Yes, the later four-blade fans are notorious for throwing blades.
I lost a blade 12 years ago traveling on the freeway. It lodged half-way
thru the hood, then fell out and landed on a frame rail, where I found it
later.
A friend repaired the bonnet, and I replaced the fan with another four-blade.
One year later, while turning close to 5000rpm on the freeway on my way to
SUNI II in Wisconsin, another blade came off. BAM!!!!!! As I coasted to the
side of the freeway, I realized I'd heard that sound before. I sat up high,
looking over the bonnet. Sure enough, there they were again: those metallic
Mick Jagger-lips protruding from the bonnet. The hole was in EXACTLY the
same spot as the first one, not a quarter inch off.
I found a local Alpine owner in Idaho who gave me an extra 6-blade early
Series fan. It's been on the car ever since. The 2nd hole in the bonnet has
never been repaired. It would only invite disaster.
Dick Sanders
Kent
In a message dated 7/25/2005 11:20:04 PM Pacific Standard Time,
lehtinen.lauri@kolumbus.fi writes:
Have anyone else had a fan blade flying and making a hole into hood?
My 4-blade fan lost one of its blades, and it made a cut into radiator
steel and cut a big hole into hood. Then it flew upwards and fell into
street behind me. I was just gearing from 1st to 2nd (5000 rpm??) when
it broke.
There was an old, lightly rusted crack, but most of the failure was
brand new. When I took off the rest of fan, engine feel more smooth than
earlier. I will switch to electric fan, specially when the original was
inefficient in traffic jams.
Larry Leaflet
Helsinki
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