Thermo fan replacement on i6 3.2ltr

[freemander]

Well upon investigation, it seems like my thermo fan could be shot. About a week ago, I found my A/C cutting out in heavy traffic however at speed, is nice and cold. Over the past few days, I have noticed the A/C cutting out more often in traffic. When I got home today, I popped the bonnet and found the thermo fan not operating. I turned the car off, came inside then went back outside shortly after to further investigate. I started the engine and ran it for about half an hour and to my surprise the thermo fan was again operating normally. Further searching on the web, I've found this is a common problem with the Freelander 2, car is 2007 with 140klms.

Has anybody replaced with a brand new thermo fan, if so did you have to wait for the part?? I've read varied prices from overseas but unable to find an Aussie dollar part price?? I understand the front bumper, grill and lights need to come off (4 hour job), would my local mechanic be able to perform the task or would it be wise to take it to a LR specialist that I may have to wait weeks to get in?? If so, can the car still be driven???

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

John

[freemander]

Just found out I may not have to remove the front bumper and grill assembly and can be accessed by removing the exhaust manifold, has anybody had any issues removing the manifold etc, is there anything we may need to keep an eye out for??

[Scouse]

I have a feeling the fan controller may be at fault here. I seem to recall that being an issue for a couple of cars early on as it was initially only available as part of the fan assy.


I'm not saying it's the cause of your problem but if fans themselves usually either work or they don't. If they're intermittent, then it may be a control issue.

[freemander]

Thanks for your info Scouse, I have purchased a new fan which comes with module that controls the fan, I have read that people have had no success just replacing the module so I'm replacing the whole unit, something so simple is turning out to be a complex job!

[woko]

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/freelander-2/183056-air-conditioning-not-working.html
This thread Richard replaced brushes in a i6 fan

[Richard93Vogue]

Hi all,

Sorry I haven't been on the forum for a while. Freemander, how is your replacement going? Do you need any assistance with info/knowledge on the job?
Where did you get your replacement fan assembly from and what did they slug you for it?

Richard.

[Richard93Vogue]

I6 Freelander owners, please be aware that if your a/c air conditioning cuts out at low speed, in traffic, at the lights etc... that your thermo fan will most likely be the culprit!

In mine it was the carbon brushes in the motor were worn out. The Module was fine.

[freemander]

Getting the thermo fan and module replaced this week, in the meantime the car is resting in the garage so it doesn't get hot under the collar

[freemander]

Hi all,



Sorry I haven't been on the forum for a while. Freemander, how is your replacement going? Do you need any assistance with info/knowledge on the job?

Where did you get your replacement fan assembly from and what did they slug you for it?



Richard.


Hey Richard93Vogue,

Replacement fan goes in on Wednesday, picked up the new fan this afternoon. Best price I could get was just under $600 from Purnell Land Rover, best thing is it's now a dual fan. Looked up in Topix and to get the original fan out, the intake manifold needs to be removed. New gaskets are just under $50 each and you need 6 of them!!

I've been put on to a mobile mechanic so the car is sitting pretty in the garage until Wednesday!!

You only replaced the bushes didn't you?? If so, how's your going??? Did you have to remove the intake manifold?? If so, is there anything I should tell the mechanic as he's never done a job like this in a Freelander ???

[Richard93Vogue]

Mine is going great now thanks, hasn't missed a beat.

I tried in the first instance to get my fan out between the motor and the radiator but it is 'just' too close. I can see that taking the intake manifold off would work but I didn't want to upset the engine at all so I went the other way.
Dropped the front bumper off, took out the headlights (necessary), removed some plastic ducting from in front of the radiator, dislodged the radiator off its mounts and managed to slide/squeeze the fan unit out the front of the car.
Sounds easy when you say it quickly :eek:

In fact I was actually very surprised at how easy all the bits came off. The headlights in particular just clip in and once you work out what bits to press they come out in 10seconds flat! I think the hardest bit was one of the screws holding the bumper on inside the wheel arch.
I guess it took me about 2 to 3 hours to pull apart and probably no more than 2 hours to put it back together.
I did replace the brushes in my motor but no mechanic will do this for you as the fan is supposed to be 'unserviceable'. I don't like that word so I had a go at fixing it first.

The newer twin fan model looks good, should have been standard here I reckon. From what I read in my research the twin fan was only originally specified for 'hot climate countries' like the middle east. I'm not sure why Australia didn't get them too....

[freemander]

I have read that taking the front end off is usually the preferred method however the mechanic I spoke to seems confident taking off the inlet manifold and surrounds, he's never worked on a Freelander before so it is scaring me a bit. Car is going really well now and don't want to have it put back together then an engine light appearing, I guess that's what's scaring me ATM. I have watched a YouTube video on taking off the front bumper and doesn't look that bad actually!

One saving grace is that it's the preferred way in Topix so hopefully it will be ok.

Hey, when you dropped the front bumper, did you notice where the horn assembly is?? My horn had a terrific sounding dual horn until last weekend one of them stopped working!!

[RIN03]

Horn is front and centre you cant miss it you can see it if you look hard enough through the bumper

Sent from my GT-I9506 using AULRO mobile app

[freemander]

Horn is front and centre you cant miss it you can see it if you look hard enough through the bumper

Sent from my GT-I9506 using AULRO mobile app


Thanks RIN03, we'll have a look whilst the bumper is off today.

[freemander]

Well, job all done, and all in the space of about 2.5hrs. Special thanks to Richard93Vogue and of course other posts on the forum.

If you find your A/C not operating in start/stop traffic and your car getting a little hot under the collar, I recommend get the thermo fan checked out ASAP by your local mechanic.

If you need to replace the thermo fan, I recommend going in from the front by removing the front bumper. If your in Sydney and need someone mobile who can complete the job at a very reasonable price, let me know.

Attached are some youtube videos I used to help make the job a little easier.

Removal of headlights
How to Remove a Land Rover Freelander 2 Headlight - YouTube

Removal of front bumper
How to remove the front bumper on a Land Rover Freelander 2 / LR2 - YouTube

Job done and very happy!!!

[Richard93Vogue]

Congrats on getting the job done in so little time!!! What changed your mechanics mind on how to go about the job?

I must say that I wish I had seen those videos before I did mine, would have saved a lot of head scratching on the day :D

[freemander]

Congrats on getting the job done in so little time!!! What changed your mechanics mind on how to go about the job?



I must say that I wish I had seen those videos before I did mine, would have saved a lot of head scratching on the day :D


Thanks! What changed my mechanics mind, the above videos, it was just to easy. Mechanic only charged me $150, think he even felt guilty charging me that!

[tracksuitman]

Hi I have had the same issue today in the m5 tunnel.
Can anyone suggest a mechanic?
I know that a few others have had same issue. Need to get it fixed asap !

[Cambo_oldjaguar]

Sorry tracksuitman I missed this post before...

Well the fan crapped out on our 3.2 Freelander as well, so it was my turn to put in a new fan assembly.

I bought the "hot climate" twin fan assembly as a replacement, according to JLR hot climate is the Middle East only, I guess for the LR boffins Australia and South Africa is "nice" rather than "hot" LOL. And as it turns out the twin fan is quite a bit cheaper than the single one. Work that out...

Single fan assembly p/n LR026078, GBP ?357
Twin fan assembly p/n LR011905, GBP ?289

(these are UK list prices btw, you will probably pay different, as I did)

You used to be able to buy the fan control relay module for the single fan assembly as a spare, but not anymore. I guess Land Rover got sick of people buying modules when the fan motor crapped out, and then complaining that it still wasn't fixed.

The twin fan assembly comes with a new module anyhow.

While doing the fan I was planning on replacing the thermostat and the accessory drive belt (it's due in 20k), but i'm a bit time poor this week and the wife wants her car back on the road, so i'll leave that all for the next service.

So instead of pulling the intake manifold, i decided to swap out the fans using the bumper off method instead.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/541.jpg

Headlights and bumper off, ducting removed.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/542.jpg

New twin fan vs. old single

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/543.jpg

New fan assembly in. Honestly this was a struggle. To get the old fan out you have to remove the control relay module, and move the bottom of the radiator forwards and backwards as you pull the fan out. The locking tabs on the fan also get caught up in various hoses. With a bit of patience and struggle, I got the old one out. The new one did seem to go in a bit easier.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/544.jpg

And all back together

The single fan is a 500W unit according to the workshop manual, with the twin fans being 750W. They certainly seem to shift more air than the single

I reckon finding a replacement fan motor would be easy enough, or to rebuild it, maybe someone down the track could benefit from a rebuilt unit.

All back together now, wife has her car back again, running cool.