Plastic engine fans cracking

[YNOT]

Vehicles affected; all Patrols with plastic engine fan, which is all GQ and GU.

The engine driven cooling fan on Patrols is made of plastic (apart from the steel hub that bolts to the viscous clutch hub, and over time, the plastic becomes brittle and cracks as shown in these photos.







Once these cracks start appearing, there is a risk that the fan may shatter and fly apart, possibly damaging the radiator, drive belts, or any thing else in the area.

The good news is that new fan blades are relatively cheap (on ebay for around $100), and an easy DIY job with basic hand tools.
There are few different models of blades used across the Patrol range, so when ordering, you will need to know number of blades (7 or 8), and the bolt spacing where the blade hub bolt to the viscous clutch.

Tony

[Maxhead]

Thanks Tony,
definitely will keep an eye out when I do my visuals....I hope I've got a while to go before I see this problem on mine..hahaah

[patch697]

Dealing with this one now & am in the process of sourcing a fan (was about to ring Garry at Nizzbits in fact) so I'll keep you all posted on what I find.


Cheers
Paul

[NissanGQ4.2]

Dealt with that prob a few months ago, but rather than get new blades, decided 2 install 2 thermo fans now i just need 2 get of my lazy ass and install a descent temp gauge.

[patch697]

Dealt with that prob a few months ago, but rather than get new blades, decided 2 install 2 thermo fans now i just need 2 get of my lazy ass and install a descent temp gauge.

Was thinking of doing the same with mine, & im guessing there is not much point in asking how yours are as its not hot yet to really test them out.

But im still interested to know how well this works if anyone has a first hand on it.

Cheers
Paul

[NissanGQ4.2]

Was thinking of doing the same with mine, & im guessing there is not much point in asking how yours are as its not hot yet to really test them out.

Paul, it really only feels like it was a few months ago, but I have had them well over a year , works well on 30deg days here in Sydney, normal driving, unfortunately I have not really tested them off road . Have a manual switch as well so if the temp does get up a bit I just switch 2 manual. Its hard to tell without a descent temp gauge what it is actually running at. My old man is an ex diesel mechanic and he is the one that told me to put thermos in, and he has the same set of thermos waiting to be installed into his GQ Patrol ( unfortunately he is waiting on me 2 install them!!! ) *L*

[patch697]

Cheers Todd

I've already got everything I need so I might just go ahead with it, I have to take the clutch fan off to anyways to get the right blade set so its no biggy really & I'll still grab a new blade set on the "just in case"


Paul

[NissanGQ4.2]

Paul, here is some other info on Thermo fans if u wanna read.


http://www.exploroz.com/Forum/Topic/...hermo_fan.aspx

Cheers

Todd

[Finly Owner]

excellent preventative inspection tip Tony. another one to go into index file

[Mrowka]

I like thermo fans in sports cars (you'd be shocked how much power a clutch fan can use) but not in 4x4s where they are one more electrical component to possibly short out.