Td5 fans, radiators, and water crossings

[steveG]

Had a friend's Td5 fan rip open the radiator on a recent trip while going through what I considered a very small bit of water. It would have only been bumper deep and a couple of metres wide so like him I was really surprised that it caused an issue.
On a positive note he did a great bush repair job of folding/crimping the damaged tubes that allowed us to continue the trip pretty much as planned.

I'm not likely to ever own a Td5, but definitely end up on trips with them so keen to find out more as I've not noticed it being a common issue on forums (like oily looms and oil pump bolts etc are). Having to remove and repair a radiator definitely slows progress!!

I noticed that the fan is quite flexible and seemed to be very close to the radiator at the bottom (approx 25mm) so the potential for damage is high. Is that small gap normal?

Interested in whether there are other factors at play or if its a simple case of tarping up for every puddle....

Steve

[steveG]

And a piccy of the damage

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/02/57.jpg

Steve

[rangieman]

I have owned a Td5 Extreme and now own a D2a Td5 ,
Both cars have had done water crossings with water over bonnet height on numerous occasions with out any dramas.
I would say it is possibly a plastic age problem (getting brittle) more than anything else.

[fitzy]

During a headlight deep water crossing 2000 disco td5 the fan got sucked into the radiator chewing it up . A replacement radiator came from ritters and they said it is quite common on early disco as the fan is too flexible, so new fan as well. No more dramas since.
Also have 2004 defender that has done plenty of over the bonnett swims without issue.

[steveG]

Thanks guys. Makes me think there's something not quite right with this particular vehicle.
Still interested to know if the 25mm clearance between the fan and radiator is standard.

While doing a bit of online research I came across one guy that had fitted some steel mesh between the radiator and fan as a safeguard. He'd previously damaged the radiator after picking up some debris in the fan during a water crossing. Interesting idea as long as it didn't introduce any chafing issues between the mesh and the radiator core.

Steve