[Mk2] [Turbo] Intercooler fan issues

[DaveWS]

Hi, I've owned the car for about a year now and since I've had it it's had issues with the intercooler fan.

Basically if the engine gets warm enough to warrant running the fan, I get an engine overheating warning light on the dash, but the fan remains off. However, if I then turn the engine off and on, the light goes out and the fan comes on.

If I have the ignition on but the engine off (with engine cold), and I unplug the engine bay temp sensor, the fan comes on. I plug it in, the fan stops. If I do the same thing with the engine running, unplugging the sensor turns on the dash light, but not the fan. The engine has to be off for the sensor to successfully turn the fan on.

Any ideas?

[kungfucop]

Is your IC fan fuse blowing? That would be the 20A fuse in the engine bay fuse box.

I had the same problem and it was due to the wire harness / connector on my intercooler fan that was flopping around and touching the exhaust manifold heat shield. When the engine warmed up enough, it actually burned through and melted the insulation of the wire causing the wire to ground and short out. That would either result in the check engine light as you described and/or it would blow the fan fuse.