Radiator Fan Exploded - Page 3

notenoughboost · 1st February 2011, 01:54

i was a victim of this last night except it pet a 6" dent in the hood broke the radiator ripped wires off the headlights and broke the driving light socket in the headlight ripped the fan shroud apart and both hoses. so far that is all i found but im sure its not it. i havent even taken it apart yet. just wish i would have seen this thread before this happened. oh well time to upgrade. also if this does happen to anyone make sure to call your insurance company. mine is filing it under a comprehensive claim and hopefully going to buy me new parts.

steve

cab · 1st February 2011, 02:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by notenoughboost

i was a victim of this last night except it pet a 6" dent in the hood broke the radiator ripped wires off the headlights and broke the driving light socket in the headlight ripped the fan shroud apart and both hoses. so far that is all i found but im sure its not it. i havent even taken it apart yet. just wish i would have seen this thread before this happened. oh well time to upgrade. also if this does happen to anyone make sure to call your insurance company. mine is filing it under a comprehensive claim and hopefully going to buy me new parts.

steve

How many miles do you have on your car? The wife's 530i is at 118K miles and I'm a bit paranoid about it. My M is at 58K miles.

notenoughboost · 1st February 2011, 03:55

i have 85k on it. you can get a new fan for 20 bux its worth just getting it

caspian65 · 1st February 2011, 03:59

Exploding fan blades and fan clutches going bad were some of the first things I read about on this forum. Although I didn't change mine until recently (have 102k now), the fan clutch and fan are cheap enough for peace of mind. Anyone with 75k or more miles really ought to swap them out.

blueaudis4 · 2nd February 2011, 06:52

One answer. Zionsvilleautosport radiator!

Quicksilv3r · 2nd February 2011, 16:23

I've been told by my BMW tech not to replace it unless it starts makin' a lot of racket and I'd be wasting money to buy a new one before then. So evidently there are warning signs of this happening, it just doesn't happen at random.

feeblebob · 2nd February 2011, 16:39

I'm thinking it comes down to whether you're a a) replace anything that might go wrong before it does and therefore not end up a victim of frostbite on the hard shoulder or b) replace things when they flag as faulty and make worrying noises, or fail and lead to downtime. It would therefore come down to a) how anal you are about keeping the car tip-top, b) how deep your pockets are, and c) whether you have another car to use if the Beast is off the road. I'm an a) for the first one and a 'very', 'not very' and 'sort of'.

The forum for my old motor used to sprout stories of 'Oh my god, this bolt broke for me, everyone replace them NOW', and my indy used to tell me not to bother. There's been enough stories of these fan clutches failing for me to think it's worth doing though, as the alternative of it failing would push my budget far too far as an unexpected expense.

Quicksilv3r - Did your tech say what sort of racket to expect as mine is doing the 747 engine thing, but nothing that makes me cringe when I drive, like a rumbly bearing.

Need4Spd · 3rd February 2011, 04:52

Do what you want, but from most of the posts I've read about the exploding fans, there was not much if any warning. Some reported a loud "whooshing" sound just prior to explosion, but only "just" prior. You hear it, and by the time you process it in your brain, kaboom. Or, you hear it, and if lucky to immediately recognize it, you shut down and avoid the explosion, but you either walk home or get a tow. A few lucky ones inspect the fan clutch by grabbing it/turning it (while the engine is OFF) and finding that the bearings don't feel smooth or that there is excessive play, and change them before bad stuff happens. In my case, I found no problems except that the cooling system seemed to take a long time to warm up, which I traced to the fan clutch staying mostly locked. No doubt the slow warm up was in part due to a "going bad" thermostat, but after changing the fan clutch the car warmed up in about half the time (and never overheated, either). Had I ignored this, I probably would have had an exploding fan.

Santib · 2nd December 2011, 05:20

Just happened to me yesterday. 140k . Getting on the highway in sport mode. Revved to 7k and heard a bang, lots of debri comming out from behind car. Got off next exit about 1/4 mile away and pulled off the road to inspect. When opening the hood I noticed a outward dent in the hood with the paint cracked. Open the hood and all kind of debris from the exploded fan blade and shroud. Checked for leaks, all ok. Started engine to check for any noises but all was fine. Nursed it around all day until I was able to return home. I was able to remove the fan clutch assembly and all is well for now. Think it's time to go with an electric fan and aluminum fan shroud from Zionsville. Very lucky that the radiator survived. Just need to get the hood and and front bumper fixed. It seems that a piece of the fan blade went thru the side of the passengers front bumper. I will need to check for any other damage but have been unable due to work.

Will post back with more details after further inspection.

notenoughboost · 2nd December 2011, 05:31

it happened to me again 2 fridays ago. no noises other than the fan exploding and hitting the hood again. this was a new fan and clutch assembly that lasted a whole 9 months. definately time for an electric fan. i was merging on the highway at about 3500 rpms and then it happened. all the great things about this car to find out its biggest flaw is the rad fan. will be fixed next week. just in time to park her for the winter.