ZT Front Fan has FALLEN OFF !!!

[davediamond]

Oh my god !!!!

I spent most of the day cleaning my precious then took a spin to find somewhere 'nice' to take a few pics.....:pic:

On the way back,(just round the corner from home luckily) the car overheated. I had a looksee and thought the fan looked a little loose. On the trip back I heard something hit the bottom of the car but dissmissed it as a stone or something.:shrug:

Looking at the fan it seems that whatever holds the fan on is missing.....

Heres a pic but not a good one.

http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/450019630/12.jpg

Mr RAC Man paid me a visit but alass nowt they can do apart from take it to a garage, but he did confirm that the fan had come off whatever it should be fixed to. :eek:

Can someone tell me how the front fan is fixed to the 'whatever' mentioned above?

The car has recently had the front end repaired due to accident damage and I'm sure the garage said they had to replace the fan. (no paperwork to confirm, sigh!)

Looks like I'm on the bus to work tomorrow.......

Thanks

Dave :cry:

[Simon]

These two threads may be of interest to you regarding your fan fallin off
http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=3564
and
http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=3437

[MartinW]

It will mean complete disassembly of the front bumper to get to the fan but it is a simple job once there. It is a three leaf clover type fitting that locks into the plastic hub.

http://gallery.brit-cars.com/data/530/fan_removal.jpg

For an MG ZT 160V6 specific DIY list of the job:
http://www.brit-cars.com/zt-zt-t/bumper-removal-fan-motor-replacement-9.html

[Keith]

They don't fall off voluntarily unless it was not fitted properly and even the most ham fisted pfy would have trouble doing that!

Chances are one or more of the retaining lugs are now damaged anyway.
To be safe you really should nip to your nearest MGR part dept and order a replacement.

Also once refitted check the motor bearings are ok any sideways movement at all will cause excess stress on the retaining lugs the fan could even rub on the shroud

[baxlin]

They don't fall off voluntarily unless it was not fitted properly and even the most ham fisted pfy would have trouble doing that!



Keith, forgive me if I don't know what a pfy is, but my fan did come off. I don't think I'm all that hamfisted, but I hadn't fitted it properly, nevertheless!!

I blame the fan moulding - the hole, supposedly to put a socket through to hold the motor while fixing the fan, just wasn't big enough, and while all appeared OK it wasn't, the socket wasn't holding the fan. And I did it on the bench!.

If this is the case here, it's easy to enlarge the hole with a Stanley knife, and therefore easy to rectify. Unfortunately, it's not that easy to see from the front that the fan's fully engaged on the motor, IME it's more by feel.

As I said on the link referred to above, only the bumper, and structural bumper need removing, and the power steering (?) pipes swinging out the way.
HTH

Malcolm

[Keith]

Sorry Malcolm you do not qualify as a PFY, you can string at least one sentence together for a start;)

Sounds like you were unlucky.
I have found my ordinary 15mm socket fits without problem
I always carefully examine the plastic fitting, any visible cracking at all and it is new fan blade time.

I would not go at with a knife as the is a chance of introducing the start of a stress fracture.

I have found a squirt of WD40 helps to get them on and off

[davediamond]

Thanks for all of your replies.

The car was transported to the garage who did the accident repair today and I checked with them what parts were actually changed. Turns out they did replace the fan. Odd really as the damage (see attached) seems to be quite a distance from the fan.... Ah well...

After a few hours I had a call to say that a new fan was on order.

The garage said that it had indeed come off and it was very unusual for this to happen. Unfortunately, they gave no further explanation.

Hopefully I will pick her up tomorrow and try to get more information on how this happended.

Cheers

Dave

[Keith]

When you get it back as best you can check the thing is running true any forward and back oscilations would weaken the plastic and could cause a failure also obviously it absolutely should not be rubbing on anything when running (at all speeds)

Hopefully they either just pulled a fast one and said it had been chnged (kerching) or simpy did not fit it on properly the first time, either way you should not have any more trouble.

[davediamond]

Thanks Keith

In theory it should be covered by the guarantee on the original work (or theres gonna be trouble) :fight:

As mentioned above I got a few pics of the car before the breakdown....

Here's the Rozzers checking me out for Taking Pictures Whilst Carrying a Concealed ZT................. How Very Dare I.....................:poke:


Dave

[davediamond]

The car is back and all seems well. :jig:

No charge from the garage (well done)

They could not give any reason for the fan coming off but said that they intend to return the old fan (replaced by them) to their supplier for investigation.

So for now I'm a happy chappy, although the ex MGR dealer accross the road scared me half to death with their quote for a cambelt change needed in the next year. Hmmmmm EVIL DEALERS, lol :hurt:

Thanks for all your help

Dave :driving:

[Kandyman]

Glad all is well :)

yes CAM belt changes can be a scary time, but i'll let you in to a little secret

use LATES and save some money :)

remember keep a eye on your fan for a while.

[davediamond]

Thanks Kandy

I had already PM'd Lates re the Cam belt change and from the reviews here I would not hesitate, under normal circumstances to take the trip and get it done.

Unfortunately, the wording for the warranty on the car is a little ambiguous...

It states that any 'Servicing' must be done by a VAT registered company/mechanic but is a little vague on whether any 'Scheduled Maintenance' needs to comply with this stipulation.

It goes on to say that in the event of a claim, proof will be required showing that the car has been properly maintained.

The warranty itself came with the purchase of the car and requires me to take it back to the dealer for a MAJOR service and MOT every year for the policy to continue. I suppose its not too bad as the warrant was/is free and as long as I do the above I will have cover on the car renewed every year at no cost (other than the service/MOT)

I have until next year to make my mind up or confirm with the warranty company that the cam belts can be done by a non VAT registered mechanic.

Judging by the savings and Lates reputation I am edging towards getting it done and dealing with any consequences when and if the come up.

I also need to check the costs of the Major Service with the dealer as this might make the free warranty irrelevant.

Cheers

Dave