I just replaced the radiator in my 2003 bmw 540i due to a leak, i replaced the fan clutch while it was out keeping the old blades and mounting it to the new clutch. after test driving it for about 10 mins i heard a huge sound and every single blade broke off at once. Could this be due to a bad fan clutch or a weak fan? I also tripple checked that the fan was mounted the correct way on the clutch, and the shoud was secure leaving nothing to physically hit the fan blades.
Ooof. Bummer. Did you escape with no damage in the engine bay or hood? Sometimes blades actually mess the hood and rad hoses and other stuff up real good when that happens.
Two possibilities, one is that the old fan blade plastic was just super fatigued and ready to let go, but the old clutch was never spinning up, so when it finally got wound up properly it let go.
More likely is the new fan overspun. What brand of clutch did you use? IIRC a few guys have reported bad new visco fan clutches right out of the box lately, if using the cheapo brands.
Mostly the reports have been the fan was just too noisy not full assplosion, but that's still a function of spinning up too hard/fast, and maybe assplosion is just a matter of time and/or how aged the old plastic was.
I'm wondering if one of these aftermarket companies fudged the specs on the clutch and sending out a part thats set to a much lower temp for some different engine and/or that has a shaft that spins at a lower speed.
Looks like the factory one is 92C. From what I can tell the I6 clutches tend to open a few degrees below that.
I can't find a reference but a diesel fan should open up a lot lower even, and, could well be setup for lower crank speeds (therefore locking up harder/faster to get equivalent airflow).
If some supplier made a part cross-ref mistake with a diesel clutch that might do it...
2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)
Former:
1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)
Cheap aftermarket clutch I'll bet. Out of spec? Ha! I've seen lots of them new out of the box that are essentially seized and spin the living daylights out of the fan.
Old brittle plastic doesn't tolerate that sort of work out.
Get an OE clutch and blade.
Quite remarkable that you didn't mention any other damage, consider yourself lucky in that regard.
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
Maybe the bolts were too tight and cracked the old plastic fan where it attaches to the clutch.
Just leave it off. When I dropped mine last summer and broke a fan blade, I decided to not put it back on. The electric fan does just fine and is much quieter then the mechanical fan.
I do not believe in a risk free society where the thrill of living is traded for the safety of existence. Nick Ienatsch
The law does NOT determine "right" from "wrong". They are unrelated.
If you put cheap parts on your car, you will soon have a cheap parts car.
Just delete the fan clutch. You dont need it
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Possible causes:
- Bad Fan Clutch locking itself. Use Sachs ONLY.
- Old fan blades (old plastic).
- Bad engine mounts.
Aux fans have low failure rates, and later BMWs (as early as the E46) went to a single electric fan setup. Running no fan clutch on any of my BMWs, no issue. If the aux fan is functioning and rest of cooling system is healthy I would have 0 qualms about deleting the fan clutch
Going into my TENTH YEAR of providing high quality reproduction BMW fabrics!
PRICE CUT on ALL FABRICS
Offering the best prices on the best quality reproduction fabrics!
For the few buck why would one reuse a 15 year old blade?
I do not believe in a risk free society where the thrill of living is traded for the safety of existence. Nick Ienatsch
The law does NOT determine "right" from "wrong". They are unrelated.
If you put cheap parts on your car, you will soon have a cheap parts car.
SpiritMolecule, could you have mounted the blades to the wrong side of the clutch?
He says he triple chugged that...otherwise woulda been mentioned early. Of course Mr one post hasn't been back ... May never...
Going strong here on many years of daily driving on Aux-only stupidcharged V8 here, 4-seasons. If anybody is on borrowed time hell it's me, I think it's even the OE factory Aux fan, but we are still rocking!
In the 10's overnight lately Jim so , don't need too much fan around here ATM. I'm sure you're missing this kind of weather...
2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)
Former:
1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)
I have been experimenting with fan modifications lately, have modded 2 e46's to the single fan mod with great results. Details here (not my writeup):
http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showt...)-doityourself
On the e39/e31 front, I have swapped out 2 fans recently, one on m62Tu and the other on an M70 with the following fan from later model 7 series and X5 with mechanical fans:
Fan Blade 17417504732
Fan Clutch 17417505109
BMW fan upgrade.png
The new fan is quieter, potentially less prone to breakage, and moves more air. The fan blade and clutch must be used together. This is early in testing, but so far, working well. I am not suggesting that we all go out and change our fan blade, just proposing a potential upgrade when doing maintenance.
Hope this helps.
Last edited by bdiefAZ; 01-12-2019 at 10:11 PM.
Regards,
Brian
Cave Creek, AZ
Love those one posters, drop a question and vanish.
10°, not missing that weather at all, it's 40° here right now. If it makes you feel better last week I had to shovel a little snow. First time I had to use a snow shovel in 3 winters.
I was outside today powder coating parts for the '33.
Last edited by JimLev; 01-12-2019 at 10:56 PM.
E85 fueled, Eaton m112 supercharged 4.5L M62TU, TTV racing flywheel, Spec stage 2+ clutch, 88c thermostat, eibach sway bars, wavetrac 3.15 lsd, m5 steering box, Quantum 340lph fuel pump, Dinan camber plates, some powerflex bushings, Supersprint headers, M5 cats, 2001 gas pedal upgrade and many other things done. all diy by me
I like the ring blade design - eliminate the blade tossing possibility. Is there some advantage to tbe other visco clutch or is that just needed for bolt up compatibility purps? Im sure that S blade is quieter although usually S=quieter and flat=moves more air.
2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)
Former:
1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)
Same dimensions and offset of stock fan, fits in stock shroud on both e31 with M70 and e39 with M62tu. I will try to post photos tomorrow.
Last edited by bdiefAZ; 01-13-2019 at 01:57 PM.
Regards,
Brian
Cave Creek, AZ
Nate J.
(oOO\ (|||)º(|||) /OOo)
Titanium Silver/Black Nappa Full 07-18-2001 E39 M5 Heritage (BZ99672). 198,000mi+. Increasing daily. Engine rebuild thread.
(eŌō\ (||||)º(||||) / ōŌe)
Alpineweiss III/Black Merino Full 03-26-2007 E60 M5 Manual (CX08265). 157,000+. Dead starter -_-
RIP, Seabiscuit. Black Sapphire/Schwarz 03-11-2003 530iA Sport (CK39185). T-boned 03-01-2017 at 155,861mi.
Take 2 "Otto" - Toledo Blue/Sandbeige 04-25-2002 530iA Sport (CH98032). Sold 11-10-2017 at 147,743mi.
Take 3 "Manuel" - Toledo Blue/Grau 10-29-2001 530i5 Sport (CE92358). Sold 02-01-2019 at 217,600mi. I regret that. Build Log
Reliable P.O.S. - Green/gray 1995 Camry V6 LE. 270k mi. Sold for space.
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Ditto
I think the OP is stuck at the sub atomic level with Ant Man. He hasn't even logged on since he made his statement. Hopefully the Avengers can bring him back... Sheesh.
I do not believe in a risk free society where the thrill of living is traded for the safety of existence. Nick Ienatsch
The law does NOT determine "right" from "wrong". They are unrelated.
If you put cheap parts on your car, you will soon have a cheap parts car.
Here are some of the modded fan pics on the e31 M70 car. The fan has the same clearance as before and has the same diameter and offset from the water pump as stock.
IMG_3713.jpgIMG_3715.jpg
Here is a photo of the M62 Tu e39:
M62 Tu fan upgrade.jpg
Last edited by bdiefAZ; 01-14-2019 at 06:34 PM.
Regards,
Brian
Cave Creek, AZ
Hmmm. Looks close to the motor to me. Not like that's a problem, if you say it's good I believe, just looks like might be less deep in the shroud. Well,could be a prob for a blower kit car that already needs to uses the extender part to get the fan past the belts and whatnot. But seems like a cool parts bin upgrade for stock motors.
2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)
Former:
1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)
Does anyone know why the M5 and 540i have different part numbers for the fan clutch? Different cooling system operating temps?
Nate J.
(oOO\ (|||)º(|||) /OOo)
Titanium Silver/Black Nappa Full 07-18-2001 E39 M5 Heritage (BZ99672). 198,000mi+. Increasing daily. Engine rebuild thread.
(eŌō\ (||||)º(||||) / ōŌe)
Alpineweiss III/Black Merino Full 03-26-2007 E60 M5 Manual (CX08265). 157,000+. Dead starter -_-
RIP, Seabiscuit. Black Sapphire/Schwarz 03-11-2003 530iA Sport (CK39185). T-boned 03-01-2017 at 155,861mi.
Take 2 "Otto" - Toledo Blue/Sandbeige 04-25-2002 530iA Sport (CH98032). Sold 11-10-2017 at 147,743mi.
Take 3 "Manuel" - Toledo Blue/Grau 10-29-2001 530i5 Sport (CE92358). Sold 02-01-2019 at 217,600mi. I regret that. Build Log
Reliable P.O.S. - Green/gray 1995 Camry V6 LE. 270k mi. Sold for space.
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