viscous fan broken!!

[sykotic]

i was driving along and thought i went over some plastic, later when i opened the bonnet, i found the freakn fan blades lying around. luckily it didnt damage anything!!

what would happen if i left it as it is?
i understand to do the fan delete mod i have to get some switch (thermostat or something).

also my MAF is faulty :cursin: wat happens if i drive with it unplugged? it still idles.. so does that mean my MAF isnt faulty?
thanks guys!

 

[clutchplate]

nope, your DME has a map that it uses to work without the MAF, it can use allot of stuff like TPS or lambda's or a bunch of stuff...

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hmm, not sure on the fan mod for the 3 series.. PM Gizmo maybe, I know he's done it...

 

[sykotic]

so how can i check if i need to replace my MAF?

 

[clutchplate]

hmm, which model car do you have again ? I will check specs for you quickly and post a test procedure..

 

[sykotic]

e36 328i 1995:thumbsup:

 

[clutchplate]

ok cool, here is a simple test for you to do with a multimeter /voltmeter..

 

[sykotic]

thanks clutchy!! will dig for the voltmeter tonight!!
really appreciate the help!!

 

[clutchplate]

no worries bru
shout if u don't come right..

 

[sykotic]

so were do i connect the volt meter? :mmm: there's a plug that screws onto the MAF sensor. do i test the plug or the sensor itself?

 

[Raybimmer]

If the fan blades broke off you have no air being pulled through when the viscous clutch kicks in . There is a mod to use a thermostat that opens at a lower temperature and uses the aircon electric fan in two stages . Anti freeze/anti boil mixture needs to be correct as well .
MAF , seems like you put voltmeter probes into connector without pulling it apart .IMHO driving with it stuffed can be done , but mixture may be richer , can dilute oil in bore and ring contact area over time causing wear .
On 325i you can check for voltage on plug with it unplugged , seems 328i is different .

 

[clutchplate]

hmm, not sure what the plug looks like on the 328, but you might be able to pull back on the rubber grommet if there is one covering the plug.. otherwise you might have to puncture the insulation of the wire and hookup the voltmeter like that..
try also to dismantel the connector and see if you can't insert the wires manually, should provide some access to the wire tips ...

bleh :/ post pic of plug maybe ...

 

[sykotic]

hey guys, iv been driving around from the start of this post with the fan blades broken off and the car hasnt over heated. the heat gauge doesnt ever go above half way.... should i worry bout changing to a 80deg thermostat or is it fine as is?

 

[zaleonardz]

at your perril...

Wait for that first day that your jammed in traffic and its 32 deg outside...

 

[veridico]

Go in stop start traffic in summer, and say goodbye to your cylindar head without the viscous fan. The car needs the fan when stationary to cool down, not when driving. So in heavy traffic, you may have problems.

 

[rick540]

LZ is right

Wait for summer and you will see just how nescessary thay viscous fan is.

The fan delete is a possibility, but the reason they still use the viscous on the bigger engines is occcasionally when you really need it a viscous fan can move much more air then any electric one.

 

[andrewbuch]

What we did on my E36 was fit another fan to the back of the radiator. So now it has the smaller fan(Mostly for aircon condencer) & a bigger fan. They both go on @ same time now, 1st stage is at 80 Degrees & 2nd stage is at 88Degrees (IF I remember correctly).

If you just take off the visious fan you will need to get a different thermostat & temp sender unit so that the electric fan will come on sooner @ 80degrees instead of 90degrees. Most just then run the smaller AC fan. We chose to put in the extra fan just in case

 

[sykotic]

so is it cheaper to do the fan delete mod or get a new viscous van?
il jus need a 80deg thermostat and??

thanks!

 

[sykotic]

ok so a friend of mines has got a e36 316i, does that have a viscous fan that i can jus swop over? or can i use a themostat from there? can anything be used from that car at all??

 

[andrewbuch]

For my 316i

We used a thermostat from a E30
and the temp sender from a E36 318is

& then the extra electric fan

I dont know whats the difference between the visiious fans of different models..

I also know Clutchplate replaced his visious with 2 electric fans as it was cheaper than a new visious