Fan came apart. CHECK THEM!

B

Banky

Senior Member
There was just a post about this! And dam if it didn't just happen to me yesterday. One of the blades cracked off where it meets the pulley. Hit the ground, no harm, but it scared the **** out of me and COULD have been bad.

I pulled over to inspect the damage. The other fan blade had a very small crack starting in the same place. I broke it off as well and headed straight home.

CHECK THEM FOR HAIRLINE CRACKS!!!

Ordered a new one from Snyders as soon as I got home!

Banky

P.S. Had a nice drive otherwise:)
 
I dont know why anyone would even run one of the originals. It's not like there have not been enough warnings about catastrophic failure and who knows how many cycles the thing has been through. I would run a modern fan for driving about, and if it bothered me, I guess I would re-intall it prior to "fine points judging." Then take it off and replace it with a Snyder's fan.
 
I have a small collection of cracked origianl fan blades hanging on the wall as a reminder of how dangerious these things can be. Likely I should bead blast them and paint them red a and then highlight the crack so no one ever tries to use them. Every car show I attend I look over any origianls that are on cars and always seem to find afew that are cracked. Some owners are glad I took the time to show them and others take it the wrong way. Rod
 
nothing has changed from yesterday, its always talked about here on the barn yet members continue to run those blades :confused:
 
Hey Guys, Don't forget the 4-blade fans, either! About 4 years ago I had one come un-riveted and fly through the radiator. What a mess! Scared the h*** out of me too. Now run an aluminum 2-blade - works fine... Happy motoring!
 
here is a repost of a photo to help others understand they do not want to run the two blade fan!!

picture.php


picture.php
 
It's not just the two blade fans that are dangerous. The older 4 blade fans are the same way. The very best option for anyone driving a car is a 6 blade plastic fan. It may not look original but it's very safe. If for some odd reason it were to come apart it won't cause near the damage a metal fan would. The blades are black plastic so they won't stand out like a sore thumb.
 
Hey Banky,
Have you never read any of the many threads on the fordbarn , about the dangers of running original fan? Most of those threads contained graphic pics depicting and describing the eventual disasterous results :eek:!

Anyone know who 'faruka' (?) was...and wht happened to her ..in charlie's chocolate factory:) A lesson is life,eh...
 
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Hardtimes: Ease up. I'm on my first A. I read my first post on this about 4 days ago. That's why I felt it was important to repost, for any other newbie A owners.

It's important to remember that not everyone knows everything. And that's why I LOVE the Ford Barn! There is no better source available.

Thanks all.
Banky
 
Logan said:
It's not just the two blade fans that are dangerous. The older 4 blade fans are the same way. The very best option for anyone driving a car is a 6 blade plastic fan. It may not look original but it's very safe. If for some odd reason it were to come apart it won't cause near the damage a metal fan would. The blades are black plastic so they won't stand out like a sore thumb.
Click to expand...

Why is that? Why not the repro aluminum two-blade as the best option?


.
 
As with Banky I am also on my first A and started a thread a few days ago asking about the Aluminum fans after reading and then seeing a crack in my orginal blade ( I'll try and post a pic for other newbs like me to see what to look for ). Many posts and opinions on the originals later I personally am convinced of the dangers, and my original never turned another revolution.
As with any forum there are two kinds of people, those who know everything and those who don't - I fall in that later. I appreciate all advice and will glean the nuggets from that hopefully. Thankfully I was able to stumble as it were on this fan issue before it bit me, and I believe in my mind this is a real danger to new owners. For this issue it's almost as if a sticky saying Danger Will Robinson needs to exist.
 
I inspect my original 2-blade with a light and a mirror before every outing, but as of today I am convinced to switch to the new aluminum blade (which I run on my other A's). My Tudor is a low-mileage car and I've been pretty confident in that original fan, but you all have shown that it's just too risky. Thanks for rattling my cage one more time. :o
 
How can you tell which fan you are running (old or new)? I have a 2 blade on the coupe and a 4 blade on the leatherback.
 
lol - true Carl - And I'll try to not be like the guy someone posted who listened to all advice till he heard ONLY what he wanted to hear then stopped!
 
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Franchise_24 said:
How can you tell which fan you are running (old or new)? I have a 2 blade on the coupe and a 4 blade on the leatherback.
Click to expand...

With regard to an old vs. new two-blade, the aluminum one is thicker in the blade area because of the casting. Also the aluminum one is thicker in the pulley area. A magnet will quickly tell you if you are still uncertain.
 
Here are some pics I took of my suspect Original and the Snyder Aluminum fan.
You will observe the crack and split that caused my alarm to go off.

I do note the new Synders is 15 5/8 tip to tip, the old is 15 15/16.

The new Snyder casting isn't perfect as far as smooth finish - lot of sand specks scattered about. Painted with a high gloss paint. Saw mentioned to repaint flat black so cracks are more noticeable.

Mark
 

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I hope my posting was not taken as trying to show that "I know it all" since I surely don't. It wasn't directed at the OP or anyone in general-I just still see some guys running original fans in all kinds of conditions, and a person could get seriously injured or worse if one of these things comes apart. It makes me cringe-it's about as risky as driving around with no brakes.
 
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