abaya

Question: How difficult is it to replace a radiator fan? And how much does the part itself cost, usually?

We just got a used car in Iceland, a 1997 VW Golf, and we had it inspected before we bought it. So I knew there was something wrong with the radiator fan already, but the price was still pretty low. So we figured on a "fixing" budget and went ahead and bought it.

After a few weeks with the car, we go for a 45 minute drive to go hiking. The car overheats after some driving on rough gravel roads, uphill, in 1st gear... we let it cool down while we take the hike, and it's fine on the way home. I take it to the best shop in town, where they do an electrical-systems diagnostic (apparently to test if it was a problem with the relay switch, or with the fan itself). Nothing else is wrong with the car, but the fan itself is broken. They quote me pretty high for the fan (close to five hundred dollars, in the American equivalent), and the labor will be a good hunk of change as well. But I'm free to look elsewhere, since they admit to not having the most competitive prices in town.

So, what I'm wondering is, how difficult is to change a radiator fan on one's own? I'd ask my dad to do it for me, but he's currently about 10 hours away by plane, and not coming to visit for a couple more months. We have tons of road trips ahead. I want to get it fixed, just don't want to pay the money.

I also know the car's clutch is slipping, and it could use a new fan belt. I'm wondering if it's a good idea to have all this work done at the same time, and be done with it? Or if I should just fix the radiator fan, then deal with the other stuff later. Tips? I'm not used to paying mechanics, since my dad fixed everything basically at home... so, looking for recommendations. I'm rather a tomboy, so I don't mind at all getting my hands grubby to fix something if it will save me $500... if possible.

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cyrnel

You don't mention the engine specifics but I see a Golf cooling fan motor (with fan blades) for ~$150 at Rockauto.com.

It's probably an easy fix but I haven't worked on that line. Sometimes the worst part is accessibility. Sometimes it means removing radiators or body parts to get to the fan. Take a look and see if the fan is stand-alone. Most electric fans are simple.

The belt should be extremely simple. You might want to take a snapshot of how it's routed between pulleys before taking things apart.

The clutch is almost certainly not something you want to do yourself, not without experienced help anyway.

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abaya

Thanks, Cyrnel. No, there is no way in hell I would attempt a clutch change, absolutely not. A fan belt, I think I could manage... the fan, I need to look into.

I can see the fan clearly when I open the hood, I just look straight down and it's all there... that's why I wonder if I can do it myself. Doesn't seem to be difficult to get to, but what do I know. Engine is 1.6L. $150, that would translate into about $300 here in Iceland. Which is still half of what they are charging me for the part itself.

I was just wondering about the clutch and fan belt, in case I should have them all done at the same time... if that's more cost-efficient (in terms of seeing a mechanic) than isolating each thing and having it fixed as it breaks.

How does one know when the fan belt is getting too worn to be safe?

And clutch? Any telltale signs there, of how bad it's getting?

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Update, July 18th: I found a one-man mechanic shop nearby in Iceland, and he's willing to do the fan installation for pretty cheap ($75 an hour, about half the price of the big-time shop in town). Which is great, since it should only take about one hour, and he can do it this week (the big shop had no openings for a month).

Also, found a VW parts shop and they have the cooling fan motor for about $130, not bad at all I say. So this is turning out to be much cheaper than I expected. I just hope the one-man mechanic shop will do a good job... no way of knowing, but I think he'd do a better job than I could do.

Now, just to figure out about the fan belt and clutch... how do I know when those are about to go??

__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran

TheCrumblenaut

If you know the fan belt hasn't been replaced before I'd recommend having the mechanic doing it at the same time you replace the fan, otherwise you'll just be redoing the same job again, might as well save yourself the trouble while you have the chance. As for the clutch, it's tough to describe the feeling, but you'll begin to feel it slipping as you're shifting (much more noticeable under harder acceleration). If you still feel a lot of grip I wouldn't worry too much about the clutch, the 1.6L doesn't have too much power, so unless you're thrashing on the car (or it's very high in the miles) you should be ok. As a reference, I have a VR6 with 129k miles, the engine was rebuilt around ~113k and the clutch inspected then, it looked nearly new so it wasn't replaced.