Defender 200Tdi Viscous Fan replacement

[2234jones]

Viscous Fan Hub Replacement.

I had been using the Defender and on occasions the temperature needle would get near to the ¾ mark on the gauge causing me to panic. I had been flushing the radiator through, every time I changed the coolant, and also had changed the thermostat. This did not cure the problem, until I red a thread of a Land Rover forum stating the symptoms could be the Viscous Fan Hub not working.
The Viscous Fan Hub is a clutch style mechanism with fluid contained within. When the fluid gets hot, the viscosity of the fluid changes and it moved to another part, causing the clutches to engage and turn the fan blades when the engine is hot.
A test is when you have run the engine for about 20 mins, or when the temperature gauge is ½ way, turn the engine off and open the bonnet. Make sure it’s not running. Try and turn the fan blades, if they are hard to turn, then the hub is working, however on mine it was just spinning with no effort needed. Obviously this unit had failed.
I tried buying the fluid, which is silicone oil from Toyota and drilling a hole in the front, and filling it up with the fluid, then plug the hole. This made it stiffer, however it was not working properly, so a new unit was required.
I purchased one from the UK at $80-00 Aus delivered. $100-00 cheaper than here in Aus.
Here are the steps to change the Viscous hub on a 200 Tdi Land Rover Defender.
The New hub

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/03/677.jpg

First of all ensure the item is the correct part. In this case part no. ETC7238
Then you need to get the tools ready.
1. a Fan Hub spanner 32mm
2. a 10mm Socket and Ratchet
3. A bar round enough to fit in the hole on the fan pulley to lockit.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/03/678.jpg

Once you have the tools it will take about 10 minutes tops to do, it only took me 5 mins, and its easy to do.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/03/679.jpg

Place the 32mm spanner on the fan hub nut, and place the small bar into the hole to the pulley.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/03/680.jpg

Remember the nut is a left hand thread, so you will need to turn the spanner towards the nearside of the vehicle and it should come undone. (Clockwise looking from the front)

After it is loose, you should be able to undo it by turning it with your hand, once it’s off withdraw the assembly between the cowl and engine, ensuring you don’t damage the fan blades.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/03/681.jpg

Once removed, Place the hub on the ground face down, and you will see four 10mm studs,

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/03/682.jpg

Remove these. Loosen each one and then fully remove once they are all loose.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/03/683.jpg

Now you can remove the fan blades from the hub, and place it onto the new hub.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/03/684.jpg

When you put the studs back in, put a little thread lock on them to prevent the studs coming loose.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/03/685.jpg

Tighten the nuts and then put it into the engine compartment, the same way it came out. Do not damage the coil spring on the front.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/03/686.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/03/687.jpg

Hold the nut in line with the centre of the pulley, and hand turn it, top towards the offside ( Anti-clockwise looking from the front). Feel the nut biting onto the thread and tighten as much as you can by hand.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/03/680.jpg
Once tightened, again with the 32mm spanner and the bar holding the pulley, tighten the fan hub nut until it is tight. An all is done. Ensure all tools are remove from the engine bay, and there we are.

[Squatdog]

very well done im sure many will find that usefull , did it fix ur cooling issue's ? i found that fan doesnt seem to do hardly anything under normal conditions i ran with out one while waiting on a new one i could idle round the paddock when i was shooting for hours an gauge never moved

[Squatdog]

very well done im sure many will find that usefull , did it fix ur cooling issue's ? i found that fan doesnt seem to do hardly anything under normal conditions i ran with out one while waiting on a new one i could idle round the paddock when i was shooting for hours an gauge never moved

[roverrescue]

IME diesels dont make heat unless they are burning... diesels burn fuel most when flat to the boards loaded up... tdi defenders suffer most from cooling issues when loaded up and pushing hard 110km/h + . If you drop back to 80-90km/h they cope better. May be some aero thing, once velocity increases past a certain point air across the radiator decreases. Idling in the paddock would struggle to overheat a tdi defender even with a blocked radiator I would imagine.

Alot of cooling problems at highway speed can be fixed by replacing the fan hub.

Steve

[2234jones]

very well done im sure many will find that usefull , did it fix ur cooling issue's ? i found that fan doesnt seem to do hardly anything under normal conditions i ran with out one while waiting on a new one i could idle round the paddock when i was shooting for hours an gauge never moved

Thanks for that, yes it has sorted the problems, but will try a good test in a month or two on Moreton Island, that'll give it a good test.

[LowRanger]

Can you say where about in the UK you ordered your coupling from? I have come across a few places also,but have not been sure of their service before ordering,

Regards

[2234jones]

Can you say where about in the UK you ordered your coupling from? I have come across a few places also,but have not been sure of their service before ordering,

Regards

Hi there,
I sourced it off ebay, as a lot of Land Rover part suppliers are on it now, and after a long search and lots of emails, this one worked out the cheapest, it was 39.95 UK pounds for the part and then 8.50 pounds postage, I think it totaled about $80-00, plus the Australian dollar is still strong. The cheapest I found in Aus was $170-00, and some other wanted $206-00, and that was before delivery. The Ebay user is Royb157 and heres the link to the part I won to help.
LANDROVER DEFENDER 2.5 TD/ 200TDI VISCOUS COUPLING - eBay, Land Rover, Car Parts, Vehicle Parts Accessories. (end time 23-Feb-10 12:53:50 AEDST) (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370332085932#ht_500wt_956)

I hope this helps,

Thanks Mark

[gmeddy]

i just got one of UK ebay as well, got it new for 19.99GBP.
After shipping it was around $58 aussie.
not bad hey!
now where do i get one of them spanners?
i should have got one off UK ebay as well when i purchased the hub.
Repco dont have them, Auto-one just looked dumb when i asked them, and thats about all the tools places in Kununurra... anyone suggest a place that could post one to me?
thanks

[bee utey]

I saw this tool on ebay to hold the bolt heads (Falcon clutch fan) to stop the pulley turning, shouldn't be hard to make. Same goes for the spanner, need a welder and some flat steel. Just to give you some ideas:)

FALCON CLUTCH FAN TOOL - eBay, Other, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 19-Apr-10 07:14:13 AEST) (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/FALCON-CLUTCH-FAN-TOOL_W0QQitemZ250551225854QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Ca r_Parts_Accessories?hash=item3a56044dfe)

[dado.mago]

Hi there, a silly question, I have a td5 110 since last june (it's a nightmare!) and within all the parts I changed in 6 months, the last is the viscous fan cause it's stuck.
I purchased a new one from uk, but when I put it in place it still sounds like an airplane! it is engaged all the time even when the engine is cool. I would ask to anyone of u I u could check if your fan spins freely if u hit it when the engine is off, because mine doesn't; I think they shipped me a faulty one.
Thank a lot :(
David

[Yorkshire_Jon]

I'm not entirely sure if your g about the TD5 or 200Tdi, nevertheless they won't spin "freely".

The basic principle is as the runny liquidy type stuff in the fan heats up it becomes more like a solid and therefore spins more inline with the engine rpm.

Yours is behaving as it should.

Sent using Forum Runner

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Referring to the last post, I'm not entirely sure if your g about the TD5 or 200Tdi, nevertheless they won't spin "freely".

The basic principle is as the runny liquidy type stuff in the fan heats up it becomes more like a solid and therefore spins more inline with the engine rpm.

Yours is behaving as it should.

Sent using Forum Runner