I was driving today and when I made a turn at a stop sign I accelerated hard and my (automatic) engine reved very high and when it shifted I heard a noise that sounded like a branch breaking. When I pulled over my "check coolant level" light came on. I opened my hood and saw my engine fan had 4 fins broken off and the cover, or shield, was broken. Also a small coolant hose poppep off its fitting. I drive a 1995 325i sedan. Please let me know what you think. I can't imagine why my fan would break like this. could it be my fan clutch that caused it to "wobble"? Thank you for your time
This is not an uncommon problem, as I have heard of it happening to many, had to fix one that sent a couple blades through the radiator, and once it happened to a car at my shop on a test drive. That last one happened before I started working there, but the complaint was a loud noise and a lack of power. The tech took it on a test drive and the fan exploded on an on ramp denting the hood and trashing the radiator. The fan clutch had siezed some time ago and the strain on the blades was too great. The cause is often either a bad fan clutch or a bad water pump. It is a really good idea to replace the pump, the clutch, and the fan blade, but buy the fan blade directly from the dealer because the aftermarket ones have a reputation of slinging off blades for no reason at all and our distributor stopped selling the Chinese pieces of junk.
thank you. I just got my water pump replaced about a week ago. I will replace my fan and fan clutch and see if it helps. Do you think its okay for me to drive while I wait for the parts?
Absolutely not. Driving without a fan will overheat your car if it has to sit in traffic. I wonder if whoever replaced the water pump did something wrong (very slight possibility.) Check to make sure that the pulley is on properly and make sure the radiator was not damaged.
My fan spins freely with some applied force. If the fan clutch was broken would I be able to turn it like this, or would it be siezed up. Also I ordered the fan clutch and fan, is this something I can do myself? I'm pretty good with cars and do most of the work myself but I have no experience with a fan or fan clutch. Thank you
I had a clutch that seemed OK, but it caused this problem, so I'd just replace it to be safe. You might be able to replace it yourself, but you need a 32mm wrench and you must remember that the nut is left hand thread. You may want to make sure the hose that popped off is still 100% intact and replace it if not. It is cheap buk hose. It must stay clipped into a set of clips at the top fo the fan shroud or you could end up cutting through it with the fan and losing coolant.
