Bend in Fan Blade

BigSky
BigSky Senior Contributor
in HUDSON
As I began taking my radiator out of my 37 coupe, I noticed a bend in one of the blades that doesn’t belong there, that blade also doesn’t have the same pitch or twist as the other blades.  Is there any problem in hammering/reshaping the blade or is it better to replace it?  My current blade is 17” tip to tip, but can I use the longer 18” tip to tip fan?  


Comments

  • 50C8DAN
    50C8DAN Senior Contributor
    My take is that once a fan blade is a deformed toss it.  Getting it to balance again will be tough

  • RichardD
    RichardD Member
    Recommend a 6 blade in lieu of a 4 blade when getting another. moves more air. {unless you are concours !}
  • Huddy42
    Huddy42 Senior Contributor
    I agree with Richard a 6 blade fan is the way to go, little more noise , but, keeps the old girl cool.


  • terraplane8
    terraplane8 Senior Contributor
    I took my fanblade off to see what would happen and the answer is it's fine. However I'm not stuck in traffic jams in sweltering heat. Temps here are generally 15-25 celcius in the warmer months. The engine is quieter and isn't losing any power turning the fan.
  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    You might consider one with a temp-controlled clutch.  Idles when cool and spins when it gets hot
  • bob ward
    bob ward Senior Contributor
    edited January 2020
    The engine driven fan is superfluous most of the time, its doing nothing but make noise, waste fuel and potentially produce side effects as Ken mentions above. Metal fatigue and failure in old fan blades is a real thing, no one gives it much thought until the fan hits the proverbial.

    At car speeds over 5 or 10 mph airflow through the radiator is far greater than that of an engine driven fan, the engine fan is totally redundant from then on. As has been said the engine fan is only useful in traffic jams, it comes down to a matter of how to keep the engine cool in those situations.

    How about a discrete electric fan controlled by a thermostat that delivers a gale force wind (far more than an engine fan at idle) when the car is stuck in traffic?


    But back to Big Sky's OP, bin that fan. And if you are reinstalling something of a similar vintage get it crack tested first.

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