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Fan Question

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bugedd

bugedd

Jedi Knight
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Okay, tonight I took apart the car to replace the timing cover. Upon doing so, I pulled the fan off and a ton of washers fell out. They were between the fan and the pulley. So the question is, should there be any spacers between the fan and the pulley?

So on my almost one year journey with this Bugeye, I have found bent nails in the castle nuts on the front disc hubs, nails brazed to stuff for the heck of it, a wiring harness put together with masking tape (harness replaced), a disc brake caliper brass brazed together at the mounting bolts where it broke (crooked at that), new brake shoes on the rear brakes even though they didn't work due to a swollen shut rear brake hose and rear axles puking all over the drums, and thats just the tip of the iceberg. And I have found more as I do this job. If I EVER meet the hack that did this to this car, I will give him a solid kick to the junk!

But on a positive not, the more I work on the Bug, the more it smiles. And same for me.
 
She is already smileing and more so each day. She knows she is loved.
 
I'd guess that the washers were used to space the fan slightly away from the pulley so that the fan blades cleared the timing cover vapor can.
 
If it is a single pulley, then it definitely needs a spacer. I think they are available. I guess the washers would work OK, but I'd be worried about the fan being unbalanced and shortening the pump life.
 
John Kuzman said:
I'd guess that the washers were used to space the fan slightly away from the pulley so that the fan blades cleared the timing cover vapor can.
Click to expand...

Trevor Jesse said:
If it is a single pulley, then it definitely needs a spacer
Click to expand...

When I switched from a double pulley to a single pulley I had to use new bolts or else the old ones would hit the webbing on the water pump. I suppose I could have shimmed out the old bolts with washers but many people might not consider that the 'right' way to do it. What's the cost of 4 bolts and washers to do it right?

Bonus note: Everybody be sure to check your plastic fans for signs of wear or abuse. My fan came apart at RPM recently and destroyed the radiator. Funny thing is, I had <span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">cleaned</span></span> the fan pretty well before reinstalling it but I didn't particularly <span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">inspect</span></span> the fan. Turns out, I was looking through my build pictures after the incident and I could see the crack in the picture right where the fan blades came loose. Another case of reusing a part to save money and in the end it wound up costing me a new radiator. Boo. I also just read an article in a Mustang mag that said the 5.0 Stangs have a similar plastic fan that is known to break after awhile. Just a little something extra to consider for you guys out there.

JACK
 
I had the same problem.... Washers as spacers. They seemed to be used to get the fan away from the breather tube on the timing cover...

I worried about the balance issue, but then I looked a the metal fan - it can't be that "in balance", so I just used good washers.

Eventually I want to move to an electric fan...

cd
 
A single pulley fan and a timing cover snoot will need the spacer.
They are about 1/4" thick and available from Mini Mania.
When the air pump came to be, they changed the fan pulley for 2 belts, they also made it thicker so the spacer was eliminated.
 
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