dawnst3ar
Active Member
A few days ago, I notice a strange sound coming from the front of my car. I look under the bonnet and don't see anything amiss, and the sound goes away.
So, I get home yesterday and my car overheats in my driveway. This causes me a ton of concern. I put it in the air this morning and start poking around to find the cause. As I am looking at the fan, I notice that it seems loose, and isn't turning as it should when I try moving it manually....after a moment or two, I realize the cause: two of the three screws that connect it to the shroud appear to be missing, causing it to have fallen against the side, and hence no turning.
I think ahh! an easy fix!
Was I ever wrong. The third screw would not come out after much turning, so I had to remove the whole shroud. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal either, but nothing about my XLR is normal.
To get the shroud out, you have to remove the front sway bar. To remove the front sway bar, I had to take apart both brake assemblies and pretty much tear down the entire front end. Luckily, there was another repair I had been putting off that needed to be done - the rubber bushings on my ride-height adjustment bolts have pretty much disintegrates, and I had replacements on-hand, so I took a few extra steps to accomplish that as well - leaving me with what has to be the worst alignment known to man.
Several hours into trying to figure it all out and having a REALLY fun time with my big ass hands in a very small space, I am able to remove the TWO screws that hold the shroud in place, which of course are in a nearly impossible spot and took all kinds of maneuvering to get to, only to find that there are hidden clips holding the damn thing to two wiring looms and a radiator hose! I finally get those loose and wiggle the shroud out of the car, to find that all my problems were caused by two 6mm screws that have gone missing. Luckily, the third hung in there, and I was able to get it out of the fan with a little finesse, only to find that there is NO locking mechanism to hold it in place, which explains why the others fell out.
Tomorrow, I am off to buy a pair of screws to replace the old ones, in the hope that the motor didn't burn out - as that will cost about $300 that I will be pretty ****ed about spending.
Also, I WILL be putting a small ton of red LockTite on the new (and old) screws.
Thanks a ton GM for buying such a quality Siemens part.
So, I get home yesterday and my car overheats in my driveway. This causes me a ton of concern. I put it in the air this morning and start poking around to find the cause. As I am looking at the fan, I notice that it seems loose, and isn't turning as it should when I try moving it manually....after a moment or two, I realize the cause: two of the three screws that connect it to the shroud appear to be missing, causing it to have fallen against the side, and hence no turning.
I think ahh! an easy fix!
Was I ever wrong. The third screw would not come out after much turning, so I had to remove the whole shroud. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal either, but nothing about my XLR is normal.
To get the shroud out, you have to remove the front sway bar. To remove the front sway bar, I had to take apart both brake assemblies and pretty much tear down the entire front end. Luckily, there was another repair I had been putting off that needed to be done - the rubber bushings on my ride-height adjustment bolts have pretty much disintegrates, and I had replacements on-hand, so I took a few extra steps to accomplish that as well - leaving me with what has to be the worst alignment known to man.
Several hours into trying to figure it all out and having a REALLY fun time with my big ass hands in a very small space, I am able to remove the TWO screws that hold the shroud in place, which of course are in a nearly impossible spot and took all kinds of maneuvering to get to, only to find that there are hidden clips holding the damn thing to two wiring looms and a radiator hose! I finally get those loose and wiggle the shroud out of the car, to find that all my problems were caused by two 6mm screws that have gone missing. Luckily, the third hung in there, and I was able to get it out of the fan with a little finesse, only to find that there is NO locking mechanism to hold it in place, which explains why the others fell out.
Tomorrow, I am off to buy a pair of screws to replace the old ones, in the hope that the motor didn't burn out - as that will cost about $300 that I will be pretty ****ed about spending.
Also, I WILL be putting a small ton of red LockTite on the new (and old) screws.
Thanks a ton GM for buying such a quality Siemens part.
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I haven't confronted this one yet on mine, but now know what to look for, and in fact will check the fan mounting tomorrow after reading your post. Ugh. --- One of my pet peeves with all car makers is why can't they use a skim coat of RTV Sealer on gasket matting surfaces, other than the transmission pan (later, a no no). Hmmm? Hope you tested the motor 1st before reinstall.
