Interference b/t radiator fan and water pump

[Barjavel]

Hi there, new owner of a Fiat 2000 (1981). I've worked on Italian motorcycles and scooters, but not cars. I had my local VW/Old European Car mechanic get the (nearly entirely stock) car up to speed. He used to have a Fiat, and knows more than most about them.

As part of a mini-fiasco involving the cooling system, I had him install a new high-powered radiator fan from one of the usual suppliers (AR). It seems a good product. The clearance between the fan and the water pump bolts was very, very tight though. Like sheet of paper tight. So tight that when the mechanic test-drove the car he got a clack-clack-clack on braking. The water pump bolts were hitting the fan body. He reduced the washers and ground some metal to create more clearance, but when I took the car out for a longer drive, I got the clacking sound on braking.

I understand that the motor mounts may be an issue. The cechanic used a large metal pole to try to move the motor, but reported that the mounts seem solid. There is little visible wear and he wasn't able to lever the engine much. I am thinking that I need to reinstall the stock tiny fan. Has anyone else had issues like mine? I'd love to hear about them, and solutions. I did drive the car prior to buying, with the stock fan installed, and there was no noise. But the engine still could have been shifting forward.

Thanks for any thoughts you might have.

[Spider951]

I installed a new radiator fan (14 inch diam) from AR on my '81 and the fit is tighter than the old arrangement, but I also installed a new aluminum radiator from AR at the same time - so I can't provide a direct comparison to answer your dilemma. On my car there is only about 4 mm clearance of the fan with the water pump bolts (I just roughly measured it a few minutes ago).

However, I suggest you try moving the radiator forward (away from the engine) - and hence the connected fan, enough to gain clearance via one or more of the following ways: (1) there should be some washers between the radiator brackets and the connection points on the body that you may be able to remove or modify to make it fit, (2) there are also rubber grommets and/or washers where the fan connects to the back of the radiator that maybe can be removed or modified, (3) on mine there is some offset of the axis of the fan motor with the axis of the water pump - you may be able to increase that offset to create some clearance (perhaps re-drilling bolt holes for the fan-to-radiator connection points), (4) the U-shaped bracket that the radiator bottom sits in maybe can be bent slightly to allow for some clearance.
Steve

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Good ideas in the above post, and my only suggestion is to call AutoRicambi and see what they can offer. I'm sure they've run into this before.

-Bryan

[Barjavel]

Thanks for the detailed tips. I did contact AR and they confirmed that they had seen this problem on rare occasions, but also that the motor shouldn't be moving at all to allow it to contact with anything, even with tight clearances. I'll look to see if I can move the fan slightly forward, or go back to the original fan...

[redcars]

You may be creating a problem where there is none. The stock fans work fine and if you are worried about the motor just take it part and lubricate the bearings. I have done this with mine and they work just fine. I sometimes drive in 100 degree weather and it cools fine.

[smetzlago]

I had the same experience with the aluminum high performance radiator and was able to bend the aluminum arms holding the fan itself just enough (maybe 1/4" to 3/8") to resolve the issue. The idea is to get the fan completely flush with the radiator. Eliminating the gap between radiator fins and fan seems like should be a slight improvement in cooling efficiency since it'll be pulling more air through and less around the radiator.