Servicing the Radiator Fan

My radiator fan had been giving a strange kik kik kik sound whenever it switches off. Finally decided to open it up and check the condition of the fan. Btw, a check with a few spare part shop, the original fan costs about RM550+-.

Removing the fan is very easy. There are 3 bolts holding it. undo the bolts and take the fan out.  

Location of 2 out of the 3 bolts holding the fan assembly. The third bolt is located on the bottom right

It was quite tricky to un-clip the fan wire. First pull out the red part a bit, the press the yellow part and the clip will pop out fully.

Undo this small nut to remove the fan blade.

 This was the problem. A plastic bag had found its way into the fan motor. Removed the plastic and saw that the fan bearing was out of grease. Unfortunately its not possible to replace the bearing. Since the bearing was in ok condition. I decided to open up the fan motor and service it.

I really wonder how this happened.

After removing the plastic, saw the bearing was void of grease. This bearing is riveted onto the the motor body. No point trying to change the bearing. I don't think I'd be able to find anybody willing to change the bearing for me. The cheapest solution I found was to get a fan motor from a Proton Tiara. Price is RM80. Since this bearing still looked ok, I decided to open up the motor, clean it up, and re grease the bearing.

All opened up and ready to be cleaned. Sorry no more pictures of the cleaning process. My hands were too dirty to snap photos. I used petrol + paint brush to clean the motor. Then used compressed air to blow out dirt and to dry it. Put fresh grease on the bearing. I did the cleaning at my mechanic's place, since I don't have an air compressor at home. It is possible to replace the fan carbon. After cleaning, fixed back everything and the fan is as good as new.  :-)