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Only my 2nd thread here and already I'm begging for help. I'm visiting from TX in my Magnum and staying in Manchester.
So I was leaving my Mom's house to go hear my old friend's band play tonight. The car has been running fantastic up until now. I get about 3 blocks from the house and notice the temperature gauge is over the top and EVIC says I'm at 235 degrees. I turn off the AC and head straight back to the house. Now I figure out why it's so hot. My FANS aren't running at all! I checked fuses 19 (50 amp) and 22 (40 amp) which are supposed to be for the fans but it's hard to tell just by looking at them if they are blown. The 40 amp one looked kind of funky so I moved fuse 23 (50 amp) over to slot 22 just to see if the fans would come on but nothing. So here we go, I'm stuck with an overheating car and I don't know anybody here except maybe Ernie at 402 Motoring in Neptune which should be a free AAA tow from here if it comes to that.
Can anybody please recommend a good, honest mechanic that knows his way around an LX? I'm going to replace the 2 fuses tomorrow and check the fan motor connections in the daylight. There's a vague possibility my CMR tune has gone wonky and is not turning the fans on but that's highly unlikely although I may just set the tune back to stock on the off chance it''s a programming issue. If all that fails I guess my fans are fried and I will need them replaced.
I may still come out to the show at Garveys in Jamesburg tomorrow but I'll have to borrow my Mom's Altima to get there if my car is still messed up.
Any help or comments will be greatly appreciated. It sux being stuck so far from home and facing a potentially major repair. Thanks for reading this.
Well I got some info from my mechanic down in Fort Worth. He says my fans are dead. There's a 1-800-radiator place in Wall Twp about 20 miles from here. I'll need to call them Monday to see if they have a fan assembly in stock because they've got the best price on a complete assembly, (shroud, blades and motors). He also told me it isn't too hard to remove the assembly from the top and replace it (about an hour swap) or it takes about 15 minutes from the bottom if you can get it up high enough to do that).
Well I don't exactly have any tools here for a job like this naturally. My Mom quit turning wrenches on high performance cars back in Richard Petty's rookie season .. LOL.
Anyways, I still need recommendations for someone who can install this for me. Any good news will be much appreciated.
One of the young guys in our group, Joe, has access to a lift and tools if you want to tackle this yourself. Not sure if you can get it there though. We'll talk more at Garvey's if you make it there.
If you need a hand let me know I got the tools but not a lift.
Thank you for the offer of the help and tools. I may need to take you up on that. My buddy in TX tells me it's not that hard to remove the unit from the top, just easier from underneath. Can't see getting it towed anywhere just for that. I'm going to be calling around first thing tomorrow morning to get a replacement unit. Once I have that in hand any help and tools will be greatly appreciated. I'm going to have him give me a list of what tools are needed. I know a ratchet set (bolts are probably 10mm) but I don't know what else. Unless someone here has done this already and can chime in.
I gotta work until around 5 or 5 :30 on Monday. If you still need some help PM me with your phone number and we can work out the details
Rob
PM sent! Thanks Rob!!!
So I got the lowdown on this change-out. There are 2 10mm bolts and 2 clips held in place by 2 more 10mm bolts that hold the whole assembly on. Plus quick disconnects for the wiring. Plus the top radiator hose has to be removed to be able to lift the whole fan blade/motor assembly out through the top. My buddy estimates an hour to 90 minutes tops start to finish and he'll be standing by the phone for me to call him if we get so FUBAR'ed we can't get past a spot. (Ah, he knows me too well...LOL)
Rob, I'll post up a PM as sson as I have the parts in hand tomorrow.
Just found a walk-through on how to do this repair over on Charger Forumz complete with pix!!! Thanks and a tip o' the hat to DrBill over there for taking the time to post it up. It's going to make this so much easier since he clearly illustrates the few places where it can get tricky getting the old unit out and the new one in. One trick is to turn the fan shroud 90 degrees as you lift it out instaed of trying to lift it straight out.
*** Note after posting this I needed to edit it so you can all enjoy the "warped humor" of my mechanic in Fort Worth.
I posted the above info on dfwlx.com too and here was the reply from RevScorpion "lol..... no.... the "trick" is getting it anywhere NEAR 90 degrees while still keeping skin on your hands and the fans in one piece." And here I was thinking this was gonna be a walk in the park....
Art
Sent you a PM. I will see you tomorrow