Just wondering if anyone has had to replace the rad cooling motor due to a sloppy motor shaft. I have not pulled this out but when i was in there last fitting the tranny oil cooler I noticed the fan had a wobble and making a horrible noise. Fiddled with it and it seemed to quieten but now as the motor is shutdown and the fan slows it goes off balance and makes a horrible noise.

Not sure if i damaged it or not but does the fan motor have a bush or bearing? Any chance of repairing the unit? Electrically it's fine, just excess shaft play

The fan motor has a bronze bush (pressed into the end cover) at one end which wears out. They are easy enough to pull apart & remove but you need to either find a bearing place to match up the bush or someone with a lathe who can machine one up so all up is not an easy repair. Best bet is to go to the wreckers & find a fan (with correct number of wires) without any end float & fit that.


Cheers

The fan motor has a bronze bush (pressed into the end cover) at one end which wears out. They are easy enough to pull apart & remove but you need to either find a bearing place to match up the bush or someone with a lathe who can machine one up so all up is not an easy repair. Best bet is to go to the wreckers & find a fan (with correct number of wires) without any end float & fit that.


Cheers

ok, thanks. that pretty sums it up then. was hoping it was a pressed bearing but the few photos I looked at I did think it was going to be more likely a bush. I don't know what they would quote genuine here but saw nearly $500 from Japan and US showing about $330 USD, bit of a shock

I wonder if one can make one of these bushes, doubt it.. Afaik they are sintered bronze. That's made by compressing fine granules not melted. They are porous. The porosity helps them keep lubricant. A dried out one will wear. Whatever replacement from the wreckers should be saturated with the right lubricant before use. SAE30.

I wonder if one can make one of these bushes, doubt it.. Afaik they are sintered bronze. That's made by compressing fine granules not melted. They are porous. The porosity helps them keep lubricant. A dried out one will wear. Whatever replacement from the wreckers should be saturated with the right lubricant before use. SAE30.

Interesting, I remember many years ago I had to get a starter repaired in an Express van. The armature was fouling on the body due to worn out bushes. I remember being told they were bronze and porous, the guy held the bush in his fingers , said watch this, tip a bit of moil inside it, covered the ends with his fingers, and poof, oil gone. Absorbed straight into the bush. Magic.

Yes, that's it. When sealing the ends with the fingers and pressing, the oil is helped into the porous bush by the compression. In factory one method is to use vacuum to draw the oil in.

I wonder if one can make one of these bushes, doubt it.. Afaik they are sintered bronze. That's made by compressing fine granules not melted.

I'd have to look into it but I'm sure you could buy sintered bronze stock and machine it to the correct size. The shaft itself may have suffered damage as well and need repairing. Given how many of these cars the wrecking yards have it is probably not worth repairing fans at this stage, maybe in 10 years time you would have to.

you're right. Stock can be had and it can be machined.

A bit more difficult for various reasons.

http://www.nationalbronze.com/News/8-tips-for-machining-sintered-bronze-bar-stock/

8-tips-for-machining-sintered-bronze-bar-stock

one tip there is relevant either way :"Re-impregnation is recommending after machining. The bearings should be soaked in a bath of hot oil (SAE 30 non-detergent highly refined mineral oil) for 1 hour for thorough impregnation." and make sure the bearing side is clean of impurities that may block pores.