Had to replace the auxilary/aircon(the smaller of the two) fan on the Golf yesterday...not a job that I would look forward to again!
I thought that it would be straightforward,but when I opened the bonnet and saw just how little space there was between the fans and the engine-not to mention all the pipework that was in the way-I realised that this was not going to be an easy task.
I started off by locating all the screws holding the front bumper in place and removed them all,including the two hidden behind the grill and the bloody awkward ones in the wheel well....if I ever meet the 'genius' who came up with that design,I'd string him up from a phone pole...
Then I found the eight bolts (four on either side) holding the entire front assembly to the chassis and undid them,along with the three torx type screws on either end of the slam panel and using a hydraulic jack placed underneath,gently eased the front assembly forward.
This allowed me enough room to get at the four screws holding the fan assembly to the radiator...the bottom right one being the most difficlut to get the ratchet to...and got the assembly off.
Undid the three nuts holding the motor/fan to the mount,swapped over to the new one and reassembled the whole caboodle.
Time taken-4 1/2 hrs-- 4hrs 25mins to work out how to take it all apart and put it all back together and 5 mins to change the fan.....bloody modern cars. I think I might go back to a MK2 GTI.........
