Blew a radiator fan blade off!

[JStrider]

so the past week I've been getting a vibration at idle, tachometer didnt wobble, just a bit of a vibration at idle and when I was just starting to take off from a stop or going extremely slow like thru a parking lot. figured it was a problem someone had had before, so I searched.

followed the directions albino gave someone else with a similar problem
"Clean your Idle Air Control, Mass Air Sensor, run a can of SeaFoam or B12 Chem tool through a tank of gas and disconnect the battery for 5-10 minutes to reset the ECM. That should help. (do a forum search for these)"

didnt help at all

I was going to make a thread asking for advice tonite. Then I was driving to a restraunt with a friend of mine and we were bouncing ideas off each other, and I mentioned how I was getting warmer then normal when I had the AC on and was stuck in traffic. That got me started thinking about the cooling system, and how when I changed the fan clutch before going to moab I noticed the cracks in the fan and read on here that it really wasnt an issue, that no one had had a fan disenegrate before.

well just for kicks before we left the restraunt I popped the hood and took a look at the fan.

and what do you know I only had 8 blades on a 9 blade fan!

I'm pretty sure thats the cause of my vibration.

Amazingly nothing else appeared to be damaged from the rogue fan blade.

I'll have pictures soon when I get around to replacing it.

Where should I get a new fan blade?

This last one that just lost a blade I got at autozone about 4 years ago, I'm not too kean on getting another autozone one to blow up on me prematurely.

 

[Burns]

Yeah i have almost been there but it didnt happen. Got to it in time. Sorry about your luck but happy it didnt damage anything

I get them from napa.

 

[Potomac30]

I noticed a lot of stress cracking on mine when I changed the thermostat, so I replaced the fan blade with one Ford - oem. f3tz8600c -$43.18 in Feb '04.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

It may be a good time to think about an e-fan if you have the time and interest.

 

[mikeinri]

My original one had cracks in it a few years ago, so I replaced it with a Ford part. I actually never thought there would be an aftermarket fan.

Mike

 

[rickcdewitt]

must be a weak design,usually need to go through deep water to break off blades.the aftermarket e-fans have really weak blades-they really dont like water.

 

[Maniak]

If you need it fast, local dealer is where you will need to go (but they will charge you msrp)..

If you don't need it yesterday, check out Torrie and fastpartsnetwork.com.

~Mark

 

[JStrider]

got a new fan

and went to autozone and got the fan clutch removal tool and went to pull off the old fan and get the new one on there.

I cant get the fan clutch nut to spin at all... I know it spins counter clockwise...

I was trying so hard I started to round off the nut...

now I'm worried about even continuing to try because I don't wanna completely round the nut. I hit it with some pb blaster, so we'll see if that helps

and my dad mentioned that driving it with the fan off balance like that might have started to damage the water pump bearing and maybe I should replace that while I'm at it. But I don't really have a good place to work on my car here. I'm not supposed to do car work in my apartments parking lot... but I can get away with smaller jobs. I've never done a water pump so I dunno...


so basically... anyone have any advice on getting that nut loosened?

and is it likely to have damaged the waterpump significantly, driving around for the past couple weeks?

 

[mikeinri]

If you're absolutely positive that you're turning it the right way (the fan shroud should indicate the direction), you can always heat the nut with a torch if the PB Blaster doesn't work. Obviously, be very careful...

As for the water pump, it's a risk management decision. The risk is, if you don't change it now, it may fail and you'll have to do the entire job over. Having said that, once you change the fan clutch, doing it again shouldn't take as much time since the nut won't be rusted in place.

Mike

 

[quicklook2]

the fan clutch is righty-tighty and lefty-loosy.

use a belt wrench or two if you round it off.

take it to a mechanic and they can hit it with an air chisel.

that is how i got a very stubborn one off my f150.

also the tools bend easily and looking at a few set you may find a better one.

 

[410Fortune]

YOu read on here that no one ever had a cracked fan blow apart before?
One of the first things I check when I am working on a new explorer is fpr cracks around the nylon fan hub.
Even minor cracks = should be replaced!
obviously

I would like to see on the EF where it says, no biggie, just run it like that.....

You are LUCKY!
Usually they take at least the radiator with them, the hood, or the rfont belts and pulleys, hoses, whatever is in the path

glad its getting fixed now
that wobbly fan may have damaged the waterpump, keep an eye on that sucker, like your dad said

Fan clutch nut can be tricky they can be TIGHT, but you can get it off if you work at it, get a helper if possible

 

[mrphiltx]

Whilst changing my radiator and thermostat, I notice my fan hub has cracks also. :-(
I searched for f3tz8600c and found this at Amazon:

Is this what I need for my Ex? (93, V6 4.0L, heavy duty cooling) I have a ten bladed fan (so far ). Most of what I see online is 9 blades, but I counted four on each side and one top and one bottom.

 

[UKExploder]

Go to your local junkyard & get a metal non-clutch fan{and the spacer if it has one} off of an old Ford then you will have the strength & longevity cured all at once

 

[Hokie]

When I was working at Crutchfield we had a customer's El Camino throw a fan blade and cut the tranny cooler line.

That was a mess

 

[Maniak]

Whilst changing my radiator and thermostat, I notice my fan hub has cracks also. :-(
I searched for f3tz8600c and found this at Amazon:

Is this what I need for my Ex? (93, V6 4.0L, heavy duty cooling) I have a ten bladed fan (so far ). Most of what I see online is 9 blades, but I counted four on each side and one top and one bottom.

When I got our new fan blade the most blades Torrie at FastPartsNetwork could find me was 10 blades (supercooling w/ a/c). Even my local parts guy (not dealer) couldn't find me anything with more than 10 blades..

~Mark

 

[mrphiltx]

Not wanting to risk it, I ordered the one from Amazon. (Referral fees go to my church, plus was cheapest I found.) We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll get to use my air tools for the first time.

 

[huntman58]

I found the same fan blade trouble. I also could not get the clutch off in the end I replaced the clutch, fan blade and water pump. I did break up the old water pump to get the pulley off to .Man I could not believe how strong they are made but a bigger hammer helped me out LOL now the thing runs good and cool just like it used to do

 

[papadtpg]

cracks in nylon radiator fan second gen ford explorer

Noticed cracks between blades of 15 year old nylon radiator fan. second generation 2000 Explorer. Was not sure if it was dangerous or not? Purchased an OEM new fan blade and installed it because I run the truck fast. What I Learned: Cracks between the blades (eleven in this fan) are not really dangerous, I took out my carpentry framing hammer and beat the old OEM fan silly, could not brake a blade off that fan or make the slightest damage to it. the way it is constructed is locked with a steel core and solid. If it is not OEM Replace it with OEM. Non OEM have thrown blades.

 

[funfool]

Go to your local junkyard & get a metal non-clutch fan{and the spacer if it has one} off of an old Ford then you will have the strength & longevity cured all at once

I will toss my two cents out, I think all fans should be inspected often.
And with todays modern fiberglass and clutch fans. this would probably never happen.

One morning getting ready to leave for work, my 1969 1 ton 390 4 barrel was running rough.
so standing on a stool leaned over to work the throttle, wanted to see if it would smooth out.
Just about where the secondaries were kicking in, hear a gawd aful loud CRAAAK!
I looked just a few inches below my chest, the fan blade was buried into the thick 1969 truck inner fender.
It could have easily been a few inches higher and in my chest, since I was leaning over the fender when it happened.

I shut the truck off, went in and fixed a drink, then called my boss and said would not be in that day ... sat and wondered when I was going to go change my underwear.

And I am not saying to not use a old fan from the bone yard, just be cautious and inspect any fan well.

 

[larrydd999]

I ended up using a sawzall to get my fan off - cut into the nut and then used a chisel to open the sawed slot and unscrew it. Didn't appear to hurt the water pump or its threads but I decided to change it anyway.