Electric Fan

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Pm - 13 Feb 2005 05:26 GMT

I have a 84 240 GLE and am considering taking off the viscous coupling fan,
and replacing it with an electric fan mounted at the end of the radiator
cowling. Has anyone done this mod? Anything to look out for?

Thanks in advance,

Paul

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James Sweet - 13 Feb 2005 07:17 GMT

> I have a 84 240 GLE and am considering taking off the viscous coupling fan,
> and replacing it with an electric fan mounted at the end of the radiator
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Paul

Lots of people have, it's pretty straightfoward, just find a decent quality
fan that will fit and install it with a temperature sensor. If you wanna get
really fancy, find an OEM electric fan from a 940 but even the aftermarket
stuff looks pretty clean.

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Pharmanaut - 13 Feb 2005 13:09 GMT

>I have a 84 240 GLE and am considering taking off the viscous coupling fan,
>and replacing it with an electric fan mounted at the end of the radiator
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Paul

I have the fluid clutch fan on my 240 but by the look of it it's seized. The
coiled spring on the front of the fan hub (I presume it to be a bi-metal
temperature sensitive device) is rusted and doesn't move. Is this common?
What would the benefits be of replacing it?

Pharm..

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Michael Pardee - 13 Feb 2005 14:20 GMT

----- Original Message -----
From: "Pharmanaut" <dexpharmanautdex@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.autos.volvo
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2005 6:09 AM
Subject: Re: Electric Fan

> I have the fluid clutch fan on my 240 but by the look of it it's seized.
> The coiled spring on the front of the fan hub (I presume it to be a
> bi-metal temperature sensitive device) is rusted and doesn't move. Is this
> common? What would the benefits be of replacing it?
>
> Pharm..

The bimetal coil on the front normally doesn't move at all when you try to
twist it. It controls a viscous clutch inside the housing - the closer the
clutch plates get to each other in the goo, the more coupling to the fan.

When you try to turn the fan with your fingers - with the engine off! - it
should turn smoothly with some slight resistance. It will fail eventually in
one of two ways - the silicone goo will leak out, causing it to become
useless; or the bearings will seize (often not quite straight) and the fan
will vibrate. In the first case the engine tends to overheat when idling in
hot weather; in the second case it is bad for the water pump. If your engine
is overheating in hot idling, and you test the fan and find it is still
turning freely when the engine is hot, you've found the culprit.

I've replaced the coupling on our '85 765T twice, both times with
aftermarket couplings from NAPA that cost almost $100 US. The first one
lasted barely a year before it seized and the second has been good for the
last 4 years. IIRC a genuine Volvo part was about $150 US, and I might have
been better off doing that to start with.

Mike

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Pharmanaut - 13 Feb 2005 14:38 GMT

> The bimetal coil on the front normally doesn't move at all when you try to
> twist it. It controls a viscous clutch inside the housing - the closer the
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> Mike

Bit of a moot point now... just been out to test the fan and the bonnet
latch is either jammed or the cable has parted somewhere. The bonnet pull
moves in and out a few inches but nothing happens to the latch.
How do you get round this? Any ideas?

Pharm...

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