Car in restaurant parking lot. mom gave me and fiance ride home : (

I heard a nasty screech a few hours ago in the parking lot, turned off car and saw that the whole durn engine fan and pulley was pressed up against the radiator and there is metal chips alll over..... way to blow a date. The pulley is still attached to the belt and you can see that it is pulling the belt crooked a couple of inches.

what caused this and and how do i repair this?

I recently had the headgasket replaced (200 miles ago) and am assuming that this wasnt put back on correctly....

Have your car flatbedded to the shop that replaced the head gasket and have the tech who worked on your car diagnose the problem. It's possible the tech will acknowledge poor workmanship and make your car right on their dime, but be prepared to pressure the shop to accept responsibility. If you're dissatisfied with that shop's diagnosis and proposed resolution then take the car to a more reputable shop for repair.

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Fred Hoelzle

Fan schroud may not have been secured corectly..............

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A Dalton

From your discription, it appears the shop may have forgotten to tighten the fan after removing it to do the head gasket. This would account for the fan w/pully against the radiator. And as Arthur said, the shroud is a possibility as well.

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Don't Chrome them; polish them

I had the exact same problem. About 3000m after head gasket replacement. It was the clutch fan pulley housing. Bearings were toast!

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

When one has a shortened life span from a Viscous after a repair that has been done that required removal and temp storage of the fan, it is possible that the viscous was not stored up-right while off...they have a warning about storage position b/c failure to do so can lead to some of the fluid leaking out....thereby shortening the parts life expectancy.......................

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A Dalton

I think that if the pulley went with it though, it is likely not the clutch, but the bolts holding the pulley and assembly on, or the bearing/mount to the engine.

Excellent reminder on the clutch storage also.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Its actually not very difficult to diagnose/repair. If you dont mind taking the radiator and belt out, its pretty straight forward. I did it in a couple of hours, only because I was polishing every piece of aluminum that I cam in contact with. A clean engine is a happy engine.

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

OK just had the car towed home.... The bearings inside the mount are scattered about inside the housing, so that seems to be the cause... pulled the fan out and it spins relatively freely. does the bearing press into the housing or will i need a whole new housing unit with bearing? thanks all

I went to the local pull a part and bought one for 8 dollars. I wouldnt take a chance on the old housing.. it could have been damaged from the bearing .

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

did you pull your radiator to do it? It looks like I might be able to squeeze by with out pulling it

Ive pulled my radiator out so many times, I became a pro at it. If you already removed your fan clutch, I think it should be pretty accessible. 4 13mm bolts, loosen the middle bolt of the alternator bracket, then wiggle it out.

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

with this fit on my car?
from a W202 with an M104.... same motor right? I know that I have the M104 but not sure if all M104s share the same bearing bracket...

thanks

Ok, got the bracket out.
btw thanks MBZ for running that cooling return hose RIGHT in front of a bolt..
have the fan out, wondering how to remove teh clutch once its out, i tried putting it in a vice and turning the 8 allen screw but i dont think thats the way to do it, because it was flexing the allen wrench and not budging....
also will a bearing bracket from a 97 c28 with a m104 fit??? the guy on ebay says yes i dont think so... thanks all

Bought New bearing bracket, clutch and fan (old one had some melted spots from this incident when leaning against block / radiator...
Fan / clutch should arrive tommorow, hod do i get the old clutch off the pulley???(its all out of the engine now, remember)
I really wanna put it in a vice and and use a breaker bar on the 8mm allen, but Id like to know before really putting the muscle on it....

Thanks