Edges of fan are torn up and radiator not looking to good.

gdub0717

gdub0717

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Help!
Looks like under torque somehow the fan is hitting along the bottom of the radiator.
Tore out the center metal strip that runs down the center of the radiator.
First thought was the motor mounts are torn or compromised. But they look OK.
Rev'd motor and saw no engine movement.
Has anyone experienced this phenomenon? Root Cause?
No leaks at the moment. Fan and radiator will need to be replaced eventually.
Could it be something in the fan clutch or water pump that is moving under torque or freeway speed?
Any guidance would be much appreciated.-G
 
perhaps the angle engine/gearbox isn't correct anymore ? did you inspect the gearbox support ?
 
I'd suspect engine/trans mounts aswell. If it's been okay before and now all of a sudden started to hit the radiator, it's either the engine/trans package that's moving too much, or the radiator.
You wont really see the condition of the engine mounts until you take them out, is my experience.
 
yes inspect the tranny mount also. This will also affect your driveshaft/guibo/CSB alignment.
 
Aside from motor mounts, I can only suggest from my misadventures:
--I had to shim my radiator mounts for skinnier AL radiator. So, you might be able to trim your rad mounts on the bow side and shim the aft side to get a few mm extra clearance.
--Make sure the engine is sufficiently warm to engage the fan clutch--sounds like you did, but I somehow had a bit of a wobble after replacing mine. Not sure what I did, but I reassembled and it works fine.
--The cheap ($180) AL radiator on Amazon (search forum for info) works great on mine and gives a little more room--although I'll eventually get the original re-cored because it looks better. No longer available on Amazon but probably on ebay.
 
the fan becomes weak over time and flexes under torque
see if you can flex the blade with your hand if so
u need another
had that happen on my 2002
 
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Thanks for the feedback.
The issue just started without warning so something changed. Still not sure what. Transmission cross bar is in place with one mount. Is this common? Also the crossbar for transmission is not straight across. Sits at an angle but does not look like it has moved. I may be able to add a second mount but do not think the issue is here.
I put a jack under near the front and applied some pressure to see if the engine would move and possibly show a compromised engine mount. No movement.
Fan seems solid but at high rpm’s maybe there is movement. Still have to check it more closely.
Here is a picture of the damage. You can see some of the damage to the radiator.
Any other ideas?
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Here are pictures of the transmission and motor mounts. Does not look like anything has been compromised or there has been movement.
 
I have a 8 blade fan but did not want to install it only to find the issue is the fan. :oops:
But, it is time to take the risk after some input from the experts!;)
 
Could it be that something got into the fan, and it was that which got thrown around and damaged the fan and radiator?

Last summer I hit a squirrel and got some funny noises for a while afterwards. I saw the squirrel in my rear view mirror so it came out, but perhaps it had a friend with it who stayed to party for a while.
 
gdub0717 said:
View attachment 64127 View attachment 64128 View attachment 64129 View attachment 64130 Here are pictures of the transmission and motor mounts. Does not look like anything has been compromised or there has been movement.
Click to expand...

it might well be the angle of the photo, but to my eye, the motor mount on the right hand side, seems to have an angle not perpendicular to the engine support
it seems to go frontwards
as it can be seen in the radiator surface there is a circular trace so either the radiator is coming backwards (unlikely) or the powertrain is moving frontwards
as i assume there is plenty of flexibility in the motor mounts and tranny mounts to go frontwards at least 5 to 10mm, what about the rest of the powertrain line back to the differential ?
i assume there should be no play in the longitudinal direction from the differential and the cardan joint back there
just my 2 cents
 
At first I thought maybe I left a ratchet extension in the engine bay and it possibly caused the damage. But, it got slightly worse after inspection and further driving.
Could be that possibly the P.O. did not drive it as hard as I do thus not causing the issue. Seems unlikely, but possible.
The engine looks solid. And would say there is no movement. All hardware looks to be intact.
At this point I have decided to do a fan/water pump replacement/upgrade. Use the original radiator and run the car for a bit. If it all looks good I will replace the radiator. I have seen a few ebay radiator recommendations but not sure if they are current.
Any current recommendations?
Thanks for the feedback. Will report back the final results incase other have the same type of issue in the future.
 
Hi Gordon, I would suggest while you are in there to replace the motor mounts and the transmission mount. All are super easy and that will solve that potential problem. Also, I see that you have the "keepers" on the motor mounts; those should stop the engine from moving forward during sudden stops. I think you may have solved your on puzzle by replacing the water pump, there may be some movement in the shaft although that is often (but not always) accompanied by leaking green juice. Then, when it stops hitting the current radiator you can buy a new aluminum one and life will be awesome!! All these items will make for more peace of mind while driving.
 
I too am seeing some deflection in the right side motor mount, and the surface of that mount along with the rust on the bolt makes it appear older than the other one. I would guess someone previously changed the left mount, but not the right. If it were my car, I would change them both.

I had a problem with my radiator moving within the brackets, but this was with a replacement aluminum radiator that was thinner that the stock unit. Does your radiator fit snuggly within the brackets on either side?
 
I just emailed the company attached to the ebay ad you sent. We will see what they come back with. The price looks good.
I saw your radiator at some point. Painting it black was a good idea.
Thanks for all the info and feedback.
 
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