Is fan too close?

[Ken56]

I hit a rough patch in the road yesterday and the fan hit the radiator and left me calling AAA. How close should the fan be to the radiator?
Thanks, Ken

 

[HT413]

Wow, your fan sure must be close. Last year i ws running a stainless steel flex fan i dunno, about 3/8" from the rad and that never happened.

 

[boltupal]

One third of the fan blade should be sticking out of the back of the shroud.

 

[WP29440SE]

One third of the fan blade should be sticking out of the back of the shroud.

that's where mine is putting the fan about 1 1/2 inches away from the radiator, and works great.

 

[67 coronet]

depends a bit on the fan you use.clutch steel can be 1/4 inch away and be fine.most flex fans do just that and flex into the rad under good vibration.the bigger the flex blade the farther it can come forward.

 

[D575]

Have you checked your motor mounts ? I agree with 67 coronet. flex fans flex.

 

[clemul]

1967 Factory service manual says "Use correct fan spacer, if required, so clearance between fan blades and radiator is 3/4 to 1 1/4inches. No fan spacer permitted with fluid fan drive regardless of fan blades to radiator clearance

 

[Ken56]

Thanks for all the help. This is what my radiator looks like now.
Ken

 

[HT413]

Thanks for all the help. This is what my radiator looks like now.
Ken

Looks to me like the clutch made contact too. Sure the motor mounts are good? Maybe the water pump bearings are shot?

 

[sublimegtx]

Your shroud looks pretty narrow so you have to be fairlyclose for it to work properly. I had 1/4" with stock fan/clutch no shroud,I changed to a shorter clutch now I have 3/4-1"

 

[hunt2elk]

I agree with the others about checking the motor mounts. Jack the motor up to see if the mounts separate.

 

[WP29440SE]

ouch

 

[Propwash]

I don't know what the radiator's smiling about. Seems like a bad situation to me.

 

[Ken56]

I don't know either but the radiator sure looks happy.

 

[daredevil]

Flex fans flatten at speed and are widest at rest. I,m betting bad motor mount or loose k frame.A broken trans mount could also be suspect as it only hit the bottom like the trans slammed on a bump.

 

[Ken56]

thanks for all the help. I'll be checking everything mentioned this weekend before installing a new radiator and fan.
Ken