Is this fan useable?

Bill Jennings · Bill Jennings's Garage

Hi All,

I bought this used 11 blade fan to upgrade my 5 blade as I live in sweltering hot Australia and my car is a UK import.

I'd appreciate an opinion if this fan is usable or repairable if not.

When I installed the fan I realised that the fan pulley does not lock on the fan as the fan is worn at the back . The front of the fan is ok and the pulley is a tight fit but when I push the pulley to the back against the fan itself it will spin. I'm not sure if I am missing a part or something but even though my 5 blade shows some wear I cannot turn the pulley when it is on the fan as it is locked in place.

Am I missing a part that would stop the pulley from turning?
This picture shows how I can turn the pulley on the fan.

This is a side view showing enough wear for the pulley to spin.

This is my 5 blade fan.

redstrosekNic · redstrosekNic's Garage

That's probably from not using all the shims (inside+outside) on the fan. The pulley dances around and eats away at the fan hub. It is repairable, but I would look for a better used replacement.

ivangene · 02-22-2013, 04:08 AM

seen worse...but it will get worse too - I think it needs repair before use

Iciclehead · 02-22-2013, 04:40 AM

I guess a good welder could build it up with weld material, regrind and refinish but why? I think it is a goner and you need to look for a new one...

Dennis

ivangene · 02-22-2013, 04:47 AM

OH - I said repair - I meant replacement

MBruns · 02-22-2013, 05:01 AM

Find a hub from a damaged fan and replace it, do a search for fan restorations or many here have good used ones, with the price of new ones heading to the moon

Mike Bruns

KTL · 02-22-2013, 06:35 AM

Agree with Mike. You can remove the center of the fan by drilling out the big 'ol rivets that hold the middle in the fan body itself. You'd be surprised how many junk fans there are laying around due to wasted fan blades. I have one.........

HawgRyder · HawgRyder's Garage

I had sort of the same problem with mine.
I am cheap..LOL...so I pinned the pulley using screw in set type screws in the holes of the pulley going into the threaded (I threaded them) holes in the main part of the fan.
If you look at your pic...you will see that 2 or 3 of the holes will line up when the pulley and fan are indexed.
May not be Porsche correct...but will work...and the pulley will no longer rotate in respect to the fan.
Bob

philip j · 02-22-2013, 05:17 PM

I see someone has used a set screw in this fan at the 11 o'clock position. This looks like a simple fix. Did you use locktite on the set screw?

howard freeman · howard freeman's Garage

Unless you have a rivet gun & bucking bars to re rivet the hub, the easiest repair is weld it up & reshape it with a file. When you put it back together ,make sure to use 6 shims or you will be doing it again.
Howard

HawgRyder · HawgRyder's Garage

I did not use locktite...but I don't see that it would hurt.
The whole idea is to stop the pulley from turning in respect to the fan unit.
So....set screws...or maybe pins...anything that would make a positive connection should work.
Bob

Bill Jennings · Bill Jennings's Garage

Can anyone post a picture of a fan that is new or at least not showing excessive wear caused by the pulley please.
Cheers
Bill

howard freeman · howard freeman's Garage

First pic is a bad one,next two pic are a good one.

howard freeman · howard freeman's Garage

Sorry about the focus,but my camera batteries are low.
Howard

pa911 · 02-23-2013, 08:06 PM

Left is bad with groove- right is good no groove

Bill Jennings · Bill Jennings's Garage

The seller I bought this fan from philip j, bought this fan with a job lot of other parts on this forum and he was unaware of the wear on the fan when he sold it on to me.

After careful consideration I decided I did not want to repair the fan, asked Philip for a refund which he repaid immediately in full without hesitation.

Neither of us were aware of the wear issues that can occur on these fans so thanks to all that posted on this and Philips thread.

I cannot speak highly enough about Philip and would recommend that you buy from him if he is selling anything that you want. I certainly would buy from him again and he clearly stands behind what he sells.

Philip is too nice to contact the PP member that sold him the parts so it is my sincere hope that the person on this forum that originally sold him the parts see's this thread and contacts Philip to put that sale right.

It is people like Philip that makes this forum a great place to be a member.

Cheers

Bill

304065 · 02-24-2013, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by howard freeman

Unless you have a rivet gun & bucking bars to re rivet the hub, the easiest repair is weld it up & reshape it with a file. When you put it back together ,make sure to use 6 shims or you will be doing it again.
Howard

Neither a rivet gun nor a bucking bar is required for this job. You use a rivet set which is inexpensive to form the heads, and any hard, flat surface, like the anvil on a vise, to hammer against. That's what I did, I actually did it twice because I wasn't happy with my first attempt. It is a 30 minute job.

I agree strongly about the shims.

There are plenty of broken fans out there that the hub can be scavenged from-- and more being made every day by those who refuse to use the factory tool to tighten the nut!

Good luck. If you can't find a replacement fan entirely, changing the hub is simple, and the Factory being the Factory, the holes only align one way.