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so I replaced the fan switch on my fd, in doing so it fell somewhere down into the engine bay. No idea where. Anyway, I put everything back together (without retrieveing the fan switch) and upon plugging in the new switch, since the wires are so old, some of the plastic shroud cracked at the base of the fan switch exposing a very minimal amount of copper wire underneath. But I buttoned up everything back the way it was and I went to start it to drive up some ramps so I could change the oil and it just kept turning over. After a few seconds of turning over I heard a loud bang. I was inside the car and inside a small garage so it amplifies the sound, but my first thought was, oh sh** what if that was the old fan switch getting hung up on something? But my second thought was, was it just a backfire? I couldn’t distinguish which one it was and I am hesitant to turn it over again until I get that fan switch out, so I have the front end up on 3 2x10’s so I can get under it. I tried looking for it from underneath the car with no luck. But I’m not gonna put it back together until I get that out of there. Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on what it could be or what’s goin on? Thanks in advanced!
Not yet I haven’t, that was next on my list, I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with it today I just got it jacked up and took apart everything down to the fan switch
If you didn't have anything on the intake side opened up (like pulling the upper intake manifold) that would mean nothing went into the engine. It could be possible it fell into the belts or pullies and they shot it out somewhere, making the bang.
If you want to be on the safe side, get a deep 19mm socket and a ratchet and put it on the bolt on the main pulley and turn the motor over by hand. Motor spins clockwise when looking from the front. Make sure it turns over, you will feel some resistance when you are on a compression stroke but that's normal. If it gets very hard to turn then something is jammed up somewhere. Also make note of the belts and pullies and make sure they are turning like they should.
I would also check the fans on the radiator. Dropped bolts and stuff love to get in the fan shroud. Check that area out and move the fans by hand (make sure the car is off!) to be certain they can turn smoothly and easily and aren't hitting something.
You may be over thinking this but it's worth taking a little time.
Yea thank you for the insight Dale! I will give that a try and see what I can come up with. I bought an inspection camera that I’m gonna stick down there to at least see if I can get an eye on it. Definitely didn’t go inside the motor at all tho. But even if it was the switch getting caught in something, I would think that it would still fire up, it’s always been quick to fire up
Yes, they should be very easy to spin - like a case fan on a PC or any other electric fan. If they are not spinning either something is jamming up the fan blades or there is a problem with the motor.
Good news is, I retrieved the fan switch. Doesn’t look beat up like it got caught in something to make the “bang” I heard earlier.
bad news is, my right side fan is seized and from the looks of the spider webs and dirt build up it seems to have been that way for a while 💀
You shouldn't have any trouble sourcing a motor or a whole set from the community in the FS/WTB section. They're generally very reliable. The motor is the same on both sides. The battery side motor is usually rusty from battery juice.
The stock fans/motors are great and there's usually no reason use anything else.
Thanks for the heads up! Im gonna pull it and see if there’s anything I can do to “un-seize” them and if not I’ll post in the classified and see if anything comes up!
11-06-18, 04:11 PM
