Caution advised when installing a fan clutch

[ra_pro]

Here is what happened to me today. I ordered a new radiator and a fan clutch for my 95 540ia, 106K miles, from BMA. Today my mechanic installed it and then went for a test drive. That's when the disaster struck. The fan disintegrated and destroyed the radiator and the fan shroud. My mechanic says this was due to a bad, wobbly, clutch. The old fan couldn't take the pressure from the bad clutch. He tested a new fan with the clutch and that was OK. The moral of the story is that when replacing the clutch it's safer to replace the fan as well.

[Ross]

Bummer, who pays? Could have been a misaligned fan and shroud.

[BigKriss]

wow, i didn't have this problem and used the old fan

[rob101]

wow, i didn't have this problem and used the old fan
me suspects someone may have put the fan clutch on the wrong way there is a way to put it on that makes it too close to the hoses on the T-stat. I put it on once that way, checked clearance first before starting and realised i stuffed up. I was 1/2 asleep though.

[GoldenOne]

i concur...the fan shouldnt go bad, my fan clutch has been replaced twice the last one being at 185k with the original fan...nothings wrong soo far, *knock on wood*....

[aquapool]

Possible overtightening of plastic fan to clutch?

[rob101]

Possible overtightening of plastic fan to clutch?
doubtful, the blades would have had to cracked on the blade (were it attached to the hub bit which is a cylinder with a flange inside) itself i would assume.
I would check for signs that the fan hit protruding parts of the engine and the orientation of the fan clutch on the fan.

[ra_pro]

You're right. There was another component to this and that is that the replacement radiator, Nissen, is about 1cm thicker. This together with the clutch play caused the fan at higher rpm to hit the radiator and break into pieces. Hence if you have a 540i don't buy the Nissen but the OEM rad.

[winfred]

theres a couple brands of fan blade and one is very brittle even new let alone when it's old, the radiator has nothing to do with the fan breaking up he probably overstressed one of the blades maybe by flexing it or dropping it during removal, or a brittle cracked fan shroud got sucked into it and it snowballed once it spun up good. i've dealt with this a lot, theres a hose that grenaids the fan on e36s but just about everything that uses the newer style fan has problems one time or another

[tdgard]

Agreed. Any plastic/rubber is going to change when subjected to constant heating/cooling. My OEM fan lost a blade about 100K ago. I had only taken it off once--years--before to swap a water pump. Thank god the blade went straight up when it came off. I have an inverted dent in the hood but if it would have gone sideways it could have taken out all kinds of s*&t.