Radiator fan sensor

["Scott Chaney" <scott.chaney@mci.com>]

    I recently found another problem on the VW while returning from a visit
to PA a few weeks ago. It's an 88 VW Quantum with the 5 cylinder. It has
always seemed to run hot according to the gauge, and the flashing red light
has always flashed on the temp gauge. The light is supposed to indicate
overheating, but I think it is also connected to the level sensor in the
coolant tank....can anyone confirm this?
    Anyway, I was checking the connection to the sensor at the bottom of the
radiator and found that someone had replaced the original harness with
seperate spade connectors for each of the three wires going to the sensor.
One was broken and I have since fixed it. My question is, What order are
these wires supposed to be in? I think they were connected improperly, I
found that one wire, when shorted to the common lead would run the radiator
fan on low, while the other would run the fan on high. I experimented a bit
and found that one side of the sensor shorted quicker than the other (lower
temp) so I hooked it up so the fan would come on high at the lower temp. The
car runs slightly cooler and the fan is noticeable when it comes on for
cooling. I think the wires are Red, Black and Red w/black. If someone knows
the proper order or knows the part number for the connector to fix this
right, it would be appreciated! It should be fine for a while since the
rubber boot is still intact over the connectors and keeps the elements out.
The connector is cheap enough at the dealer, but I need the part number to
order it, they couldn't look it up sincd there were so many different
connectors they could order.

Thanks,
Scott Chaney
88 VW Quantum GL5 (just turned 100K miles last week)
87 5KS under construction