I replaced the left fan on my XJ6 with a unit I acquired from a Local PNP and it worked great for about 18 months. Well the drivers fan has gone out again and from hearing it and how its acted its the fan and not the relays ect.

As anyone running only one blower knows the volume of air is almost zero and I imagine its due to the fact that the air from the working fan just bleeds past the dead fan.

I am looking for another fan but at the moment dont want to drop the $325 plus core for a Coventry West fan at the moment and had an idea.

I though of pulling the left fan unit and blocking the discharge port from the fan to the rest of the register system and seeing if the single fan on the right side will provide a little more volume to make the car bearable for a few weeks util I can get this fixed properly. Every car I have ever owned has gotten by with one fan so????

Anyone try this? Did it work? Waste of time?

 

Jeh,

I've heard of it and have supplied a link below of some pics of the completed work. Unfortunately he doesn't go into great written detail about the work process to complete.

I would venture to guess you're brushes have worn down and/or the springs that keep pressure on the brushes have lost.... well, they're spring! Could be just dirty and needs a good cleaning.

I have pulled the passenger side but not the drivers. It looks like the drivers is actually easier to pull, especially if you remove the instrument cluster (four screws) which will provide extra light and access for the bolts holding the assembly in place.

Link to pics:

Welcome to Jag-lovers - Members Photo Viewing Page

Good luck

P.S. I forgot to mention, you may want to (if you haven't already) give the blower assembly a good wack with a rubber mallet just to see if the brushes are stuck and not engaging the fan motor.

 

Jeh,

I went into the archives on the other site and found this entry by the guy who made the flaps:

"It's a fairly simple flap -- 2-7/8 inch wide by 4
inches long with a wire pivot pin soldered on 1 inch from the end.
I drilled a small hole on each side of the plastic case at the
inside corner of the big heat sink for the Darlington transistor.
When the blower runs, air flow moves the flap up and parallel
with the heat sink. When the blower stops the flap closes by
gravity and prevents air from being blown back through by the other
fan." (Pete, aka JaguarPete on jaglovers.com site)

I sent him a note this morning and asked what he used for the pin apparatus on the sheet metal and this is his response:

"I used a length of coat hanger wire and tack-welded it to the sheet metal an inch from one end. The ends of the wire stick through the holes I drilled in the plastic housings. I specifically left the fit very loose to avoid binding."

I'm interested in doing this too the next time I have to pull the blowers, so I went ahead and contacted him for the both of us.

Take care,

 

That's kind of what I was thinking but more of just sealing it off. If the system is working normally I can't see the point of the flap but maybe I am missing something.

Yes the drivers (L) fan is much easier to take out esentialy 5 screw and 2 bolts a d you don't have to pull the cluster. It's about 10 minutes out and 20 going back in as lining panels ect is a little harder.

It looks as if my fan is just worn though badly the brushes are worn down along with the communtator. I am going to split the case and clean the slide area for the pickups and tighten the wiring pins. That may get a other year or so out of it.

Thanks for contacting him anyway and please pass on the info. I am going to take the old fan apart all the way and take some pictures of it to post for the other guys who might have the same issue as an hour or so worth of effort to get a year of fan use is worth it to me

 

Hi Jeh, well if I was doing this (blocking off the fan) I'd just remove the duct tape from the fan/duct joint and pry off the grey rubberized ducting (bit of a stretch but it will come off) then seal the fan port with duct tape then refit the ducting (again a bit of a stretch!)

You might want to slacken the 2 upper fan bolts to give you some wiggle room.

 

Jeh,

The point of the flap installation is directly related to the goal you want to achieve. When the blower unit fails, the flap will naturally be in the closed position, thus preventing the flow from the good unit exiting through the bad unit.

When the failed unit is repaired, the air flow force from the now operational unit will hold the flap open to allow flow to the CCU.

If you look closely at the pics, you will notice the flap is designed to lay at an angle when at rest (blower off/failed). Thus the flap doesn't swing in both directions, it will only be in an open position when the blower is operational. So when the blower does fail, the flap (laying at an angle) will prohibit the air flow from the good unit to exit through the bad unit, forcing the air back to and up through the CCU.

 

Wait. What? That's genius. For the life of me I didn't see that last night. Lol.

I have some work to do as my clean up wasn't 100%

 

Jeh,

I think you're having some fun with me..... sorry if I over-explained the obvious, but I do think it's a pretty smart enhancement.

It just makes sense to me, that way if the blower does go south, the blocking mechanism is already in place and a person won't have to remove the knee bolsters until they are good and ready to pull and repair the unit.

Good luck with your project, if you come up with something even more in-genius, please share with us.

Take care.

 

No I'm serious I looked at this on my phone and for the life of me didn't get it. When I opened it on a computer I saw it ( long days and I'm an insomniac ).

My fan is too far gone to be reliable but it does work at times so I started building a flap on an old fan. Today I was driving around with the vanity panel off so I could give the fan a little kick when it stopped Very redneck but better than sweating in the 100 deg heat.

Again thanks I think this is a great idea.