Fan Motor Noise?

I have a 90 MJ 4.0 4x4. It's got 262k miles on it. There is a really disgusting noise coming from my fan (the large one). It's a grinding clicking noise. It's almost like the bearings went bad or something. I checked to see if there is anything in the way or if the fan blades were hitting anything and they are not. I figure I may have to replace the fan motor. Before I start such a project, anyone have any other ideas about what it could be?

Thanks

Bump, anyone replace the fan motor? Haven't checked the FSM yet...

Not sure what you are referring to -- Large fan and fan motor? Under hood cooling fans? Smaller fan has an electric motor, larger fan is driven by belt. Please clarify.

Pelican said:

Not sure what you are referring to -- Large fan and fan motor? Under hood cooling fans? Smaller fan has an electric motor, larger fan is driven by belt. Please clarify.

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Well the subject line references the fan motor. So far as I can tell, there is only one fan with a motor. I wouldn't call the engine block a fan motor. I thought the OP was pretty clear.

Markos said:

Well the subject line references the fan motor. So far as I can tell, there is only one fan with a motor. I wouldn't call the engine block a fan motor. I thought the OP was pretty clear.

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I questioned it in my mind too. I certainly don't think that asking for clarifications before writing up a bunch of ideas leading the wrong way is a problem. Why don't you write up something (based on your ASSUMPTIONS) to help him instead of questioning others that are trying to help? I think we want to verify that he isn't talking about the engine driven fan, or possibly he has a modified dual electric fan set-up.

One never knows..... I will admit I was responding to the bump and did not notice that the original thread was over three years old. I guess I really didn't think about someone "bumping" a thread that old.

In any event I assume you are talking about the electric cooling fan in the engine compartment although neither of you actually said that -- i.e."larger" than what?. My guess would be that, yes, about a thousand people have changed that fan. When I did mine a year or so ago the combination fan and motor cost about $100 for my 93 and as I recall, took about 15 minutes to replace. However, I was doing other work on the cooling system at the time so it might take a bit longer from scratch.

I replaced the unit with the old style straight bladed fan and regret that I didn't upgrade to the more efficient and quieter newer style with the S-shaped blades. Actually I believe there have been two changes since the original, either of which will just drop in but may require replacing the plug with the one off the old fan. A search will turn up several threads on the subject.

TeamCherokee.com is one source for the newer fans.

Winterbeater, I was obviously composing while you were composing -- a slower composer am I. Anyway, I just couldn't resist going ahead and revealing my vast knowledge of the subject.

And while we are on the subject -- YEAR, YEAR, YEAR! I wonder how many forum participants there are who religiously believe that all XJs from 1984 to 2001 are mechanically the same... The forum administrator who figures out a way to get every poster to reveal their closely guarded secret model year when asking for advice will no doubt be enshrined forever in the Hall of Fame.

WTF! So Marcos bumped a 3 year old thread, admits he hasn't looked in his FSM yet, and tries to pick on people asking for clarifications. GROW UP DUDE. It is totally beyond me why anyone would do this. Can't you ask your own questions and give your year, etc? Or is everyone supposed to waste their time guessing?

winterbeater said:

WTF! So Marcos bumped a 3 year old thread, admits he hasn't looked in his FSM yet, and tries to pick on people asking for clarifications. GROW UP DUDE. It is totally beyond me why anyone would do this. Can't you ask your own questions and give your year, etc? Or is everyone supposed to waste their time guessing?

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Relax winterbeater. I'm sorry the OP wasn't more specific. Although, I thought the original question was pretty straight forward. Yes I bumped a three year old thread rather than creating a new post that addressed the same topic. Why ask the same question twice? This is why we have 4,000 threads on the exact same subject. The fact of the matter is that I need to replace my fan motor this weekend and wanted to know what I was in for.

So I haven't checked the FSM, who care? How many people on this forum actually have an FSM (pirated or otherwise). Of those people, how many rifle through it every time they have an OEM related question. Give me a break, I don't bring my FSM to work.

Pelican,

Thanks for the help. I wasn't trying to pick on you as winterbeater suggested. I should have posted the year, my jeep is a '99.

UPDATE: I installed a new fan motor. I typically take pics of everything, but I was having memory card issues. Sorry, no pics. FYI, I never did find anything in the FSM about replacing the motor.


I picked up a fan motor from Autozone for about $100. The fan box said VDO on it (good company), but the Autozone folks said it was made by Siemens.

Tools Required:
Medium Flat Screwdriver
5/16th or 8mm socket & wrench (5/16 is correct)
Needle nose pliers
small torx wrench or socket


To remove the fan, unbolt the two bolts at the top of the fan shroud. The bolt appears to be 5/16 SAE, but an 8mm socket fits. Next remove the fan plug found near the radiator cap. Push the red pin out of the plug, then press down on the rear tab. These Jeep plugs are a PITA, be careful not to break the plug. There are no bolts on the bottom of the shroud. The bottom is held in place by clips. You may be able to simply tug hard on the shroud. I chose to use a long screwdriver to access one of the clips from the underside of the jeep. It's a tight fit if you are running a front skid.

Once the shroud is out of the vehicle, remove the fan blade. There is a small spring clip that you need to slide off the motor shaft using a screwdriver and/or needle nose pliers. Once you do this, there is another small steel plate that you must pop off the fan face. Once this is done, tug hard on the fan. I placed my feet on the edges of the shroud and bent down to remove the fan.

After the fan has been removed from the shroud, you may remove the old motor. Use the same socket to remove the three fan hex screws. You will find that the new motor doesn't fit quite the same, and will require spacers found with the installation hardware. I used the taller spacers. Since the old screws will be too short, use the torx screws that come with the new motor.

Route the new fan wires the same way as the old fan motor, and splice on the old plug. The new fan motor had the correct wire colors (blue and black) as the old motor, so no guess work was required.

Installation is the opposite of removal.


Thanks!

Glad it worked out well. Siemens and VDO merged at some point to become Siemens VDO.

And now Siemens Automotive was bought by Continental.