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I had a blade on my fan just bend and tear up the radiator. Never seen that happen before. I've got plenty of clearance and the motor is tied down.
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Re: What would cause a fan blade to fail?
Posted by:
JimmieD
(66.81.121.---)
Posts: 1,090
Posts: 1,090
Date: July 01, 2009 09:12PM
Quote
swptln
Gary,
A inch of clearance is more than enough for a fan that is not weak or damaged. If the fan was flexing more than a 1/4 inch, there is something wrong with it. I highly doubt the blade are or were flexing over an inch, that seems like an awful lot. Usually they don't put flex fans on a clutch set-up.
You may want to look at your motor mounts or more importantly your tranny mount if it has one. A bad mount maybe allowing your engine to torque from side to side pushing the fan into the radiator on an angle. Just a thought.
Yep, I agree! Normal movement for a non-flex fan is maybe 1/4" - 3/8", if that. Sounds like yours was some kind of catastrophic failure, sudden breakage of a fin. It may have bent some before letting go completely. Metal fatige is a weird thing causing strange things along the grain structures. In many known cases a tiny & almost imperceptible scratch is enough to set up stress risers that weaken with time & vibration & flexing. Bad when it happens to a connecting rod or crankshaft....
