Viscous Fan coupling Not working right??

[matt.s.FC]

Hey everyone i am hoping some of will beable to help me out on how to service/pull apart a viscous fan coupling.

basically i was driving down the highway when all i could hear was FAN..
now thats all i can hear now(been about 2 weeks now). and i cant take it anymore.

Instead of the fan spinning up to engine speed then slowing down to engine speed, its immediate.. eg turn the engine on and its spining straight away or turn the engine off and it stops when the engine does ... instead of spinning for an extra second or so.

Also when i try to spin the fan myself(with the engine off) the fan is just jammed... as in wont turn full stop. When i am able to turn it manually it makes some odd noises.

here are some pics of the coupling .... its out of my ford courier with the WL 2.5l diesel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/courierf/Image003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/courierf/Image002.jpg


Any help would be great thanks :)

[DJR96]

Sorry, but it's stuffed!

Try somewhere like Repco for a new one, shouldn't be too expensive. They can't be serviced at all.

[fullmetaljacket]

yea that one cant be serviced, its usually that the dont spin up rather than dont stop.......they have a bi-metallic strip of metal on them (acts like a thermo switch) , the viscous fluid (usually glucose) provides some "tension" (coldent think of a better word) so the hub and fan doesn't just stay stationary. When the the metal strip heats up it will trigger locking the hub, as it cools down the hub will unlock and free spin. So I'm guessing that the bearing inside the unit has shat itself causing it to lock up perminatly

The price of them may shock you especially form Ford, I priced one for my truck (Ford trader 4.2ltr) $450 genuine, $340 from Repco.......$300 worth of thermo fan and she's all good

[stets]

yes bearing has stuffd itself, you can get them from auto1 or places like that and shouldnt cost much over $100.00 never buy genuine, you get less warranty, for an aftermarket made item

[clm434]

Personally I'd scrap the viscous drive and either go electic thermo fans or replace the viscous hub unit with a direct drive fan. Like what you see on small/big block chev's, hemi's, old fords and stuff. Look good and still very practical and efficient.

[matt.s.FC]

thanks for all the replies everyone, pity it cant be rebuilt :(.
i'll be heading down to repco next chance i get.

Hopefully there is and aftermarket part available..

I've found out that for some reason there ain't that many aftermarket replacement parts for the courier :(.

thanks again for everyones help :)

[fullmetaljacket]

Hopefully there is and aftermarket part available..

I've found out that for some reason there ain't that many aftermarket replacement parts for the courier :(.


try for the same year Mazda Bravo, if you cant find courier parts, think they were the same engine/driveline

[DJR96]

Personally I'd scrap the viscous drive and either go electic thermo fans or replace the viscous hub unit with a direct drive fan. Like what you see on small/big block chev's, hemi's, old fords and stuff. Look good and still very practical and efficient.

Definitely don't go anything direct drive!:crazy: NOT practical and NOT efficient!!! Why do you think they started using viscous hub fans way back in the '70s? Don't even look good.:confused:

Keep looking, I'm sure you'll find one. Maybe have to try the wreckers, although they may not be much cheaper than aftermarket.

[dirtygq]

What about second hand ? .i believe i have one here to suit a bravo/courier.

[fullmetaljacket]

the problem with going a 2nd hand coupling is you dont know the history, and if it is a sealed unit you dont know whats inside, theres no way of telling if it will last 10yrs or 10mins. If its cheap enough go for it, but you have to weigh up if it would be better to get a new unit for the extra $$ and peice of mind

[Courierman]

Hey everyone i am hoping some of will beable to help me out on how to service/pull apart a viscous fan coupling.

basically i was driving down the highway when all i could hear was FAN..
now thats all i can hear now(been about 2 weeks now). and i cant take it anymore.

Instead of the fan spinning up to engine speed then slowing down to engine speed, its immediate.. eg turn the engine on and its spining straight away or turn the engine off and it stops when the engine does ... instead of spinning for an extra second or so.

Also when i try to spin the fan myself(with the engine off) the fan is just jammed... as in wont turn full stop. When i am able to turn it manually it makes some odd noises.

here are some pics of the coupling .... its out of my ford courier with the WL 2.5l diesel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/courierf/Image003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/courierf/Image002.jpg


Any help would be great thanks :)


Try Gold Coast 4 wheel drive wreckers 5591 5988.

if you have the turbo desiel model there was a recall on them where they replaced the radiator and fan coupling cause of mionor heating probblems experienced with couriers when they had bullbars on them.

you will have to make sure you have your ofiginal with you to ensure you egt the correct one.

just pull upo in the car park adn pull the the viscous clutch of there get a second handie and put it back on in the car park.

keep the old one in the back if the newie sh!ts itself then you can put the old one on to get you back home. the second handie will come with a one or three month warranty.

do not put an electrical fan on the courier by itself. you can put one in front of the airconditioner to assist. (i have one as heard the airconditioner can sh!t them sleves if they do not get enough air thru them.) you will get heating problems and then have head problems. ie cracked head. the mechanic i see said he sees heaps 4wds come in with heating problems because people change the original fans for electrical and they just do not have enough grunt to produce the air for cooling in excessive 4wding conditions when under load ie sand mud driveing and towing.

best of luck.

[Viper]

Wow coincedence or what!. I was on the way back from West Coast of Tassie on the weekend and all I could hear was the fan spinning all the time.

Now I see someone else with exactly the same problem. Hopefully I can get out of it cheaply..

[matt.s.FC]

well after some ringing around i found out there are no aftermarket fan couplings ... surprise surprise.. lol

genuine prices
ford - $550
Mazda - $400

For the same part!!

anyway a BIG thanks to COURIERMAN for posting the number for gold coast 4x4 wreckers :):)

got a fan coupling off them for $110 with a 3 month warrenty ... i installed it and it works sweet.

once again thanks to everyone for posting responses to this issue :)

[DJR96]

Good result!:)

The value of these forums at it's best yet again! As always, great source of info and opinions to help someone out.:thumb:

[Courierman]

well after some ringing around i found out there are no aftermarket fan couplings ... surprise surprise.. lol

genuine prices
ford - $550
Mazda - $400

For the same part!!

anyway a BIG thanks to COURIERMAN for posting the number for gold coast 4x4 wreckers :):)

got a fan coupling off them for $110 with a 3 month warrenty ... i installed it and it works sweet.

once again thanks to everyone for posting responses to this issue :)


No worries
you will no doubt help someone else out later.
besides us courier drivers must look after each other as we have to put up with toyota and nissan slagging off on us ha ha i know all in good fun!!!

[stets]

if i am not mistaken the 4 bolts that hold the viscous hub to the water pump are the same pattern for early holdens too, and i know for a fact auto 1 got a replacement for me for about a hundred even if you have to buy a new fan to fit it should still be alot cheaper than 400

[Peter @ Aawen4x4]

It's a bit risky buying any old fan hub, or even a new fan hub that isn't specifically for your engine, 'cos they all get set to a specific range of temps unique to the particular engine!! And even some of the aftermarket suppliers get this wrong, I've found that non OE Nissan Patrol hubs don't maintain the same temps as the OE hubs! Can be a real problem!! And can also be potentially an engine killer!

So consider very carefully what you are getting, try and make sure that whatever you get it is working in the correct temp range, fully engaging as the thermostat fully opens so that when the fan is spinning at it's fastest, the water is running thru the radiator at the correct speed to be cooled properly and quickly! There is a lot to be said for the $$$$ that the manufacturer put into getting the car pretty close to right in the first place!

[sudso]

Wow coincedence or what!. I was on the way back from West Coast of Tassie on the weekend and all I could hear was the fan spinning all the time.

Now I see someone else with exactly the same problem. Hopefully I can get out of it cheaply..Viper you would have the Aisin hub in yours, same as my Rodeo 3.2 and it would lock up all the time, roar its head off and drain power and use extra fuel.
Bad news you wont get out if cheap from Holdens, I did manage to find an aftermarket one made in the USA for 3.2's but it failed and leaked after 3 months and wouldn't spin up to speed when it got hotter. I got a same replacement under warranty and even that one only lasted 5 months, they were slighlty smaller units than original too. I ended up getting my money back ($120!)
So I pulled the Aisin unit apart and replaced the silicon oil in it, wacked it back on and it was ok 20% of the time but still locked up most of the time, but eventually locked up 100%.
I had a second hand electric fan from a large BMW car laying around so I bought Davies Craig adjustable thermo switch, fabbed up brackets to mount the fan inside the shroud without bolting it through the radiator and made it so it can be removed, brackets and all without even having to remove the shroud.
It works a treat so far.

[bravoboy]

I had the same problem with my fan never turning off, as soon as you turn on the car its on non-stop. Tried second hand and new and yet same problem, the bravo sounded like a v8 diesel but without the power. After many dollars spent ended up getting a thermo fan and its been sweet ever since, and also gave me some more power which was noticable. Only problem was once the temperature went up quick and ended up being a blown fuse, which i now carry many spares of just in case. It cools it very well and does the job, but as in any case it always pays to keep an eye on the temperature

[sudso]

Bravoboy I run mine from a 70A relay that I had as when the fan cranks up its pulling huge power (blows 30A fuses, so I use 40A.
It even blew the 40 amp fuse when I started the car once while the fan was running because of the current draw so I wired the thermostat through a dash switch and then to the relay so I can manually turn the fan off if its still running, to start the car.
Can also turn it off when I pull up and park etc. and not have it running for unnecessary minutes after shutdown.
I could just wire it from the ignition circuit so the fan turns off when I crank the starter but I prefer it this way.
cheers

[Viper]

Viper you would have the Aisin hub in yours, same as my Rodeo 3.2 and it would lock up all the time, roar its head off and drain power and use extra fuel.

I did think about pulling it off and replacing the silicon fluid.

I got a quote from Bursons for a replacement @ $235.

Might just live with it at the moment.