Rock killed my radiator fan

elus1ve

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Today while I was stuck in traffic, my engine temperature went to 125 deg celcius and then my coolant started to overflow. I had to stop on the side of the highway and let it cool down. While looking for the cause of the problem, I saw there was a small piece of rock that lodged itself between the fan and the radiator, preventing the fan from moving.

Removed the rock but even at 107 deg celcius the fan is still not turning on. Usually it starts at 100 deg. Managed to ride back home once the traffic thinned out. The temp is normal so long I keep moving.

Tomorrow gonna go buy coolant, flush the previous one and fill it up again. Don't know what to do with the fan though :( This is the first mechanical problem I have. Only had the fizzer (first bike) for a month.

Anyone had this problem? Should I order a new fan?
 

TownsendsFJR1300

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Its a very common problem for a pebble to get kicked up and jamb the fan motor. Unfortunatly the motor burns out almost immediatly and used ones are rare for that reason.

In the future, either place a piece of duct tape to the bottom of the radiator also attached to the fan to prevent racks from maiking it up that far. Check the rotation every once in awhile. Some rolled up aluminum foil stuck inbetween should also block any debris as well..

After reading about a failure, I made a bracket out of aluminum (feel free to copy) to do the same, just a little neater looking..
 
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Botch

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What Townsend said. There is apparently a faulty design for the fan circuit on the FZ-6, the motor blows before the fuze does. I've replaced my fan once also. :(
 

VEGASRIDER

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I'm guessing your bike is a 2007 or newer? There was a design change, the older generation bikes like mine (2006) the fan placement/radiator is further back or has a closer proximity to the engine block, making it difficult for any object to get caught.
 

TownsendsFJR1300

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I'm wondering Cliff's (Motogiro) opinion (and FinalImpacts) on maybe installing an inline fuse right before the fan motor (with a fairly light duty fuse) that will blow if the fan jambs but allows the fan to still work as it should.

As noted above, its a poor design both to not have a guard there and even worse, and a have a part of the electrical system that certainly doesn't function as it'll allow the fan motor to burn out...

They do make inline fuse holders that you cut the line where you want the fuse, splice off about 1/4" of wire, slip it in and tighten the ends. Plug in your fuse and your set to go. They are marine grade so the weather shouldn't be an issue..
 

FZ09Bandit

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Man. Its glad to be back. There is a 07 partout on the forums. Maybe you can pick one up cheap!!
 

elus1ve

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Spent some time today trying to revive that freaking fan but to no avail. Did a troubleshoot and it seems the fan itself is fried like you guys suggested happened. Fuse, cables everything seems ok. The fan motor itself is sealed, so cannot look inside.

I am so annoyed. That tiny piece of asphalt probably came from road repairs around the city. Replacement cost - $200 (boats.net) + shipping + hours of work. I didn't disconnect the fan, but I can see that it will require the removal of the battery to replace it. Not the easiest repair :(

However, while removing the fan, there were a lot of small sand rock pieces on the assembly. It was just a matter of time and the right size piece to jam the thing.

I had no plans to give the radiator any goodies, but I am going to look into a proper radiator guard.

Vega, yes my bike is a 07 model.

Townsends, I like your mod but I do not have access to aluminium work :(

If you guys have any suggestions for a cheaper seller of those fan, please let me know.

Thanks for your help ppl. Gonna park my Fz6 while I get the replacement parts :( So sad. Sulking...
 

Motogiro

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I'm wondering Cliff's (Motogiro) opinion (and FinalImpacts) on maybe installing an inline fuse right before the fan motor (with a fairly light duty fuse) that will blow if the fan jambs but allows the fan to still work as it should.

As noted above, its a poor design both to not have a guard there and even worse, and a have a part of the electrical system that certainly doesn't function as it'll allow the fan motor to burn out...

They do make inline fuse holders that you cut the line where you want the fuse, splice off about 1/4" of wire, slip it in and tighten the ends. Plug in your fuse and your set to go. They are marine grade so the weather shouldn't be an issue..

That's not a bad idea but I'm thinking that maybe the startup current on the fan is very close to the fan when it's jammed and that's why the factory doesn't do this? The fan may also have an internal "Micro-Temp" fuse that pops and if we could get inside we could replace that.

I'd be willing to give it a try. I'll even pay shipping for someone to send me their dead fan motor for me to experiment with. Anyone? If I was successful at it I could post a, "How to fix your Blown Fan" thread...:D
 

elus1ve

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Hey Motogiro, you are the go to guy for safeguarding our electrical components :)

Gonna buy a few fan and send you the dead one when I get it replaced. Hopefully something can be done to avoid future costly repairs. If only one month of riding resulted in this, chances are it will happen again :disapprove:

FinalImpact, thanks for the link. I saw that before but I am going to go for a new one.

Also just ordered a Romatech radiator guard :eyebrow: Getting paranoid here.

Now I need to figure out how to protect the fan since I cannot do metal work. :confused:
 

FinalImpact

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I'm wondering Cliff's (Motogiro) opinion (and FinalImpacts) on maybe installing an inline fuse right before the fan motor (with a fairly light duty fuse) that will blow if the fan jambs but allows the fan to still work as it should.

As noted above, its a poor design both to not have a guard there and even worse, and a have a part of the electrical system that certainly doesn't function as it'll allow the fan motor to burn out...

They do make inline fuse holders that you cut the line where you want the fuse, splice off about 1/4" of wire, slip it in and tighten the ends. Plug in your fuse and your set to go. They are marine grade so the weather shouldn't be an issue..

I have access to an AMP meter and we could determine the current needed and see what fuse might be the lower cut off limit. However it may just be easier to drop the OEM fuse down from 20 amp and try it (15A 10A etc). 20A @ 13.5V = 270 watts. THE PROBLEM IS THIS: as the coils heat inside the fan motor from being stalled, the resistance goes UP and LOAD to the FUSE "likely" goes down. Its why it doesn't POP! It does protect the bikes wiring - which is what its supposed to do! :rolleyes:

During testing one could also run some wires and an LED on across the fuse. As long as the fuse is GOOD the light remains off. As soon as the fuse blows it turns on provided there is a call for cooling from the ECU (ECU activates relay). Kind of a reminder that you have an issue! I'm not sure what the benefit of adding an extra fuse would be so I'd carry a 20 amp spare for the OEM socket.

I must say it is saddening to see this many of these fans get nuked as there warning signs of pending doom get missed! Anyone have fan we can bench test? NOTE: the issue with one of us taking a measurement is old and new parts will be different. That is a 14A fuse may pop on one bike yet on another last a long time . . . :( Lets think some more. . . Can anyone find a source for the 065000-4050, 4S8-12405-00-00, "BLOWER"?

Any one have a dead one they want to open up and see what failed // send one to me, I'll open it. . .
 

FinalImpact

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Hey Motogiro, you are the go to guy for safeguarding our electrical components :)

Gonna buy a few fan and send you the dead one when I get it replaced. Hopefully something can be done to avoid future costly repairs. If only one month of riding resulted in this, chances are it will happen again :disapprove:

FinalImpact, thanks for the link. I saw that before but I am going to go for a new one.

Also just ordered a Romatech radiator guard :eyebrow: Getting paranoid here.

Now I need to figure out how to protect the fan since I cannot do metal work. :confused:

LAME I know but I used a Silver Sharpie and put stripes on mine. When its on I can see it. When I spin it, I can see the blurr of the lines going past. When I see the temp is up, I usually give the bike the "reach around" and spin it. Its also part of my pre and post ride inspection. I suspect this motor has other uses in the industry if we can find a source. . .
 

FinalImpact

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FWIW: it "looks" like the smaller holes next to the larger mounting holes are spot welded or cold rolled over and they lock the two halves together. Drilling them out and it will likely come apart and it could be bolted or riveted back together. But I suspect the "stalled condition" burns the brushes to the commutator so even if the brushes could be replaced, the assembly is junk.
 

elus1ve

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For what I have seen, the fan motor cannot be opened easily. Nevertheless, when I take it out, I will have a closer look and whoever wants to have it for examination just have to let me know.

Rather than a fuse to safeguarding, I am wondering if an indicator can light up when there is power but no rotation. Similar to what we see on PCs nowadays that alert you when the rotation is zero or low.
 

FinalImpact

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For what I have seen, the fan motor cannot be opened easily. Nevertheless, when I take it out, I will have a closer look and whoever wants to have it for examination just have to let me know.

Rather than a fuse to safeguarding, I am wondering if an indicator can light up when there is power but no rotation. Similar to what we see on PCs nowadays that alert you when the rotation is zero or low.

It would have to be based upon load as there is no "sense" wire to feed back rotation information. But that is the best bet. . .

Or put a magnet on the blade and go from there??? Just need a pick up of some kind. However - based upon how long we can run around with our blinkers on maybe we should power the HORN for a short blast and scare ourselves to death!!! WTFffffff!!!!! lol
 

Motogiro

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How about a hall effect transistor a small set of magnets for a trigger, balanced on the fan and 2 LEDs. One LED say there's power to the fan the other LED the fan is rotating from the hall effect sensor. Or a logic gate that sends the warning signal to a piezo/LED for audio/visual warning...:rolleyes:
 

FinalImpact

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How about a hall effect transistor a small set of magnets for a trigger, balanced on the fan and 2 LEDs. One LED say there's power to the fan the other LED the fan is rotating from the hall effect sensor. Or a logic gate that sends the warning signal to a piezo/LED for audio/visual warning...:rolleyes:

You stole my thoughts! :rolleyes: I'm going to bed!!!! :Flip: :BLAA:

Now all WE need is motivation! But you'll be happy to know I finally bought a vacuum gauge I can attach to the bike and get some engine braking vacuum readings! haha 3 months later!!! :spank:
 
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