Thanks Mark,

My original post to my wife at home did specify an 1987 Syncro, but I did
fail to mention that it was air-conditioned, and they didn't ask. I have
the part on order now at VW. Thanks so much for saving my day!

Dave Milo

PS.  I did not copy his original subject line "Radiator Fan Resistor Part
Number needed, 1987 Syncro" when I forwarded his memo to the list.  Oops!
The Wife

-----Original Message-----
From: mark drillock [mailto:drillock@earthlink.net]
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 1:10 PM
To: MilosKitchen
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Resistor Part Number?

You did not mention what year you have. How many pins does your resistor
harness connector have?

There were 2 fan resistors used in 2.1 models equipped with the larger
fan AFAIK.

Most of the vans with the large fan have A/C and the larger fan was used
to allow more cooling with the radiator air flow obstructed somewhat by
the A/C radiator in front of it. This more common setup uses the cheaper
3 wire resistor assembly. These fail a lot because they are used a lot
more. The resistor has current running through it whenever the A/C is on
and when the radiator temp switch triggers low speed.

Some 2.1s without A/C, notably Syncros, also used the larger fan. This
rarer setup uses a 2 wire resistor that costs several times as much for
no apparent reason. Luckily, I have never seen one of these go bad but
certainly they can. They just don't get used very much since they only
have current through them when low speed fan is turned on by the
radiator temp switch.

2 pin model, No A/C,  allows 2 fan speeds,  251971284E    TBD says $145
3 pin model, A/C only,  allows 3 fan speeds  251971284H   TBD says $30

If you actually do need the 2 pin model you can easily adapt a cheaper 3
pin one to do the job.

Mark

MilosKitchen wrote:

>Dear List,
>Does anyone have a part number for the less expensive version? I don't have
>an ETKA.
>I tried to order a radiator fan resistor from my local VW dealer, informed
>that it was $149.95. I asked about the @$30.00 part, which they had no
>knowledge of, but if I had a part number, they could help. I'm at work now,
>so no searching the archives.
>Thanks for any help,
>Dave Milo
>
>
>