Fan hit radiator - Any experience with eBay radiators?

[jimk]

Loosen the differential to subframe bolts and and trans support bolt.  Then the engine might move back a bit.  

[ray_]

9 hours ago, jaredmac11 said:

Rest assured you aren't moving the fan forward just by moving the differential up. But you can scoot the engine forward with the driver side mount.. not much though.

 

I would like to push my engine back but there isn't a lot of play. For whatever reason I have zero space for a mechanical fan, and in fear of doing what happened to you, I went with a fan in the front.

 

Sure wish bmw gave us 3-4" of more play between fan and radiator!

With all due respect, you're wrong.

 

Cheers,

[jgerock]

From my experiences and observations

1) Nose pushed in from accident reduces clearance.

2) Fan installed backwards

3) Replacement nose incorrectly welded to body

4) Replacement radiator (mainly aftermarket and re-cores) has the side mounting flanges incorrectly attached to the radiator, pushing the core toward the fan.

5) Replacement water pump has non OE specs.

6) Engine not properly aligned to body/subframe.

 

If you cannot remove the fan belt easily, then there is a problem!

[HobieDog]

Thanks to everyone for their replies.  

In my specific case I can't pinpoint exactly what caused them to collide.  Clearly the missing limiter isn't helping. I only drove the car for 5-10 miles before starting the extensive rust repair and everything seemed to be fine.  After doing all of my repairs I only made it 1/2 a block before they hit, so it seems very likely that I did something to cause the issue but I just can't figure out how I did it.  

 

When I reinstalled the rear subframe and diff I was sure to follow the correct procedure of bolting in the driveshaft first, and then the diff mount bolts, etc.  I had the car jacked up at various angles throughout the process, so I guess it's possible that something shifted.  

 

I tried to pull the diff back yesterday (lots of room to do so in the mounting slots) but was unable to get it to move at all.  I didn't loosen the trans mount, though (but I also didn't loosen or remove that during any repairs).  The diff hanger looks like it may prevent it from moving back as those bolts are at the end of their slots in the diff cover. 

 

I'll look for a used pass side motor mount limiter, but have also decided to convert to an electric fan.  Originality is not important on this specific car and I've always had great luck with electric fan conversions on previous cars.   If everything runs ok and I don't eat guibos I'll just run it as it is.  

 

Agree with you @Chris_B that an electric fan is unlikely to provide any performance improvement.  I just don't want to risk this happening again and don't mind the extra bit of clearance and cleaned up nature of the engine bay with a removed fan.  I think I read your old post about this while researching the issue and remember you mentioned having a ton of increased NVH after installing the limiter.  Was that because you didn't have enough clearance between it and the mount?

 

Anyway, I found a local radiator shop (seems like most are going out of business/ retiring) who is evaluating the radiator right now.  Fan components arrived last night, so hopefully I'll be back to doing a shakedown cruise by this time next week.  

 

 

[jaredmac11]

You won't be able to move the engine back just by moving the diff back. The diff is adjustable but you would need to fuss with the center support bearing support, transmission mount, all the way up the engine mounts.

 

Try the strap first and make sure rubber is fresh and not cracked or broken so the engine isn't tilting too far forward under momentum 

 

I think you have the right idea on using a good, strong electric fan. No replacement for mechanical but if there's an issue you cannot resolve, it's not worth crunching radiators to keep a mech fan

 

Give this thread a read for moving the drivetrain back

 

Edited July 13, 2023 by jaredmac11

[g_force]

And for the sake of completeness for someone reading this thread in a few years, tii's cannot accommodate an electric fan on the engine side of the radiator.  Too little space.  One will fit in the nose, albeit a smaller diameter one that doesn't blow through as much of the radiator as one on the engine side.  Also, I've AC, so my space is yet more constrained by the presence of the condenser.  My Behr system has a Behr fan on the condenser that is loud, loud, loud and insufficient without the red engine side fan. 

 

Thus, the tii brethren need to heed the warning of the engine mount limiting strap and ensuring your tranny mounts are in good shape, so the engine sits level.   

[tech71]

6 hours ago, HobieDog said:

Fan components arrived last night, so hopefully I'll be back to doing a shakedown cruise by this time next week. 

Use a relay, These neat, integrated fuse relays are readily available and simplify the install

[Chris_B]

8 hours ago, HobieDog said:

T

 

Agree with you @Chris_B that an electric fan is unlikely to provide any performance improvement.  I just don't want to risk this happening again and don't mind the extra bit of clearance and cleaned up nature of the engine bay with a removed fan.  I think I read your old post about this while researching the issue and remember you mentioned having a ton of increased NVH after installing the limiter.  Was that because you didn't have enough clearance between it and the mount?

Not clear to me why this happened. I can only guess that installing a piece of metal in the mount exacerbated transmission of vibration to the chassis.

[dang]

You might get an idea of how it happened by looking at the shape of the damaged area on the radiator.  These tall engines, with the motor mounts located where they are, tent to rotate on the axis of the mounts and the fan collides with the radiator at an angle, but you usually see less damage and more toward the top.  Yours looks like it almost hit the radiator flat, or at least the top half, which would make more sense.

 

Remember, there's three mounts that can affect the fan hitting the radiator!  Check the transmission mount also.

Edited July 13, 2023 by dang

[jgerock]

One thing that I almost never read about when an electric fan replaces the stock mechanical fan:

 

Shorter bolts or a stack of washers are required to secure the pulley to the water pump rotating hub flange.  This is especially important if you leave out the outer cupped fan plate which is thick.

 

If you simply bolt the pulley to the water pump (without the fan), the stock length bolts can interfere with the water pump housing.  Engine will spin, but the water pump won’t. BTDT.

[alexanderPR]

Hey any updates in the ebay radiators? The oem one broke a few years ago and After that bought a 320i new 2 years ago but the red fan hit and broke the e21 one,  will buy new engine mounts ( probably the rectangular ones) found this Dimensions in eBay at, also the oem one and the e21 is almost imposible to get them recore at my Island( Puerto Rico ) thanks in advance 

[OldRoller]

I have had good service from Champion Radiators sold through ebay. Get the 2 core unit, not the three core or you will be limiting clearance to the fan. Installed one on the 76, and another on the 74... both running cool no issues other than needing to elongate the driver's side mounting holes a few mm.

[alexanderPR]

Got any link @OldRoller ? Are this the full aluminiun ones ? Thanks 🙌🏻

[OldRoller]

Yes, all aluminum. 

Racing Champion 2 Row All Aluminum Radiator for 1969 - 1976 BMW 2002 L4 Engine

WWW.EBAY.COM

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Champion Cooling radiators are tig welded with aircraft grade aluminum. Every radiator comes with a limited lifetime warranty so you can buy with confidence! Product Specifications: Core (H x W): 13.625" x 15.5" - Overall (H x W): 19.5" x 19.125" - Hose Locations (In x Out): Driver x Pass -...