To all intents and purposes, my Red Car 'Cherry Blossom' was all but finished and only needed the Radiator fitting.

So having spent many hours in Cleaning the Engine and Compartment, I suddenly noticed what looked like a 'Stress Crack' in the Fan. (Is that to be expected, or something to worry about?)

After undoing the Four Bolts behind it, to take a closer look it seems like the crack goes right through.

So while I can now flop the Blades about, the hydrostatic Alloy disk which is in front of it, is now in the way and needs to be removed to get the Fan off.

So how do I do that?



A Stress Crack in the Fan.





Engine Cleaned awaiting Radiator.

 

Cracked fans are common, and not good. More than a few have come apart causing a lot of damage. Usually it's a combination of both a seized fan clutch and a cracked fan that spells disaster....but don't take chances. The new ones are black and not prone to cracking.

The fan is bolted to the fan clutch. The fan clutch is attached to the pulley. Remove the 4 bolts at the pulley. Wriggle the clutch and fan assembly out, and disassemble at your work bench. Bit of a fussy job. Have some extra nuts on hand for reinstallation as you'll almost certainly drop a couple.

If any doubt about age or condition, replace the fan clutch as well. Normally a fan clutch is tested by bringing the engine up to normal temperature or higher, shut it off, and giving the fan a good spin by hand. If it spins free, the clutch is clearly kapoot. If it spins one turn or less, it's OK. Anything in between is iffy.

Cheers
DD

 

I found a crack in mine when I redid my engine. I just unbolted it from the hub, put the nuts back on and installed the largest electric fan I could fit into the shroud.
The engine runs much cooler than with the mechanical fan and I think it cost me a total of about $120 and maybe a hour of work.

 

That is as common as you hanging your tea bags out for later use, as Doug has said.

WIGGLE it out, it wil come out, coz it went in there in the first place.

Choices etc are now needed.

Check the prices for the Black fan, simplist way to go, and no major issues with that scenario.

Efans are the go, but some work involved in wiring etc, which may or may not be viable for you.

I am happy to talk (email) you through teh Efan fit up if that is the way you want to go.

 

Cheers Doug

The Clutch feels OK and if the engine was running, I think it would stop Spinning, as soon as I switched off like it is meant to and like it does on my other Car.

When I removed the Four Bolts that hold the Fan to the Fan Clutch, I could Flop the Fan Blades about but not take it off, because the Clutch was in the way.

Although I could see Four other small bolts, I didn't undo these at the time, because I thought I might have to undo some big bolt on the front of the Clutch and then use some sort of extractor to pull the Clutch off.

 

Thanks Jamey

I'll look into that.

 

Hi Grant

If it isn't one thing, its another!

A Fiat 500 is looking mighty attractive!

So just to sum up, I undid the Four Bolts that hold the Big Fan to the Clutch (which I probably shouldn't have done)

Just behind those are another Four Bolts.

So I think that these are the ones that 'I should have undone?'

But didn't, as I thought I might have to take off some big (Crankshaft Type Nut) on the end of the Clutch and then pull the Clutch off, using some sort of extractor.

Which may have involved the removal of the engine (It's a Jag!)

Once I get the Fan off, then I can decide which way to jump and will PM you for further instructions.

Having Fan Blades Flying off and crashing into the Rad would be my worst nightmare, or one of them anyway.

 

OK.

Blades doing obscene things under there is simply not fun.

Mine let go at very high road speed, and one blade exited thru the bonnet, just to the right of the leaper, OOPS.

In practice, it should not have been spinning fast enough to puncture the bonnet, so maybe the clutch siezed, and the fan simply spun faster than it was ever designed to. I was low flying at the time. Simply cut the belt, and continued the 300km balance of trip home. Ford E fans fitted the next day.

 

Hi Grant

'Gulp!' That does not bear thinking about but due to my lack of Mechanical nous, I will probably go with the Black Fan option at least to Start with till I've got her running and MOT.

Though if you could PM me some info on the Ford Fans, then if they don't cost a fortune, I just might give it a go.

Thanks for your help.

 

OB,

Good luck with replacing the fan. Just a suggestion:

Tape up a large piece of cardboard on the rear face of the rad to protect it before trying to pull out the fan. It is all too easy to knock a spanner or part of the fan against the delicate tubes of the rad. It only takes the smallest nick to spring a leak and bugger your radiator. And it might not even be obvious until you're driving. And we all know that overheating V12s are bad news!!

Good luck

Paul

 

Yup, when I took my DOHC 6 apart at it's demies, I noted numerous cracks in it's yellow plastic fan. I tossed it, clutch and all. No misery to anyone that way. My lump now has twin Efans. PCM controlled. I am more than pleased.


In about 1951 three of us decided to have a last hurrah as kids. Roy inherited his families pristine 39 Ford. Well, it ran great, but burned oil like a diesel. No matter a case of oil went in the trunk. Leisurely trip from West Texas to California. berer and pin ball.


On the way back, we departed Blythe, CA in the dark as it was summer. Very hot desert. About half way across, the old Ford tossed a fan blade. Ate a chunk of radiator. Three pretty smart kids prepared to deal with it. in the dark. Removed the radiator, punched off the busted tubes, sorta. added water from the jerry can. Ok at reasonable speed sans fan. Made it across to Quartzite, AZ. Radiator shop used to such stuff. Soldered it up some more. No leaks. No money or time for a recore. On the road again. OK sans fan, just keep the road speed up. Home again. Old ford got a redo. Rebuilt engine, new radiator, and a paint job. Roy got married and off to CA again as an astro phycisit.


Carl

 

Hi Paul

No Rad in there at the moment, as I have been trying to find one, for a lot less than the price of a Second Hand Car!

New OEM Rad £500-£700!

Re Core about £375!

Almost any other Car, a hell of a lot less than that!

Its a very long Story but I think that I may have found one!

Brand New Aluminum Radiator, Circa £165

It certainly looks worth a punt at that price, so I'll put up a post to see what others think.

 

Its always nice to hear from someone who knows their way around Cars and doesn't phone the Breakdown Truck, unless something really Bad Happens.

 

I want to replace the Yellow Mechanical Fan Blades which are showing signs of Stress Cracking, round the Hub. (The Clutch is OK)

With the Fan with the Black Blades which I believe are less prone to Stress Cracking.

I think the Part Number is EBC 4553

But the place where I went to has only got EBC 4552

He reckons these is no difference but I need to know for sure before I buy it.

Does anyone know?

 

It looks like the '4552' is for XJ40 and X300 V12s while the '4553' is for the XJS and Series IIIs with the V12.

I dunno what the difference is but listings for the '4552' mention it being asymmetric.

My gut feeling is that it would work ....but that's not much to go on.

Others will chime in

Cheers
DD

 

Cheers Doug

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/xjs-V12-PR...-/151749165196?


found this on ebay,

 

That looks in worse condition than the one I'm taking off.

I want a new one, not a Secondhand one.

 

I am with Doug on this one.

All my info indicates they are 2 different fans for a reason, and that reason is unknown to me at the moment.

EBC4553 is the one you need. Showing the following applications, Daimler Hearse • Daimler Limousine • XJ12 S3 • XJS • XJS ‑ Facelift

EBC4552. Shows the following applications: XJ Series X300 • XJ40 (XJ6 & XJ12) • XJ40 (XJ6 & XJ12) ‑ Canada/USA. I will assume the X300 mentioned is the V12 version coz the 6 cyl all had Efans.

I can find NO superceding of either number to anything. The numbers stay the same through all the info I have available.

 

OB,

You can just buy EBC4553 from Jaguar, online or through your dealer.

Paul