ceiling light fan help

[maxkd2000]

Hi guys i have been asked to look at my father in laws ceiling fan it apparantly has 4 wires i cant diagnose over the phone so will look at tomm not sure if old or new colour codes,any ideas why 4 wires? would i be right in sayin one wire is from the light switch and one from lighting circuit(perm feed) ? if there is only a 2 core cable at ceiling wire then can i get round this or do i need to install new 3 core cable which will be a pain
appreciate any helpfull advice

cheers

max

 

[ian.settle1]

If it has 4 cables then it could be as below

1-Switch wire for light
2-Neutral
3-Earth
4-Permanent feed so fan can be switched on/off without light being on