode, the LH fan is powered via contact RA1 made and the diode D1 prevents the RH fan operating. In high speed mode both fans are powered by contact RB1 made with the LH fan fed via D1. If the low speed output remains "on" when the high speed is active then the diode and the connection between the two fans can be omitted. Some of the twin fan cars I've owned have an arrangement whereby the fans are connected across the 12 volt supply in either series or parallel so that they run at either half or full power. This has the advantage that the whole area of the radiator is cooled, but the relay arrangements would be a bit more complicated.