[xj-s] 11" Electric Fan Replacement

["Kirbert" <palmk@mailer.gadcomm.net>]

When I pulled the fan shroud assembly out of my '83, I discovered 
that the Subaru 11" electric fan I shoehorned into there several 
years ago was on its last legs.  It was still running -- and hence I 
don't suspect it as a possible cause for my overheating troubles -- 
but the front bearing in the motor was clearly loose, and fiddling 
with the blade resulted in a distinctive clinking around.

So, it clearly isn't going back in, and I'm shopping for a new 11" 
fan to fit.  A coupla years back, someone suggested a fan from a Saab 
900 Turbo will fit, so when I was in my local junkyard looking for 
something else, I looked into a Saab 900 Turbo.  As far as I could 
tell, it did appear to be an excellent substitute, although I did no 
measuring at the time.

Back at the same junkyard today, but the Saab 900 Turbo is gone.  Not 
a Saab in the place.  I recall that Samuel J. Louw (in the Middle 
East) had recently sent me a message that he had gotten a fan from a 
Mercedes to fit.  So, I looked at a Mercedes fan -- and ended up 
taking one home.

The Mercedes fan is an interesting arrangement: it's a puller fan, 
but it's mounted in a pusher configuration in the Mercedes.  It's in 
front of the radiator, but it's mounted facing forward with the motor 
behind the blade.  If nothing else, this makes it REALLY easy to get 
off.  All that's needed is a 10mm socket and ratched and a pair of 
dykes for the wires.

This fan blade fits the Jag shroud perfectly.  It's a 5-blade fan 
(Louw found an 11-blade version) and is tapered a bit so that the 
center of the blade is somewhat forward of the tips.  This is 
convenient for the Jag shroud, since the tips must clear an 
obstruction on one side towards the front.

The mount is NOT convenient, but not difficult to adapt.  As Louw 
did, I plan to fashion a circular plate as an adapter.

BTW, the reason Louw went with the Mercedes was due to the NEW price 
-- the Mercedes was reasonable, the Jaguar was not.  Dunno if the 
prices in the MidEast relate well to prices elsewhere.

While in the junkyard, I found that there was no shortage of electric 
fans in sizes around 11".  Many Japanese cars have TWO DIFFERENT 
fans, one that is standard for the car and another that was added 
with the A/C option.  It appears that a cursory search of any 
junkyard should come up with SOMETHING that will fit, although the 
fact that a "flat" motor configuration is necessary does eliminate 
many candidates.  One reason that I opted for the Mercedes is that, 
like the Saab 900 Turbo, this fan is designed to cool more than a 
little Japanese 4-banger (or one half of a Japanese 4-banger!); many 
of the Japanese fans looked really light-duty, while this Mercedes 
item looks like a serious air mover.

 -- Kirbert      |     If anything is to be accomplished,
                 |     some rules must be broken.
                 |          - Palm's Postulate

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