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rrueckwald · 10-31-2013, 10:28

Recently noticed six of the radiator fan blades are contacting the radiator shroud on the top, but a wide gap on the bottom, indicating I need to raise the radiator and CAC assembly. David, since you have already worked in that area, is this a reasonably simple project?

davidbrady · (This post was last modified: 10-31-2013 11:53 by davidbrady.)

Ron,

You can see from my attached pics that the fan assembly is bolted rigidly to the radiator's top and bottom rails, so raising the radiator isn't going to help. There is adjustment at the fan motor mount where it connects to the two supporting vertical angle brackets. The bolt holes on the verticals are elongated allowing the fan motor to be raised or lowered and centered within the fan shroud. Three of the bolts aren't too difficult to get to but the upper one towards the front of the coach might be tough. With a mirror you may be able to see if there's room in the bolt holes to drop the fan motor.

In my pics at the bottom radiator rail you should be able to make out a 1.5"x1.5"x12" piece of angle iron. It runs perpendicular to the radiator. If the bolts holding that angle iron are loose or missing I can see how the fan assembly could lift.

How your fan assembly lifted is a puzzle to me. Either it was assembled that way, or the angle iron mentioned above isn't aligning the assembly, or somehow the fan mount at the twin vertical angle iron brackets is loose and the fan worked its way up, or the fan shrouding is cracked and is dropping. Confused!

I'd remove the shrouding under the bus to gain access to all the pieces involved. Grab onto the twin vertical brackets with both hands and give them a good tug. Something may be loose.

As you've noticed, only 6 of the 9 blades are making contact. Borg Warner balances the fan by shaving some length off the blades on the heavy side. It could be the installer aligned the fan with the short blades at the top, assuming the short ones are all next to each other which is probably likely. Yikes!

rrueckwald · 10-31-2013, 20:21

David,

Thank you. That helps a lot. There is no point in trying to raise the radiator-CAC assembly.

So, either the fan motor has levitated, or it has been that way from the beginning. I'd guess the latter.

It isn't clear what kind of bolts are used. Is one side captured? Can you get to both sides? Do you have to remove the fan to get to the other side of the bolts? I'd like to fix it.

davidbrady · (This post was last modified: 11-01-2013 10:36 by davidbrady.)

Hi Ron,

No captive nuts - you need to get a wrench on both sides. (Four 5/16ths inch bolts, 1/2" wrench). Both sides are accessible - no need to remove the fan. The fan motor bolts to a plate, the plate bolts to the twin vertical angle iron brackets. The angle iron holes are elongated vertically the plate horizontally. This allows the fan to be centered in a plane. I'll get you a picture.

rrueckwald · 11-01-2013, 19:24

(11-01-2013 10:31)davidbrady Wrote: Hi Ron,

No captive nuts - you need to get a wrench on both sides. (Four 5/16ths inch bolts, 1/2" wrench). Both sides are accessible - no need to remove the fan. The fan motor bolts to a plate, the plate bolts to the twin vertical angle iron brackets. The angle iron holes are elongated vertically the plate horizontally. This allows the fan to be centered in a plane. I'll get you a picture.

Well, I finally got to look at it in detail. Sure wish I had known about it last month when I had the floor under the bed out. The two forward bolts are next to impossible to get to without taking the floor out again. I will if I have to.

However, I will first remove one of the accessible bolts to see if there is any slot left. No point in going further if there is not, and I suspect there is not because this looks like it was always this way. The horizontal members of the frame that holds the motor are not perpendicular to the rad, but angling upward a bit. This probably means they used all the slot in production. I shall soon see. Will let you know. If this is the case, they used ALL of their artistic license on that one.

davidbrady · (This post was last modified: 11-01-2013 19:30 by davidbrady.)

I wonder then Ron, if the 12"x1.5"x1.5" angle iron at the base of my radiator is a later addition - post model year 2000. I looked at the LTC-40 Service Parts Catalog and it doesn't show this piece. The function of this piece is to ensure that the horizontal members that you talk about remain perpendicular to the radiator and don't slant upward. It is something that could be added without too much pain. Just what you want to do on an eight hundred thousand dollar coach, right? Smile

cmillsap · 11-01-2013, 20:08

Ron, David,

It may be an Optical Illusion but the pic that Ron posted above appears to show that the vertical members are not exactly perpendicular (90 degrees) to the top bracket. This may have pitched the fan & motor assembly upwards toward the radiator.

Chuck

rrueckwald · 11-02-2013, 09:51

(11-01-2013 20:08)cmillsap Wrote: Ron, David,

It may be an Optical Illusion but the pic that Ron posted above appears to show that the vertical members are not exactly perpendicular (90 degrees) to the top bracket. This may have pitched the fan & motor assembly upwards toward the radiator.

Chuck

Exactly correct, Chuck. That's why I suspect they used all of the vertical adjustment slot in production. I'll find out when it stops raining.

David, I'll take a picture of the lower end. (when it stops raining....)

al perna · 11-02-2013, 10:49

David ,
I was wondering how you removed the rad/cac ? ours was removed from the rear , yours appears to have been removed from the side ??

davidbrady · 11-02-2013, 11:32

Hey Al,

On the LXi you can remove the rad/cac out the back or out the side. Working by myself I found pulling it out the side to be easiest.

You need to lift the rear of the bus a good amount using the HWH landing gear and some cribbing. The radiator/cac assembly needs to be nudged towards the front of the coach to clear some bodywork. To gain enough clearance to do this it helps to unbolt the Hayden cooler and swing it out of the way. Also, I found it expeditious to unbolt the CAC and remove it first followed by the radiator. The inlet of the CAC sits high behind the bus's belt beam. It's futile to try to raise the coach that high; unbolting the CAC and dropping it down solves this problem. I then put a motorcycle jack under the radiator and lowered it enough to clear the belt beam. The radiator with the fan assembly attached can then be extracted from the bus. I unbolted the A-arm brackets from the c-channel frame rails and removed them attached to the radiator and fan assembly. It's not a very hard job but it is heavy and awkward and there's lots of potential for injury so take it slow and be careful! I had the pleasure of removing mine twice. The first time I wasn't happy with the fan balance so I pulled it and did it again! It was a lot easier the second time! Smile