Electric Fan fitting (page 1)
The fan I ordered was supposed to be 2.5 inches (66 mm) deep this wasn’t. Its just over 3 inches deep and I didn’t think it would fit. I was also disappointed that no relay was supplied. Another phone call to Pacet and they explained that the slimline fan probably wouldn’t supply enough air so they sent me the Thinline fan to try first. For the price I paid for the complete kit I think they really should supply a relay, in-line fuse holder and some wire in the kit.
So here’s how I set about the task, be warned it’s not simple and at the end of it I’m not sure if it’s worth it or not, only time will tell.
(Click on the thumbnail pictures to see a larger picture. Sorry about the quality, better ones to follow)
I Removed the original fan’s
shroud, according to “Haynes” that’s just undo the 2 bolts at the top, then
slide it up out of the slots at the bottom. NOT! It won’t slide over the fan blades, so the fan has to come
off and the clutch. After removing the
2 top shroud mounting bolts, using a 8 mm spanner, and loosening some wires and
the coolant overflow tube, you need to move the shroud up as high as possible
to allow enough space to get in and undo the 4 nuts holding the clutch (and
fan) to the pulley. I used a large
screwdriver to hold the pulley in place whilst using a 13 mm spanner to remove
the nuts, loosen them slowly and make sure the pulley doesn’t come off under
the force of the belt, lift out the fan and clutch, then the shroud. Don’t forget to replace the 4 nuts onto the
pulley as soon as possible.
Oh dear, the fan is too deep! This is where the DIY in you has to take over. There are probably other ways, but here’s my method.
For ease and more space to move in, I removed the small electric (air con.) fan, this is easy, undo the electrical connection and the 2 bolts at the top, and then slip it up and out (just like Haynes says!)
Offering up the fan it doesn’t
quite fit in place, the back of the fan’s motor is up against the pulley
studs. To let the shroud fit tight up
against the radiator I had to cut (snip) the small vertical wire/bar protecting
the radiator, then start cutting away at the new fans shroud. I had to cut along the top of the shroud to
let it fit high enough up the radiator to attach the fan’s mounting lugs to the
frame. (The top radiator lip just gets
in the way). There was already one hole in the frame I could utilize, but I had
to drill another one for the other mounting point (Just use the original clips
in the new holes and then you can use the original bolts too). I then had to cut away some from the lower
sides of the shroud to allow the bottom to fit flush against the radiator over
the radiators bottom lip.
With the fan shroud fitting flush with the radiator there is about 5 mm space between the motor and the pulley studs!
I’m pretty good at DIY but it took me 3 hours and several cut knuckles just to get this far.
To hold the radiator at the bottom I had to remove the front skid plate, this gives plenty of access to the fans lower mounting lugs from under the jeep, however, there is nothing to fix it to!
More ingenuity is required here
and I ended up making a fixing bracket to bolt the lugs to. (Click on the
thumbnail for a scale version to print out)
Then that bracket
can be bolted to the lower cross member below the radiator.
The bracket is about 4 ½ inches away from the bodywork so I had to get some screwed stud (8mm) and cut a 5 inch length. This reaches through a small hole already there.
To stop the fan unit bending when the nuts are tightened up I used a small piece of tubing 90 mm long as a steady so the bolts can be fastened tight without distorting the fan. Without it the blades hit the radiator.
With the fan fixed in place there
is only about a 4mm gap between it and the pulley studs (see Warning at the
end!).
Still with me? Okay got to Page 2 for the next part of the installment.