Broxie Posted October 3, 2019 Report Share Posted October 3, 2019 A couple of days ago, the main aircon blower fan stopped working. The control panel behaves properly, but whatever mode I choose, manual or automatic adjustment of fan speed, nothing happens. I've checked the two fan fuses (40A) that it might be and the a/c control panel fuse (panel blanks when removed then lights on putting the fuse back) so it's had a reset. A real hassle since I wanted to use the car this weekend but it takes too long to warm up, especially in traffic. The OPC has no info to share other than "book it in and we'll look at it". I have a warranty but even getting it to Hatfield or Reading (my nearest) is not going to be possible til middle of next week. Sods law the bluetooth port on my Dell laptop which links to my OBD reader is knacked so I can't even look for a fault code right now. Anyone else seen this issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandit_287 Posted October 3, 2019 Report Share Posted October 3, 2019 Is yours an early 981? I’ve read about the fan sticking, apparently if you lift up the plastic panelling under the bonnet you can see the fan, a squirt of wd40 or similar on the bearing and a spin with your hand and it’ll work again. Worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mneil Posted October 3, 2019 Report Share Posted October 3, 2019 A common fault on many early 981s mine included, 2012 and was replaced very early in it's life under warranty. As bandit 287 says, lift up the plastic panelling under the bonnet and start it by hand to get it going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broxie Posted October 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2019 Thank you so much guys, that was it. I took the lid off the pollen filter chamber and gave the squirrel cage motor a quick flick (power off), then it ran perfectly. Will get the dealer to change it next time it's in. I'd planned a weekend away in it (Cotswolds tomorrow, Prescott Hill Climb Saturday then the Sunday Scramble at Bicester on Sunday). Looks like the Boxster will be wheels of choice again rather than the CRV! Here's a pic for those who are looking for the same issue: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenman Posted October 3, 2019 Report Share Posted October 3, 2019 I’m not convinced you will get the OPC to change the fan if it’s now working, and by all accounts a new fan might not solve the issue. This is one of those issues where I don’t think there has been a design change or anything, it’s just something that happens sometimes on some cars. If you are unlucky you will end up blowing the fans resistor/relay pack (this happened to my ‘15), if this happens then obviously these will need changing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
718as Posted October 4, 2019 Report Share Posted October 4, 2019 There is an updated fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenman Posted October 4, 2019 Report Share Posted October 4, 2019 33 minutes ago, 718as said: There is an updated fan. Ok if that’s the case I stand corrected, any idea when this update was produced? I know a few people had reported having a fan changed and still having the same issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
718as Posted October 4, 2019 Report Share Posted October 4, 2019 Not sure of date. Mine stopped and called Porsche Assist, guy came out and span it and said he will log it and if it happens again call them out and once its logged twice, Porsche will replace it. After 2 fails logged I called Porsche OPC, they took the car in and said as it was working, they would not replace it. I called Porsche GB, and it was replaced straight away 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart21UK Posted October 4, 2019 Report Share Posted October 4, 2019 I had the fan changed under warranty and it happened again...Porsche told me the fix is now literally to get access to fan and manually spin it to resolve, and thats it MY 2013 981 btw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broxie Posted October 4, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2019 30 minutes ago, Stuart21UK said: I had the fan changed under warranty and it happened again...Porsche told me the fix is now literally to get access to fan and manually spin it to resolve, and thats it MY 2013 981 btw My guess is there should be a software tweak so that the start up current to the motor is increased. I bet it's limited to prevent overheat if it jams but since it had no apparent restrictions when I span it with my finger and then it worked, I think the cooler weather has stiffened the bearing lubricant enough to cause the start up stall. A couple more wiggly amps from the controller should fix it. As that won't be a job anyone except Porsche software designers could do, I'll have a closer look on lubricating the bearing. I don't like using WD40 as a lubricant, better to put something more slippery in there as WD is primarily a "Water Displacment" product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
718as Posted October 4, 2019 Report Share Posted October 4, 2019 It normally sticks if the car has not been used for a few days. Agree it happens more in the winter which could suggest a change in size of the bearing. Once mine was changed though the problem was gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenman Posted October 4, 2019 Report Share Posted October 4, 2019 Humm it’s a bit of a strange one. I agree that when mine stopped I gave it a spin and there was no apparent obstruction, however when mine stopped again I tried the same and it didn’t work. It turned out the resistor/relay pack had blown and needed replacing, this suggests to me that there was some sort of obstruction such that the stall current caused the pack to blow. But based on Stuart’s experience (and others on various forums) it doesn’t sound to me like Porsche have a definitive solution. In my case the fan was not changed but I’ve not had the issue again since (about a year ago). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzfox Posted October 4, 2019 Report Share Posted October 4, 2019 5 hours ago, Greenman said: Humm it’s a bit of a strange one. I agree that when mine stopped I gave it a spin and there was no apparent obstruction, however when mine stopped again I tried the same and it didn’t work. It turned out the resistor/relay pack had blown and needed replacing, this suggests to me that there was some sort of obstruction such that the stall current caused the pack to blow. But based on Stuart’s experience (and others on various forums) it doesn’t sound to me like Porsche have a definitive solution. In my case the fan was not changed but I’ve not had the issue again since (about a year ago). This is exactly the situation I had. Fan stopped working, gave it a manual spin and off it when. I told the OPC what had happened and that I knew it was a common issue but they said if it's currently working they wouldn't even look at it. A week later it stopped again and I couldn't restart it. OPC took it in and replace the resistor pack whatsit thingy under warranty. That was probably about 18months ago and no problems as yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davidbf1.com Posted October 5, 2019 Report Share Posted October 5, 2019 Had mine replaced under warranty (Dec 14 car MY15), a few months ago. The blower stopped working 5th Aug 2018 (I remember the date as it was driving back from the Yorkshire Porsche festival at Lotherton, blazing hot day and no air con!). booked it in to my local OPC but on the day I was to take it in which was a week or so later, when I started the car the air was flowing again. Still took it in for it’s booking, but OPC didn’t do anything as “fault not found”. They did however tell me if it happened again, I should video it happening (on mobile showing no air flowing from vents by using a strip of paper or similar), and as the fault was now logged the video evidence would ensure it would be replaced through warranty claim. So, around Jun 2019 I’d just dropped off a courtesy 718 BGTS (my 981 BGTS was in to look into a minor oil weep) and on the way home the blower stopped. My wife was with me so we were able to capture some video of the lack of airflow and it was booked back in and replaced without issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelin Posted October 6, 2019 Report Share Posted October 6, 2019 Mine was changed early in the cars life along with the Sports Chrono clock. This too had a recall on it I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broxie Posted August 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 An update to this. Since it's been warm, the fault never appears. My car has to go into Porsche Solihull for a service so I mentioned the fan issue (they have it noted on file after a couple of calls to them to notify them in the winter). I've been told now that Porsche won't replace it unless it's faulty at the time of investigation (despite admitting they are aware of the fault). During the summer/autumn, the fan will work all the time but even if it sticks in the winter, the dealer is 100 miles away and so I'll have to poke it to start for the journey in which case, Sod's Law, it's going to work when the car is restarted from warm at the dealer. I asked them what I could do short of leaving it with them for a week, hoping for a cold spell and the intermittent failure of the fan actually manifests itself. They said "no fault/no fix". Not happy about that so I intend to have them replace it, pay for the repair then use the small claims court to get my money back. Sadly the two friendly guys at the dealer have now left and the service feels a little less personal now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobbie Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Broxie said: An update to this. Since it's been warm, the fault never appears. My car has to go into Porsche Solihull for a service so I mentioned the fan issue (they have it noted on file after a couple of calls to them to notify them in the winter). I've been told now that Porsche won't replace it unless it's faulty at the time of investigation (despite admitting they are aware of the fault). During the summer/autumn, the fan will work all the time but even if it sticks in the winter, the dealer is 100 miles away and so I'll have to poke it to start for the journey in which case, Sod's Law, it's going to work when the car is restarted from warm at the dealer. I asked them what I could do short of leaving it with them for a week, hoping for a cold spell and the intermittent failure of the fan actually manifests itself. They said "no fault/no fix". Not happy about that so I intend to have them replace it, pay for the repair then use the small claims court to get my money back. Sadly the two friendly guys at the dealer have now left and the service feels a little less personal now. Could you not do as above and film it not working to prove it’s faulty to the OPC. If they still refuse, tell them you will use this evidence for ‘small claims’ case, although I think it’s called Money Claim Online now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
718as Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 I've been through this Saga. I assume you have Porsche Warranty and Assist? If so you need to call out Assist when it happens and they log it, once they get called out twice you can call the OPC to replace the motor/fan. (Porsche Assist told me to follow this process). Unfortunatly, I did this and OPC still declined, so a quick call to Porsche UK, and they covered the cost. All the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz05 Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 Disappointed to read this, the OPC should confirm with you that it is faulty by viewing a video and get it replaced. It's a well known fault that will have been through the warranty procedure many a time. Have you tried another dealer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broxie Posted September 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2020 Just to update this. Since the fault does not appear in the summer, I spoke to the dealers service manager again. They stood their ground and mentioned the Porsche Assist procedure with two calls but I told them I needed it fixed, for them to go ahead and I would put a claim in (via Moneyclaim) after and see where that took us. To their credit, they had a think about it and offered to replace the fan under warranty. They also carried out replacement of the air filters and belt at cost of parts only (I had asked for them to be done at last service to bring everything in line as the original owner carried out a service after the first year throwing everything else out of sequence). Add one MOT and everythings been done for not much money. The OPC let me use one of their empty offices for the day to get on with work whilst I waited, there was an unlimited supply of nice coffee and a very friendly service. Top marks to Lucy (who I believe is shortly moving to Porsche West London) who got everything sorted to my satisfaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
718as Posted September 25, 2020 Report Share Posted September 25, 2020 PWL did mine too once I called Porsche UK. They also replaced both air con condensors as they were apparantly leaking. 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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