Question About My Fan

Redge · 01-29-2005, 04:59:00 AM

After that wreck I had I slowly drove my Camaro home with the engine bay sounding messed up and louder, but not directly from the engine. Hood was stuck so I just hoped I'd make it home. Well it turned out that since the core support bent, the fan shroud was lifted up some and it was hitting the shroud all along the bottom. Even turning it by hand isnt very easy. You have to really push it by. So my question is, could the fan clutch or anything be damaged? The fan itself looks fine except that you can see at the end of each blade that its been brushing by something hard. Should I take it for a spin around the neighbor hood to see how it runs without the fan shroud?

By the way, can I get in any serious trouble with the law if I take my car out on the road to test it for a few minutes? I have the front clip(that means headlights), bumper, and d/s fender off. I can still have my blinkers on the car. I just need to check for any other suspension or steering problems before I even begin to start putting it together.

BlueZ/28 · 01-29-2005, 07:20:00 PM

Sorry to hear about your accident Redge....
The fan clutch should rotate with very little resistance when cold. It doesn't take much of an impact to cause damage to one. The Service Manual (ST 329-79) has procedure to check the hub for run-out... Per the manual: " It is essential that the fan assembly remain in proper balance. Balance cannot be assured once a fan assembly has been bent or damaged. A fan assembly that is not in proper balance could fail and fly apart during subsequent use, creating an extremely dangerous condition. " If the fan blades are bent or damaged, it is best not to try to straighten or repair them. The best ( and safest ) thing to do would be replace the fan clutch and blade assy. As for getting into trouble with the law.........only if you get caught.