dpbayly Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 As the title, A little embarrassing really after saying how reliable my Z is that said it appears the rad fans seem to be a problem for lots of Z's I was waiting outside Tesco for my wife this morning with the AC on and thought it didn't feel as cold as normal but thought it was down to the outside temp then when she got back we drove off and got on the move and it got colder, so once home I popped the bonnet switched the ac on and only one fan was running and I knew they where both running a few weeks ago when I looked over it when buying it so with me being me I wouldn't be able to rest till I found and preferably fixed the issue I shot off to work , So got to work and drove it on the ramp and hooked up the diagnostics and sure enough I could power one fan up but not the other so checked the simple stuff before ripping the fan shroud out the car and whipped off the motor once on the bench I tried powering it up and could feel it was trying, it span free so wasn't seized so decided I wouldn't lose anything from opening it up and taking a look but before doing so I checked up how much they are to replace and what I found spurred me on even more to get to the bottom of the failure. So after removing the motor from the shroud and with it on the bench I first bent the lock tabs out with a screwdriver: Then lift off the front don't worry when you hear lots of springs and things fly about, once apart the first thing I looked at was the part of the motor the brushes sit against and cleaned this area up, I was surprised to find it wasn't very worn: dirty: cleaned up with a bit of emery paper: Now for the brushes this is where I found the fault, as you can see in the picture 3 of the 4 brushes have come shooting out when I lifted it apart and one is stuck in the housing: first I cleaned up the brushes that were out with a bit of emery to clean the contacts, carefully as there soft till the looked like this: I then secured the 3 working ones in place with there springs behind them and held them in place with a small bit of wire (a paper clip will work) I used welding wire and if you look carefully you'll see it: I then removed and cleaned the build up of carbon/crap from around the one that was stuck and made sure it slid freely in and out with the spring behind it which it did: then with that one secured in place with wire too I dropped the motor down in place and removed the wire so the brushes sat against the motor: before finally dropping the top back over it and using a hammer and punch carefully folding the lock tabs back over: I then refitted it back into the shroud and dropped it down into place so I could hook the wire back up and test it by powering it with the diagnostics and here is where another problem arose....... the one I fixed worked perfect but now the other side didn't run as quick It wasn't noticeable before because they were both obviously getting slow, so out it came again and I found the same problem in this one where one of the brushes was stuck, it was obviously touching enough to make it work but only just hence the slow speed. So with that one rebuilt too and plugged back in sure enough they worked perfect at the same full speed. Happy days an genuine fan motor off eBay is nearly £400 this cost me nothing cant get better than that. So I'd suggest firing up your ac popping your bonnet and make sure both your fans are running and at the same speed if there not could be worth having ago, To do the job it took me 1.5hrs including removal and refit of the shroud (just remove the air box and top rad hose and 2 10mm bolts and the shroud wriggles out) and the only tools need are a ratchet, 10mm socket, 8mm socket big flat blade screw driver, hammer and small punch, you will also want some antifreeze unless you catch it as around 1/2 a ltr comes out when removing the top hose. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Did you undercut the commutator? if not then you will likely have the same problem again, as thats one of the reasons for the motor failing to start. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Interesting write up and good pictures. Hopefully I'll never need this guide though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpbayly Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 Did you undercut the commutator? if not then you will likely have the same problem again, as thats one of the reasons for the motor failing to start. Wasn't needed I could have done it on the lathe which we have at work but the issue was down to the brush being stuck in the slide and not touching the motor at all, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Trouser Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Great post! Although I'm not the practical type, I now know more about my Zed! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Nice post, good info, lots of Zeds with overheating recently. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Moved from 350 General and pinned it As you say, rad fan issues are getting more common as the cars get older, so hope this guide might help others. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harryjax Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Thanks for this how to. I done my son's zed today and found it very useful. It's an easy job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon169 Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 I had my nissan for 7 years and it has never let me down until last week, it overheated on me. I spent all day cleaning rad /taken thermostat out . Then noticed fans where not going round , checked all fuses . Found your page went out and turned aircon on fans it did not start. I touched them and they ran. I have the engine light on since overheating (how can I reset this). I found your page very informative Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 I had my nissan for 7 years and it has never let me down until last week, it overheated on me. I spent all day cleaning rad /taken thermostat out . Then noticed fans where not going round , checked all fuses . Found your page went out and turned aircon on fans it did not start. I touched them and they ran. I have the engine light on since overheating (how can I reset this). I found your page very informative To turn off the EML yourself you need to do the ECU reset AKA the pedal dance. Link: http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/53148-how-to-ecu-accelerator-pedal-throttle-valve-resets/ It can be a nuisance to get right but keep trying as it does work. I have used it myself lot's of times ~ when I first tried it I used a clock with a seconds hand on it to get the timing right but still couldn't do it. Eventually I just counted in my head which actually worked better for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryjackson Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I had my nissan for 7 years and it has never let me down until last week, it overheated on me. I spent all day cleaning rad /taken thermostat out . Then noticed fans where not going round , checked all fuses . Found your page went out and turned aircon on fans it did not start. I touched them and they ran. I have the engine light on since overheating (how can I reset this). I found your page very informative To turn off the EML yourself you need to do the ECU reset AKA the pedal dance. Link: http://www.350z-uk.c...e-valve-resets/ It can be a nuisance to get right but keep trying as it does work. I have used it myself lot's of times ~ when I first tried it I used a clock with a seconds hand on it to get the timing right but still couldn't do it. Eventually I just counted in my head which actually worked better for me. quoting you GM as you're all knowledgeable Does anyone have a guide as to how to remove the rad fan motor's in the first place? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoged Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 if anyone wants a set of oem fans that stopped working and i had to replace for nothing............. please pm me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 (edited) quoting you GM as you're all knowledgeable Does anyone have a guide as to how to remove the rad fan motor's in the first place? Thanks I think the fan shroud is slotted in at the bottom and held in place by two 10mm bolts at the top. It should just be a case of unplugging the electrical connection clip at the bottom (you may have to remove the under tray to get at the plug though), remove the two 10mm bolts (either side) and then just pull it up out of the engine bay away from the radiator. The only problem I can foresee is that the top radiator pipe will get in the way and I'm not sure if you'll be able to manipulate the fan shroud past that without removing it which would obviously mean draining the coolant or at least losing some. Found this on a US forum: http://my350z.com/fo...ooling-fan.html And this one: http://my350z.com/fo...t-from-top.html By the look of the two above threads I found you will definitely have to remove that top radiator pipe & possibly more. Edited May 29, 2015 by GMballistic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard.hezlett Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I serviced my 2 radiator fans a couple of months ago. Exactly as GM describes above. I removed the top radiator hose,the air filter box and a small bracket underneath it. I then removed a few of the screws holding the undertray on to disconnect the plug to the motors ( there's a push in tie wrap that needs either cut or pushed out ). The radiator then comes out with a bit of wiggling. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryjackson Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Thanks for your help guys. I'll wait till I do my coolant change otherwise I'm going to have coolant everywhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard.hezlett Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I serviced my 2 radiator fans a couple of months ago. Exactly as GM describes above. I removed the top radiator hose,the air filter box and a small bracket underneath it. I then removed a few of the screws holding the undertray on to disconnect the plug to the motors ( there's a push in tie wrap that needs either cut or pushed out ). The radiator fans then comes out with a bit of wiggling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panoz33 Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 Massive thanks @dpbayly you saved me lots of money Very helpful guide and I can say it's not as hard as you might think it is. Definitely worth the 1 to 2 hours of work to your car. I managed to do it all without taking the undertray off. it is possible to finish the job all from the top. The only tricky bit is to unclip the 2 bottom switches. Again brilliant guide and thanks guys. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich350z Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 (edited) Fantastic guide. Thanks. Only took me 6 hours - think that’s probably a forum record! Took it for a test drive - all working dandy, get it back, lift the bonnet to check one last time - AND ONE OF THE FANS IS KNOCKING!!!!! AAARRRGGGHHH. Anyone else had this? I’m assuming I’ve not done one of the bolts up properly 🤷♂️ Edited April 17, 2021 by Rich350z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPAXY Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 done this trick yesterday,hour job,brilliant fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checkle91 Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 On 17/04/2021 at 17:42, Rich350z said: Fantastic guide. Thanks. Only took me 6 hours - think that’s probably a forum record! Took it for a test drive - all working dandy, get it back, lift the bonnet to check one last time - AND ONE OF THE FANS IS KNOCKING!!!!! AAARRRGGGHHH. Anyone else had this? I’m assuming I’ve not done one of the bolts up properly 🤷♂️ Did you get to the bottom of this? Just repaired my fans and now the drivers side fan is catching on the shroud somewhere when it gets hot and expands. Both motors and fans went back in the same place, the fans were centralised and the nuts tightened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich350z Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 8 hours ago, checkle91 said: Did you get to the bottom of this? Just repaired my fans and now the drivers side fan is catching on the shroud somewhere when it gets hot and expands. Both motors and fans went back in the same place, the fans were centralised and the nuts tightened. Yeah, I basically had crosse threaded the bolt that holds the fan onto the motor (from memory), and when I tried to fix it I over tightened the working fan and sheared the bolt (I’m useless at anything manly!!). So ended up buying a replacement fan set and shroud from…..erm….Torqen I think. sorry, not much help to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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