I am replacing my alternator backing plate and I discovered my fan hole is rounded.
It seems like this would only happen if the nut is loose but I had to use an impact wrench to get the nut off.
Other than torquing the nut to the proper value, is there anything else I can do to prevent this?
My welded and balanced fan came from Berg. Is that still the best source?
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Do you have a photo?
Assuming you also used the thick spring washer ( I also use blue Loc Tite)
Aren't there several spacer washers too so it doesn't hit the shroud --- much like the fly wheel.
@edsnova posted:
Ed, are you advocating for Andrig’s fan?
@Gordon Nichols, unfortunately, this is the best I can do for a photo. I recently replaced the cracked glass back on my phone and I must have touched the camera lens on the inside.
@edsnova, I have been curious about Andrigs Fan and if I am going to install it this would be a good time. But, reactions to it on thesamba have been mixed. I am not sure it would really be a good move.
I’m not advocating Andrig’s fan. I’m curious about it though and I’d love it if one of our number—particularly one of our nerdier members, with a CHT setup—would get this kit and report back.
16:1....thats is past diesel compressions which are high
I was talking to a bunch of the VW guys at Cars and Coffee and they said a lot of them run Andrig's fan and like it. Just for context, this is on Maui where it rarely gets up to 90F in mid-summer, so maybe not as challenging for engine temps.
I'm running a Berg's welded fan since I exploded the original unwelded fan. I like the idea of faster revs, but I'm not racing anybody and don't feel like taking it apart again. So, Andrig's is probably not for me.
@edsnova posted:I’m not advocating Andrig’s fan. I’m curious about it though and I’d love it if one of our number—particularly one of our nerdier members, with a CHT setup—would get this kit and report back.
@Michael McKelvey is the guy with the bad fan, AND he's got a CHT gauge, AND he's thorough and as unbiased as any of us. What say you, Michael?
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So, from what I'm reading, this was developed mainly for racer boys who were worried about fans flying apart at high rpm's, and it has the added advantage (for racer boys) of being lower mass and thus spinning up faster and it also cools well at those high speeds.
But most of us have the opposite concern - good cooling at lower speeds, especially sitting in traffic at idle. Any reports on how this fan does there?
My car is most likely to run warm on a hot day after the engine has been run hard and we're now slogging through urban traffic on those last few miles towards home. Usually, the engine will actually drop in temperature climbing a long, steep hill if I downshift and get the revs up. My stock fan (with welded vanes) has run with no issues for about 40K miles.
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@Sacto Mitch, what ring & pinion and 4th gear ratio do you have?
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@LI-Rick , 3.88 R&P, .89 top (5th). Fourth is 1.14. Downshifting for a hill in 5th might bring the revs up to 4000. I never stay over 4000 for extended periods and almost all of my driving is between 2500-3500 — the range the stock fan was probably optimized for.
Was wondering how this new fan compared down there.
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I had the rounded fan hole happen to me. The symptom was a rattling sound at idle.
Replaced with a stock fan and everything was fine.
I installed Andrig's fan this last winter. I had his first iteration and the fan housing cracked under pressure of the nut. He sent his new design for free. It seems to be working fine. It is so much lighter than the stock and feels like nothing compared to a welded fan. It provides cooling at least as good as the stock and maybe slightly better. I think its a great product and pretty cheap.
@Stan Galat, I am close to convincing myself to do it. There is another member of this group, who shall remain nameless, who I believe has already purchased one of these fans. I sent him a PM yesterday but he hasn't responded.
I now think the fan hole became rounded when my engine was a 1776. Then, after the engine became a 2110, the super tight nut kept the fan from rotating on the shaft. I bought a nice electric impact wrench to get the nut off. It might be one of those nice but rarely used tools.
The first thing I plan to do is slot the holes in the alternator stand close to the shroud and replace the studs on the other side with bolts. Then, if Andrig's fan doesn't work out I can swap it without pulling the engine and shroud.
This is for sale on SAMBA for $85. Wonder if was from an industrial engine? Actually, quite ingenious.
TheSamba.com :: VW Classifieds - aftermarket alternator adapter fan
@Sacto Mitch posted:But most of us have the opposite concern - good cooling at lower speeds, especially sitting in traffic at idle. Any reports on how this fan does there?
My car is most likely to run warm on a hot day after the engine has been run hard and we're now slogging through urban traffic on those last few miles towards home.
This confuses me a bit, and I'm not being snarky or sarcastic - but do you not have a remote cooler with a fan? I don't think you've got a CHT gauge, so when you talk about "running warm", I think you mean oil, correct?
I understand the situation (brisk run, then sitting in hot traffic), but I don't think any crank-spun fan is going to cool anything that is already hot down just spinning at idle. I've got a T4 oil cooler on the stand, but I've always just thought of it as a supplement to the remote cooler, which was doing the heavy-lifting for bringing down the oil temperature. Everybody's got a different take on ACVW T1 cooling, but I'm in the camp that the Sainted German Engineers didn't ever anticipate a 150 hp T1.
I think of the shroud and fan as a head cooling setup with a cute little oil cooler as a secondary oil cooler. I think of the remote cooler as the primary oil cooler.
If you're oil is running hot sitting in stop-and-go traffic, that seems to me to indicate that the remote oil cooler setup is inadequate.
Thoughts?
@WOLFGANG posted:This is for sale on SAMBA for $85. Wonder if was from an industrial engine? Actually, quite ingenious.
TheSamba.com :: VW Classifieds - aftermarket alternator adapter fan
OK - I LOVE that idea. Like, really, really love it.
Thanks, Wolfgang for posting it!
