My stock fan blade just broke

[johnnycharger]

Thank god my hood was closed. Anyone else ever seen this? Last night I was leaning over the engine reving it at the carb. Luckily it didnt come off then.

Here is a video because I dont have any luck putting pictures on here any more.
https://youtu.be/_OfMlW6Cfms

[flyinlow]

I would be on the phone to Fiat- Chrysler in the morning. 


I have seen aftermarket aluminum fans fail, but not a stock steel one . Bent slightly? Metal fatigue?

Did it damage much else?

Staying clear of the fan arc is a good habit.

[johnnycharger]

Right?!
There was nothing wrong with it that I know of. It has been  on the car since I bought it in 98. I took it off once a while back to change the radiator but thats it. Scary....

[440]

Wow, I've never seen one fail. I was taught to never stand in the direct path of the fan blades for this reason. Luckily it didn't take out the radiator or do any other damage.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Had a stock fan come apart on a friends chevelle. Peice through the hood and a peice through the inner fender. Not pretty.

[b5blue]

Yup many years ago same thing the blade stuck into the hood. 

[John_Kunkel]

Yeah, blade failures are one thing but failing at the hub is pretty rare.

[johnnycharger]

Now I am paranoid of our other old cars.....

[flyinlow]

How high rpms where you revving it? On some cars the fan is overdriven compared to the crank. 

Was any part of the fracture line rusted , like it had been cracked for some time?

You could remove the other steel fans and have them Magna fluxed if you are concerned.

[johnnycharger]

The more I think about it...  it was probably slightly damaged when it was in an accident in 99. The radiator had a mark on it from contact. Maybe it took this long for a hairline crack or 2 to spread?....

Either way.... does anyone have a recommendation on a more solid replacement?

[Dino]

Same one, they'll last about 20 years even if they were in an accident so not too shabby.   

I had my aftermarket cut my radiator a few years back. I was standing next to the car. Scary stuff.

[JR]

This is a good excuse to make the jump to an electrical fan.

I'm about ready to pull the trigger on on the Ford Contour fan swap myself.

[John_Kunkel]

The more I think about it...  it was probably slightly damaged when it was in an accident in 99. The radiator had a mark on it from contact. Maybe it took this long for a hairline crack or 2 to spread?....

Either way.... does anyone have a recommendation on a more solid replacement?

Is the hub aluminum or steel? Steel would be more trustworthy to me.

[flyinlow]

Like JR said , would be good time to consider electric fans. If you have enough alternator.

You could check a replacement stock  steel fan for flatness with a large plate glass or storm window.  A good machine shop could  check it for cracks that may not be easily seen with just a visual inspection.  They could probably check it for balance also.

Steel fatigue life is much higher than aluminum......normally.

[igozumn]

This is a good excuse to make the jump to an electrical fan.

I'm about ready to pull the trigger on on the Ford Contour fan swap myself.

My Contour fan has done what it is supposed to.  Tested it again this past weekend with a 15 minute crawl into a car show and a half hour clutch friction zone torture test of a cruise after the show.  There is no way it would have survived with the previous setup: no shroud and deep pitch, large blade flex fan.  


That being said, I still want to try a stock shroud, fan and fan clutch to see if running down the highway is cooler than it is with the electric fans.  

[JR]

This is a good excuse to make the jump to an electrical fan.

I'm about ready to pull the trigger on on the Ford Contour fan swap myself.

My Contour fan has done what it is supposed to.  Tested it again this past weekend with a 15 minute crawl into a car show and a half hour clutch friction zone torture test of a cruise after the show.  There is no way it would have survived with the previous setup: no shroud and deep pitch, large blade flex fan.  


That being said, I still want to try a stock shroud, fan and fan clutch to see if running down the highway is cooler than it is with the electric fans.  

What's the temp on the highway?

 I have the new low profile Hayden fan clutch, and shroud, and see 185-190 at any cruising speed. As soon as I hit stop and go traffic, I have maybe 8 minutes or so before temps climb past 225.  It simply won't keep up in traffic. It never would have survived that show. At least not here in the southeast.

Stock fans suck for guys that actually drive their cars. The (admittedly small) chance of violent failure is the nail in the coffin.

And before someone comes along and says, "I've been using the stock fan on a 900 HP Hemi in stop and go Arizona rush hour traffic and never had a problem...blah, blah, blah", I've done everything possible to lower running temps and engine bay temps. It simply won't keep up.

Electric fans or bust for me.

[flyinlow]

I am confused, electric fans do not normally run going down the road?  If I start up with a cold engine and drive 25 miles of freeway to town the fans will not run until I get into traffic in town and stop or slow to below 20mph or so. The fans only operate when the radiator temp is above about 150* I have a blue light that is illuminated when the fans are powered.

[metallicareload99]

This is a good excuse to make the jump to an electrical fan.

I'm about ready to pull the trigger on on the Ford Contour fan swap myself.

This is a good excuse to make the jump to an electrical fan.

I'm about ready to pull the trigger on on the Ford Contour fan swap myself.

My Contour fan has done what it is supposed to.  Tested it again this past weekend with a 15 minute crawl into a car show and a half hour clutch friction zone torture test of a cruise after the show.  There is no way it would have survived with the previous setup: no shroud and deep pitch, large blade flex fan.  


That being said, I still want to try a stock shroud, fan and fan clutch to see if running down the highway is cooler than it is with the electric fans.  

What are/will you guys use to control the fans?!  I.E., are you bypassing the resistor/speed controller thing on the fan assembly and powering the fans directly or using one of those $100+ add on module things?

I am confused, electric fans do not normally run going down the road?... ...The fans only operate when the radiator temp is above about 150* I have a blue light that is illuminated when the fans are powered.

I would assume not as the vehicle's forward speed should be moving enough air through the radiator, but it seems like you should be able to tell us one way or the other?

[John_Kunkel]

I am confused, electric fans do not normally run going down the road?  If I start up with a cold engine and drive 25 miles of freeway to town the fans will not run until I get into traffic in town and stop or slow to below 20mph or so. The fans only operate when the radiator temp is above about 150* I have a blue light that is illuminated when the fans are powered.

Your temp is below 150° on the road?  What thermostat (if any) are you using?

[JR]

What are/will you guys use to control the fans?!  I.E., are you bypassing the resistor/speed controller thing on the fan assembly and powering the fans directly or using one of those $100+ add on module things?

I plan on using one of the aftermarket control modules. I especially am after one that will let the fan run for a few min after shutdown. I think that should help immensely with heat soak after shutdown.

I'll post updates with results when it's done.

[johnnycharger]

Any recommendations on a fan besides going electric?

[igozumn]

My Fitech has 2 fan controls in it.  I'm using the stock Contour resistor and the Fitech, to give me both fans running on low or high speed, at whatever temps I want them to.  Have to check, but I think I have the low speed to come on around 186 or 190 and the high speed to kick on around 195 or 205???  160 degree thermostat.  120 amp alternator, 70 or 80 amp Maxi fuse (can't recall) feeding 2 40amp relays, one for each fan, just like stock.  I have access to the factory wiring diagram for the Contour (and Focus), so I copied what Ford did and used the Fitech to trigger the 2 speeds. 

Coming home from the show Saturday afternoon, it was up around 195-200 towards the end of the 30 mile highway run and the fans were on.  Ambient temp was around 90 degrees.  Everyone, as well as my schooling, says that any car should be able to run down the highway without the fans help.  Now, a mechanical fan would of course be running while on the highway.  Lemme stop here for a second to clarify my particular vehicle so you understand where I'm coming from.

Previous '69 Charger came with a large blade flex fan when I bought it in '89.  I've run that fan until a year and a half back.  It always seemed to do ok, but I know the factory gauge was off.  It wasn't until I installed the Fitech  (Feb 2016), did I get a correct temp reading.  I used the water pump housing from Mancini and their Milodon supplied pump.  2 months later, I put an ECP aluminum radiator in after the 25 year old reproduction 3 core copper/brass started to leak.  The short time I had the Fitech AND that fan, I was happy with the temps it was running, except for the first car show after installing the EFI.  20-25 minute crawl to get in, saw the temps going up with that fan and no shroud. Haven't had a shroud in 25 years.  By the time we got parked, it was up around 215 +/-, maybe higher (225???).  Don't recall.  Too high.  My buddies '70 Bee with 383 and stock fan, shroud..everything, staying cool.  I thought, "Hey, I'll put electric fans on.  That's why I got the Fitech model I got, so I'd have 2 fan controls.  That'll fix it!"  Well it mostly did.  But I don't believe the fans should be running on the highway.  Unless I treat them as a consumable item.  Which I can, but, I shouldn't have to.  I can toggle the fans off with the Fitech on the highway and watch the temps climb.  Toggle them back on and down it comes.  I thought I'd try some additional flow, so I pulled the fan and swiss-cheesed the shroud portion.  No difference on the highway with the additional flow through the fan assembly.  

I think I'll put the flex fan back on and pull the electric fans off and retest.  See if it runs the way I think it was running before.  My thinking is, that if it does run cool like it did on the highway, then with a shroud and a stock 7 blade, the idling in traffic should improve.  A lot of people on here have said, that their car has cooled best with the stock setup.  It won't cost me anything but time, to put the flex fan back on and test it.  Only cost me a shroud to try that with the flex fan.  Then, I could maybe try the stock 7 blade.  Or put the electric fans back on depending on what results I see.  Just want to know what'll work best, especially before I put the A/C back on.  

Plus, the additional heat coming into the cabin is just too much.  And that has me concerned about getting the A/C back on it.  I had my laser thermometer with me a couple weeks back and for fun, gunned some of the stuff inside.  Floor, firewall, dash, whatever.  Some of it was 130-140 degrees.  No wonder it feels hot!  Not sure if it's the engine running leaner and running hotter with the EFI, or the electric fans pushing a heck of a bunch of air back through the engine compartment.  They will keep a dollar bill against the grill on low speed, so I know they're pulling lots of air.  On the plus side, with the heat crossover blocked and double Cool Carb Spacers under the Fitech, the throttle body is staying right around 135 degress, even after sitting in car show traffic (barely moving)  for 20 minutes trying to get parked, so extremely happy with that!!  Same for after the run home.

I know getting rid of the exhaust manifolds for headers would help.  That's a fix that becomes a giant snowball on my car (plus heads, plus cam, plus.....).  I want to, and will.  But can't right now.  But I've had the manifolds on for 25 years, so, trying to chase what once was, regarding temps, but with new additions/changes.

But again, I may find that I just have to accept that the fans will run whenever they need to run.  Even if it means while running down the highway at 65mph....

[70 sublime]

I have never had an electric fan on my old cars but have a question

If you have the electric in front of the rad and not turned on would it be blocking a lot of area that the air needs to pass through and there fore making it run hotter ?
If the electric fan was on the back side of the rad and was turned off I would think more air would have a chance to pass through the hot rad better and run cooler 

[flyinlow]

I am confused, electric fans do not normally run going down the road?  If I start up with a cold engine and drive 25 miles of freeway to town the fans will not run until I get into traffic in town and stop or slow to below 20mph or so. The fans only operate when the radiator temp is above about 150* I have a blue light that is illuminated when the fans are powered.

Your temp is below 150° on the road?   What thermostat (if any) are you using?

I did not mean I was confused about how my cooling system works. I said that in response to an earlier post. After rereading that ,I realized did not word it well.

My temp sensor is in the radiator. I have 180* thermostat and that's what the engine maintains. The electric fans do not run until the radiator hits about 150-160*  I need to keep the radiator coolant below desired engine temp. The sensor is adjustable and took a little fine tuning at first , but has been dependable. So on a cold startup and drive at road speeds the fans do not run until  I get into traffic and slow below 20 mph or so, about 30 minutes later. On a summer day after freeway speeds the fans will come on very quickly at a traffic light. I can also turn them on with a switch when ever I want if there is a need. If I start the car up cold and just let it idle , the fans will come on after 5-10 mins depending on the outside temp.

[flyinlow]

I have never had an electric fan on my old cars but have a question

If you have the electric in front of the rad and not turned on would it be blocking a lot of area that the air needs to pass through and there fore making it run hotter ?
If the electric fan was on the back side of the rad and was turned off I would think more air would have a chance to pass through the hot rad better and run cooler  

My two fans  are behind the radiator. I have no engine driven fan anymore just a pulley on the water pump. The fans probably spin slowly when not powered and cruising down the road.  They do not seam to interfere with the air flow at freeway speeds. I have driven the car at higher speeds on a 100* day and the engine stays at 180* without the fans running. The two fans draw 20 amps but pull over 5000cfm of air and do a good job in traffic.

[metallicareload99]

Any recommendations on a fan besides going electric?

I think you had close to the best set up possible and wasn't it working well until it exploded?  Get a new fan blade assembly and a shroud?    It would be hard for an electric setup to top that, assuming the clutch is still good

My Fitech has 2 fan controls in it.  I'm using the stock Contour resistor and the Fitech, to give me both fans running on low or high speed, at whatever temps I want them to.  Have to check, but I think I have the low speed to come on around 186 or 190 and the high speed to kick on around 195 or 205???  160 degree thermostat.  120 amp alternator, 70 or 80 amp Maxi fuse (can't recall) feeding 2 40amp relays, one for each fan, just like stock.  I have access to the factory wiring diagram for the Contour (and Focus), so I copied what Ford did and used the Fitech to trigger the 2 speeds.  

Fascinating, I have FiTech also and would love to see how you hooked it up!?  I didn't think there was a good way to work with the contour resistor without the aftermarket module.  I looked into the contour fans and it never occurred to me to hook the FiTech to the control unit

It seems like your cooling system is getting the job done especially in 90º heat, but it does seem odd how hard your fans are working.  Especially because it looks like you got a good radiator and manifolds shouldn't be allowing as much heat into the engine bay as headers

[dual fours]

Fans are either pusher (in front of radiator) or puller (behind radiator) type. I put an extra fan in front before I headed to Carlisle, I just knew she would act up because she was giving me trouble while the National Street Rod Association was in town. It was hot, temps. over 100° with the sun on the metal surfaces temp. were 140°. My educated guess would be to have the fan in front of the radiator then the radiant heat would not draw over the fans motor and it may last longer. I have a illuminated  switch under the dash to turn it on and off, it worked great. I do use the stock temperature gauge plus an under dash add on temp. gauge, I like to have a back up. Oh a clutch fan and no shroud, never had one since '77. The fan sits on the left side and covers half of the radiator. I'm happy. I watched the temp. in stop and go traffic on those very hot days then when it climbed up I flipped the switch. I could see when the thermostat opened (engine temp. went down) and closed (engine temp. went up). The fan keep it in the happy zone. Oh and when I got to Carlisle out about a mile from the  K street entrance (hell a turtle could have beat me to the grounds, stop and go stop and go) and parked on the infield and shut her down, you could watch the temp. climb up over 220°, so I started the fan and down it went.

[igozumn]

Fascinating, I have FiTech also and would love to see how you hooked it up!?  I didn't think there was a good way to work with the contour resistor without the aftermarket module.  I looked into the contour fans and it never occurred to me to hook the FiTech to the control unit

Think of it like the stock ballast resistor on the firewall.  There are 2 ways to get power to the ignition coil.  One, through the resistor in the run position (and less than 12v), and the other bypassing the ballast in the start position (for 12v+).    Now, in this scenario, replace the ballast with the stock Contour fan resistor and replace the ignition coil with electric fans and replace the ignition switch with the Fitech.  

I have the Fitech 30004, which has 2 fan controls (fan 1 and fan 2) and an A/C kick.  Whenever the fan(s) control is on, or the A/C is on (no working A/C at the moment), the Fitech bumps up the idle a bit to compensate for the additional electrical load.

I put 2 relays into the system, just like stock.  One powers up the fans through the resistor when Fan 1 is turned on by the Fitech at whatever temp I set it at.  It also turns them off at whatever temp I set it at.  The second relay bypasses the fan resistor (ballast) when Fan 2 is turned on by the Fitech, allowing full system voltage to the fans at whatever temps, blah blah blah.  

If your Fitech only has 1 fan control, then you can do it 2 different ways.  You can wire it so the fans are on high when triggered.  Or, you can run it through the resistor (low speed) and put in an override switch to bypass the resistor if needed and turn them on high.  If you only run it on high, then one relay is fine.  If you run it on low with an override, then you'd need 2 relays.

I've been meaning to do a Fitech/car update video on youtube.  I need to pull the driveshaft and trans for some maintenance.  May have to wait until that is done.

[igozumn]

What I would love, is if Fitech would/could integrate a PWM control for fans into their EFI system.  Something that would allow the removal of the typical aftermarket PWM probe sensor shoved into the radiator core, or from having to find a spot for a 3rd temp sensor (Fitech sensor for EFI, plus factory sensor, plus PWM sensor.....).

[JR]

I completely forgot that the Fitech has fan control. That is convenient.

I just ordered an HHR fan. I'll make a separate thread posting the update.

My Hayden clutch fan with shroud just let the engine almost overheat last night after getting caught in traffic for ten minutes.  I'm not going to miss it.

EDIT:

Just got the HHR fan mocked up. I turned the fan on after the engine had warmed up to 190, and the car idled in the driveway for 20 minutes between 206- 210. It never got warmer.

It took 8 min for the stock fan clutch to overheat the engine last night in cooler weather.

It's looking great so far.

[igozumn]