cooling fan problem..can anyone help?

hi everybody ,I have just took out my z for the first time since December and whilst motoring along she was fine, but when I got off to open my garage door it started spitting w3ater out of the expansion tank whilst ticking over. I noticed the fan had not kicked in, so I took the wire off the fan switch and earthed it and the fan came on and stopped the overheating problem.so my thought was bypassing the sensor switch and put in a manual switch but when I earthed the wire again the fan did not come on but I heard a clicking noise from under the saddle? have I damaged something by doing this, apologies for my incompetence, hope you can help thanks

Not sure about the clicking noise but I doubt that you've damaged anything.

Bill

You wont have damaged anything by grounding that wire to chassis/battery negative.

The clicking under the saddle is the fan relay. The clicking means the wire you are grounding is making it's circuit. If it clicks on and off rapidly I would suspect a problem with the wire or maybe relay. The fan should start when the relay clicks if it doesn't then tt could be that the fan fuse has blown?.

I've had trouble with that yellow wire to the temperature switch becoming very brittle due to the heat it has to tolerate. I've replaced the last 6" to 12" of that wire on my bike.

can I get back to you ,I did not know there was a fan fuse? I will make some checks many thanks.

If you have access to the factory shop manual, there are good troubleshooting steps at testing the cooling system.

The clicking sound does sound like the relay working but the contacts inside could be corroded. (Fairly common problem on a bike this old)

Before attempting to clean the relay take a volt meter to the output side of the relay. It may be trying to work, but may not be sending 12V to the fan.

With the relay off of the bike, spray electrical contact cleaner on the internal parts.

Re-install the relay and re-test with the V. Meter. If it works, great, if not replace the relay or get a fan switch.

If you operate your bike in a warm climate, it may make sense to install the well documented fan switch. Depending on the climate, some owners leave the fan on all of the time.


I personally like to have the relay working as intended, if the cooling system is working to specification, (I.e. thermostat, radiator, water pump, and hoses functioning properly) the fan is adequate at keeping the bike cool.

hi toddh, turned out to be a brittle wire on the fan motor. Thanks for your help,
preecy