GRRR!!!! Another DIY Fan delete mod.......

[Hova]

9am this morning i head to the M to get ready for another long day of school/work. I go ahead and start her up (ALWAYS starts on the 1st crank), starts right up, but when it does, i hear A LOT of violent noise comming from the front end of the car. It sounds like people are throwing rocks or something at the front end.....

I turn the car off IMEDIATELY (was on for MAYBE 3 whole seconds), and i step out to see what the hell just happened. When i get out of the car, i notice some black pieces of plastic on the ground that were NOT there before i stepped in . I go ahead and open the hood, honestly i was expecting some dead animal stuck in the belt or something along those lines, but instead what i saw really pissed me off.....














Ends up my whole fan got OWNED hardcore!!! Weird part is it was replaced about 2 years ago along with the whole cooling system..... I always check the fan for play, and make sure the clutch is in proper spec and it always is, up until the last oil change (2k ago) so i know that it wasnt the clutch that ate sh*t...... upon further investigation i find this:




Well great... looks like im stuck at home all day

The belt is totally destroyed, ripped in 3 places



Again, weird because it was replaced less than 30k ago.....


Took the fan/clutch out:





Nothing was out of spec with the belt, or the clutch, or the water pump, so i was totally clueless... I drove home last night, drove fine, nothing different than any other drive, park the car. 10 hours later, i start it up and it does this


I check all the accesories (alternator, AC, etc) and when i check the powersteering pump, i notice that i can practicly pull the pump out of the car!!!!

The bracket that holds the pump to the engine literally cracked, and caused the belt to lock up, in doing so, wrapped around the fan, and destroyed it. Looks like i did the "reverse fan delete mod" lol
















Now im totally clueless as to how this could happen, its missing two pieces off that bracket, both the bolts are still on my car, with the pieces as well lol. Out of the two front bolts, the top one is missing, and the lower one is loose, so im assuming that the PO had a roll in this.......

Pretty pissed right now


Have a new Gator back belt on order for tommorow morning from autozone, and i need to somehow source a new bracket by tommorow morning as well. Weird thing i noticed today, is that the M52 and the S52 as well as the M50 (coupe) all have different PS brackets.

The M50 sedan and the S52 are the same, but the M52 and m50 coupe are there own. (Have an M52 sitting in my garage, was trying to take the bracket off that till i realized its totally different lol)



I guess my luck

[desynch]

Good lord. Reading the first few sentences and I figure the fan clutch broke...and literally it was.

Didn't think it was so bad it tore up your belts. wtf

[e36mpwr]

Just delete it and you don't have to worry!

You said you replaced your cooling system, any reason you stuck with the plastic thermostat?

[Hova]

Originally Posted by e36mpwr

Just delete it and you don't have to worry!

You said you replaced your cooling system, any reason you stuck with the plastic thermostat?

Saw no gain in going with an aluminum one. I plan on replacing my cooling system every 60-70k anyway. So just went with the OEM route. That being said, the next time i replace my cooling system (about 30k from now), i WILL be going with an all aluminum radiator, and aluminum housing, as the car is going to be seeing more track time.

Originally Posted by desynch

Good lord. Reading the first few sentences and I figure the fan clutch broke...and literally it was.

Didn't think it was so bad it tore up your belts. wtf

iI know.... ruined my entire day lol, that being said i did get to relax a bit

[Mad Dog 20/20]

crazy.
while installing my SC last month, I discovered that my PS pump bracket was cracked in half just like yours. I figured it was some fluke thing . . .
Glad I caught it.

[jworms]

fan delete FTW

will you end up removing the fan after this?

[Schultz28]

o well fans suck anyways. id rather have that 3-4whp. haha

[Hova]

Originally Posted by Mad Dog 20/20

crazy.
while installing my SC last month, I discovered that my PS pump bracket was cracked in half just like yours. I figured it was some fluke thing . . .
Glad I caught it.

WOW!!

glad to see im not the only one! when i manage to get a new bracket, i think im going to do a full bead weld around the mounts that are tack welded to it, as well as weld on another piece of support. I really dont ever want this happening again.

Originally Posted by jworms

fan delete FTW

will you end up removing the fan after this?

Yeah, it was on the "to do list" anyway. Should have done this when i did my M50 mani and headers......

[Brent 930]

No reason to do the FDM, just replace the bracket (bad luck), the fan blade ($20), both belts, then move on with life.

[Hova]

Originally Posted by Schultz28

o well fans suck anyways. id rather have that 3-4whp. haha

3-4whp???


maybe 1hp TOPS!

Not overly worried about that much power when im driving to school/work lol. Car is a DD before anything else, so reliabily is 1st. I will be putting in a lower thermostat, as well as a secondary electric puller fan.

Need this car to be as reliable as possible, so there will be 2 electric fans installed (stock AUX, and an aftermarket Spal or something along the lines), both wired to a lower thermostat. Should be bulletproof (knock on wood....)

Originally Posted by Brent 930

No reason to do the FDM, just replace the bracket (bad luck), the fan blade ($20), both belts, then move on with life.

Originally Posted by Hova

3-4whp???


maybe 1hp TOPS!

Not overly worried about that much power when im driving to school/work lol. Car is a DD before anything else, so reliabily is 1st. I will be putting in a lower thermostat, as well as a secondary electric puller fan.

Need this car to be as reliable as possible, so there will be 2 electric fans installed (stock AUX, and an aftermarket Spal or something along the lines), both wired to a lower thermostat. Should be bulletproof (knock on wood....)

And you are correct, there is no need for the fan delete mod. These cars with new cooling systems, and belts, and fans will last 100k of DD use. But id like something a bit more robust, just knowing that i wont have to worry about the fan/clutch/water pump bearings/belt is more satisfying. A electric fan is much simpler than the OE setup.

That being said, i am still trusting a POS OE thermostat lol.
.

[ltw97m3]

56" belt if you want to be a hero and delete power steering until you can source what you need.

[Hova]

Originally Posted by fishforlife

56" belt if you want to be a hero and delete power steering until you can source what you need.

Was actually going to call u this morning, were always seem to have weird ass problems, love to share mine with you. Figured you would be sleeping lol.


One of these days Dave, i promise she will be under 2500lbs

She is around 2950 right now i think thats light enough for the time being.

[ltw97m3]

ya i slept in, would have probably picked up though. got the text but im terrible inefficient with texting(if your a women you stand a better chance of a response) and i couldnt make out the extent of the damage. now that i have seen the thread, im glad the fan did not take out the radiator.
be careful of them lug nuts, i heard from some people in bf.c they hold the wheels on.

[Hova]

Originally Posted by fishforlife

ya i slept in, would have probably picked up though. got the text but im terrible inefficient with texting(if your a women you stand a better chance of a response) and i couldnt make out the extent of the damage. now that i have seen the thread, im glad the fan did not take out the radiator.
be careful of them lug nuts, i heard from some people in bf.c they hold the wheels on.

Ill see what i can do about plastic surgery....



last time i heard, u have to put torque on the lug nuts to keep them in place..... i dunno, just a rumor....

[wheresmym3]

Crazy the PS bracket broke. > Goes to inspect engine bay

[Schultz28]

Originally Posted by Hova

3-4whp???


maybe 1hp TOPS!

Not overly worried about that much power when im driving to school/work lol. Car is a DD before anything else, so reliabily is 1st. I will be putting in a lower thermostat, as well as a secondary electric puller fan.

Need this car to be as reliable as possible, so there will be 2 electric fans installed (stock AUX, and an aftermarket Spal or something along the lines), both wired to a lower thermostat. Should be bulletproof (knock on wood....)
.

actually no, it is dyno proven. this company says 6-8hp. and it doesnt affect the reliability at all. just do the lower thermostat and fan switch. and if youre super paranoid you can always spend the money to get an electric fan but its definitely not necessary. i have had no overheating issues whatsoever!

http://www.understeer.com/fanclutchmod.shtml

[libravcs]

Im confused. That bracket is cracked, you say the prior owner possibly made some sort of poor mod or faulty repair, you havent mentioned the condition of your engine mounts, but yet you are convinced the root cause of all of this was a defective fan?

[Stück]

I have seen that bracket cracking or cracked through on several cars, have also seen it derail the belt, which as you saw.. quickly takes out the clutch fan.

[Hova]

Originally Posted by libravcs

Im confused. That bracket is cracked, you say the prior owner possibly made some sort of poor mod or faulty repair, you havent mentioned the condition of your engine mounts, but yet you are convinced the root cause of all of this was a defective fan?

It did seem as though the PO did a faulty repair, but now i am seeing that this has happened to other board members so maybe i am wrong.


My engine mounts were changed along with the last oil change, so they have about 2k on them.



No, the fan/fan clutch was in 100% working order, the part that failed was that bracket, which caused everything else to break as well.

Originally Posted by Schultz28

actually no, it is dyno proven. this company says 6-8hp. and it doesnt affect the reliability at all. just do the lower thermostat and fan switch. and if youre super paranoid you can always spend the money to get an electric fan but its definitely not necessary. i have had no overheating issues whatsoever!

http://www.understeer.com/fanclutchmod.shtml

Its my car



So i will do as i please with it. Ive already stated my plans for it.


6hp, again, i dont think thats possible. Most CAI companies advertise a gain of up to 25-30hp , when i put mine in I didnt feel a thing different, in fact I felt a bigger change when i changed my oil weight.

[libravcs]

Ok. I was just trying to understand. The initial posts made it seem like the relatively new OEM fan just grenaded for no reason at all. But it turns out that was not the case.

By the way, how much damage was done to your hood? Many legends on BFS involve hoods being shredded like swiss chees due to plastic cutting through the insulation the destroying metal.

[SneauxM3]

If u need a new fan clutch i'd do you mine for like $25 shipped. When I bought my car I replaced the fan/clutch. It was on for maybe 4-5 monthes before I did FDM.

If you do not want to do FDM, let me know. Can send ya ASAP. I was gonna toss it but its still in my other room

[Hova]

Originally Posted by libravcs

Ok. I was just trying to understand. The initial posts made it seem like the relatively new OEM fan just grenaded for no reason at all. But it turns out that was not the case.

By the way, how much damage was done to your hood? Many legends on BFS involve hoods being shredded like swiss chees due to plastic cutting through the insulation the destroying metal.

lol yeah i though of the same thing, hood is fine, the insulation took the impact.

Originally Posted by SneauxM3

If u need a new fan clutch i'd do you mine for like $25 shipped. When I bought my car I replaced the fan/clutch. It was on for maybe 4-5 monthes before I did FDM.

If you do not want to do FDM, let me know. Can send ya ASAP. I was gonna toss it but its still in my other room

pretty set on the FDM, but i will let u know if i change my mind.

[96bmwcosmosm3]

fdm ftw!! 4 years with out it and has never over heated.

[jworms]

Originally Posted by libravcs

By the way, how much damage was done to your hood? Many legends on BFS involve hoods being shredded like swiss chees due to plastic cutting through the insulation the destroying metal.

it's not that the hood gets "shredded", it's that you get these fun dimples inserted into your hood for free. it's no myth. i guess the "shredding" could come from people who have removed the sound deadener from their hood.

[Tony Soprano]

can you just un screw the whole fan assy, and not add an aux fan and be ok?