I guess this California heat finally did in my radiator fan blade. Seems it got out of round and is now making a racket by rubbing up on the radiator. I put a few washers under the top left mounting screw and the noise is gone for now. I found a seller on Ebay but the part (ACDelco 15-8476 Radiator Fan) doesn't seem to be compatible with the 87-88 GT. Funny because it's listed to fit the 86 GT.
JC Whitney lists an AC Delco 15-8449 fan blade for the 88 GT but when I google search that number it comes back as the fan motor, not the blade. Confusing .
Is the fan blade different for the 87-88 GT? Does anyone have a good part number for it, or a source to obtain it? I couldn't find one at Fiero Store or Rodney's.
------------------ John Wayne as John Bernard Books in The Shootist... " I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."
My rides... 1988 GT with a 3.4L V6 automatic 2006 Harley Sportster 'cause I love the twisties on two wheels or four.
Sourmug posted a better step-by-step installation...
quote
Originally posted by Sourmug:
I have a small update.
I decided to upgrade my radiator fan to a high volume aftermarket fan. I don't need the extra cooling CFM that the aftermarket fan produces, as my 3.4 DOHC seems to sit more or less around the midpoint on the temerature gauge, but the look of the stock fan is a little on the dated side. The extra air flow is a bonus though!
The local speed shop that I went to didn't have the Proform Fan that Fierosound used so here's the 16" fan that I bought:
Here's the new fan with the stock fan and shroud:
To install the new fan the stock fan supports have to be cut at the shroud. I cut them so that there was some left over raised plastic that sat proud of the top of the shroud discharge ring. These bits will be sanded down flush after the fan supports are removed. Here the supports have been cut with a cutoff disc in the Dremel and the assembly removed:
The outside diameter of the aftermarket fan ring is just shlightly smaller that the inside of the stock fan ring. The two will fit in like they were made for each other. There are 4 mounting bracket points on the outside of the new fan that need to be removed:
I did this using and anglr grinder, sander and hand file:
Almost all of the marks will be hidden by the shroud once the new fan is in place.
I also wanted to trim the left over support base on the shroud to have a more rounded look. I used the sanding drum in my Dremel for this:
Then I painted the shroud:
To assemble, I ran a bead of poly-urethane around the outside of the new fan ring:
Then the shroud was placed over the fan and 4 small self tapping screws secured it together. I painted the few spots that needed some touch up on the new fan ring and the screws. Here it is installed:
Easy to do, and it`s an improvement over the looks of the stock fan for sure!
That's a really cool mod. I might have to try that.
In the meantime I am keeping my options open while I figure out the best way for me to go. It's my daily driver and I've got the California Coast Run coming up in a few weeks (about 600 miles round trip plus the Highway 1 coast run) so I have some routine maintenance to do first and I don't have much time for extra tinkering with the car between now and then
Does anyone know if the fan blade part was different for the 87-88 GT's?
Does anyone have a really nice direct replacement?
I was able to find a fan from a Toyota minivan at the junk yard and it adapted fairly easily. I can't remember what year it was from though. Another benefit with a newer fan is they tend to draw less current than the stock fan. Mine stock fan made a lot of noise, the magnets along the side of the motor worked loose and would make a terrible rattling noise.
Originally posted by Rsvl-Rider: Does anyone know if the fan blade part was different for the 87-88 GT's?
could be... AC or No AC could change fans. You have non OE type or other type used on L4. Ebay seller is wrong
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
Some quick looking suggests that there were two fan motors ("early" and "late") in addition to the AC/no AC variable, so it seems as reasonable as not '84-'86 is different from '87-'88. However, the radiators are all the same, so it seems you could swap complete fan assemblies if you wanted to do a wholesale replacement.
Your probubley going to want to replace the fan motor, along with the fan shroude. Seems like you might be missing a bolt or two, maybe the shroude is warped from the radiator heat?Try the mall section or go for the upgrade.