Summary - original Model A Fan - Danger??

[James G.]

I want to thank the following for responding to my solicitation for reports on the dangers and experniences with the original Model A Fan failures. The inputs I received involve maybe 4 failures, far short of what the reports/rumors lead me to believer I would receive.
I still believe that this fan will likely hurt someone when it fails. Likely that will occur when someone is working with the hood open. The inputs I've received are way short from what I believe is useful to try and document this issue.
I have forwarded my concern to The Model A Times, hoping they will take up this cause and address my two primary concerns
1) how to identify a dangerous original fan
2) determine how to certify the cast aluminum fan as a safe legitimate substitute for the original

Thanks to:Kevin, Randy, Sea Slugs, Steve, Tudortomnz, 5 Window, Mike, Glenn, and AlfinCT. Many thanks for trying guys! Keep a lookout for the MAT action. How about maybe even dropping them a line in support of this work?

James G.

[Chris in WNC]

a magnet will identify the steel fan vs. the aluminum repro.

you cannot "certify" the aluminum fan as safe, but I remember seeing no anecdotal reports of them breaking, vs. MANY reports of steel fans breaking.

for me the better odds are very worthwhile........

[Randy in Illinois]

Original fans that are useable can be found at swap meets but , most have seen better days. between being bent, rust bulges, and in need of skills that alot of us don't have to repair these. So in the interest of safty rather than taking a chance on a swap meet find aluminum maybe a good alterative. as in my post my car came with a reminder in it's radiator that these wp/fan assembly had some issues even back then. good originals fans are getting rare.

[Chuck Sea/Tac]

John, just because you only received 4 case reports, doesn't mean it seldom happens. Start talking to club(long time) members and you will hear about failures. In a group of eight people, there were two incidents I was told of, one being a master judges personal car.

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by James G.

The inputs I received involve maybe 4 failures, far short of what the reports/rumors lead me to believer I would receive.

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpo...95&postcount=4
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpo...3&postcount=27
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpo...48&postcount=2
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpo...57&postcount=5
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpo...5&postcount=17
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpo...9&postcount=19
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpo...2&postcount=20
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpo...7&postcount=25
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpo...1&postcount=28
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpo...1&postcount=28
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpo...7&postcount=38
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpo...96&postcount=1

And that is just from march 2013

[Rowdy]

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Keep in mind how many over the last 10 years have been discarded because cracks have been found. Those were disasters adverted. I would speculate I have scrapped over 20 as compared to the one I kept. Rod

[johnsor]

At large swap meets (Iola, Jefferson) I always see many old Model A fans for sale. Inspecting them closely in the critical areas I note many should be scrap and only covered with recent rattle can paint. I would be suspicious of a used fan. Why is it there in the first place? A new fan is not that expensive to take a chance on safety.

[amodel25]

I guess I responded to the wrong post. I lost two fans (my primary fan and the spare one under the seat, both originals) on one 300 mile trip. I installed an aluminum repro purchased from Joe's Famous Parts in Fort Worth and have never had a problem. That was in 1988.

[TerryH]

I am just amazed at how many Model A owners continue to defy this now well known danger and continue to run their original fans....they keep hanging on any possible chance of keeping them and seemingly doubting the real chance of danger or damage. This is inspite of lots of posts here and elsewhere.............why take a chance unless you have a seldom driven show car?

[Terry, NJ]

I've never had a two bladed fan let go! Actually, I've never had a two bladed fan, except one I got in some parts deal. So I may not be qualified to speak on the subject. However, they seem to be hollow as though it's two halves that are stuck together. I really distrust this design! Like a cheap paint job, they hide alot of rust. In 80+ years, they could have held a lot of moisture and this internal surface saw no paint or any other protection. It's entirely possible for it to be severely rusted and show nothing on the outside so inspections would be worthless. The only testing I could imagine would be good would be off the car and spinning at least ten thousand RPM in a test chamber. But of course, a test like that might just set it up to break the next time it's run on the car. Conclusion: Inspections are worthless. Breaking fans are expensive, better buy a new one.
Terry

[SeaSlugs]

Yea i held and browsed a few at IOLA and found many had rust buldges, 2 had visible cracks around the shaft hole(where they commonly crack) saw one had welded cracks up but didnt attempt to grind down the welds... I was really surprised how many were around! im glad i didnt/couldn't use my original...had a tad accident with the already very poor shape radiator/fan/and end loader bucket... i think i still have it around somewhere... mine was bad enough it rusted thru one of the halves of the blade...

[Jordan]

Originally Posted by amodel25

I guess I responded to the wrong post. I lost two fans (my primary fan and the spare one under the seat, both originals) on one 300 mile trip. I installed an aluminum repro purchased from Joe's Famous Parts in Fort Worth and have never had a problem. That was in 1988.

I've seen the dents to verify this story!

[28ACoupe]

This whole issue brings to mind something that we all forget on occasion: The Model A is NOT a modern car. Even completely restored, you are dealing with 80+ year old technology and it needs to be maintained. Some folks install juice brakes and 12v systems to circumvent some of this maintenance, and then proceed to forget that they still need to grease all the zerk fittings every so many miles, adjust the fan belt(good time to inspect that fan for damage), tune the engine and so on.

In my opinion, based on what I have seen, I would say that the majority of fan failures come from lack of maintenance inspection by the owners rather than being inherently flawed. It literally takes just a few seconds to visually inspect your fan during your maintenance efforts.

So, in the end, make sure you do your scheduled maintenance and treat your car with the respect, dignity and honor it deserves.

As a side note: from what I have seen, the stamped four-bladed steel fans fail far more often than the two bladed fans. Oddly enough, they move less air as well in spite of having two more blades and I won't run them. The modern, plastic fans are just wrong.

[amodel25]

[QUOTE=28ACoupe;689776]In my opinion, based on what I have seen, I would say that the majority of fan failures come from lack of maintenance inspection by the owners rather than being inherently flawed. It literally takes just a few seconds to visually inspect your fan during your maintenance efforts.


What's the difference? It fails in operation or you inspect, find a flaw, and take it off and hang it on the wall before it fails.....it's still defective and should not be on the car. And....how can you tell from our posts how much maintenance or inspection we actually do?

[Steve Plucker]

Originally Posted by 28ACoupe

This whole issue brings to mind something that we all forget on occasion: The Model A is NOT a modern car. Even completely restored, you are dealing with 80+ year old technology and it needs to be maintained. Some folks install juice brakes and 12v systems to circumvent some of this maintenance, and then proceed to forget that they still need to grease all the zerk fittings every so many miles, adjust the fan belt(good time to inspect that fan for damage), tune the engine and so on.

In my opinion, based on what I have seen, I would say that the majority of fan failures come from lack of maintenance inspection by the owners rather than being inherently flawed. It literally takes just a few seconds to visually inspect your fan during your maintenance efforts.

So, in the end, make sure you do your scheduled maintenance and treat your car with the respect, dignity and honor it deserves.

As a side note: from what I have seen, the stamped four-bladed steel fans fail far more often than the two bladed fans. Oddly enough, they move less air as well in spite of having two more blades and I won't run them. The modern, plastic fans are just wrong.

And just how many original 2-blade fan failers have we NOT heard about? I bet just what we have heard about on this site and the other is just the tip of the iceberg! We will never know.

If FORD issued a recall on these fans because of failer 1/2 way through the production era...would we still use them?

Pluck

[Forker]

I recently replaced my fan when a crack was discovered, no damage, just a preventative change out.

[CaceyB]

I think it's settled. The best option is to use no fan.