herbeam wrote:
> you need more air circulation...use a 5 or 6 bladed plastic fan from a V6
> (bolts on) or get and electric fan to assist.. the stock alpine fan should
> be tossed where it won't hurt someone (mine came through the hood one night
> and broke the water pump off the front of the engine!
> -----
Hello Gang:
Ditto to the danger of the stock four blade steel fan. I've heard several
reports of this happening through the years, including my own experience.
Driving my previous Alpine into my garage a few years ago, I heard a
prodigious, powerful metallic "BANG". I got out of the car and saw oil pouring
onto the floor. I figured the engine had blown for sure and I was headed for a
big dollar repair. Checking closer, all seemed OK with the engine but I noticed
my fan now had only three of its four blades. One of the blades had flown off
with such force (and remember, RPMs were barely over idle speed) that it had
sheared the oil cooler hose all the way through like a razor blade. It was such
a clean, precise cut that you couldn't even see it until you pulled the hose
apart. In addition, the flying blade had dug a one inch gash into the cross
member in the engine compartment.
After cleaning up the mess, I replaced the thing with a six blade plastic fan.
Not only is it 100% safer, it puts out much more air flow than the steel fan.
One of the first things I did when I bought my new Alpine a couple of years ago
was to make the same change immediately.
The potential is there that someday one of these metal fans is going to fly
apart while someone is looking right down toward the radiator with who knows
what results. In other words, I'd recommend changing that fan out for both
cooling and safety reasons.
Steve Sage
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