Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Engine Cooling Fan Recall Question

I have a '96 V6 built in Sept. '95 (Kansas City Plant). From what I understand, I have the bad cooling fan motors that are subject to bearing failure, overheating, fire, etc.

My fans are working fine & Ford will only do the fuse fix under the recall.

All this does is protect the wiring harness from too much current draw if the fans overheat, thus preventing a fire, right?

That still leaves me w/fan motors that are probably going to eventually fail, just hopefully not cause a fire in the wiring. That's unacceptable, as I don't want to have to worry all of the time that I'm going to lose my cooling fan(s). Should I just replace the whole fan unit myself (assuming the new units are improved???) since Ford won't?

Yeah this is a pretty crappy fix by Ford. It's even crappier that the NTSB/HTSA lets them get away with it. To me this would be like Ford mailing tire guages to all those Explorer owners instead of replacing the tires. I'm not pannicking about it. I simply give my fans a spin once a week and see how they feel and sound. All's good so far. If you do this make sure the engine is dead cold and off.

I wouldn't recommend replacing the twin fans unless they are bad. Mine lasted until July 12, 2001 (yes, last year). The mileage on my car when I had them replaced was 145,444 miles. If you only have 43,000 miles, you have another 100,000 miles to go before the motor to the fans go. Ford won't fix anything unless it's broken (unfortunately).

Thanks for your input!

But haven't some folks had their fans burn up at pretty low milage?

I have to be able to depend on my car...my work requires being far from home sometimes...I don't want to get stranded.

I know the fan unit is expensive.

There are two recalls involved. One of them installs the fuses as a safety issue and was mandated by the Feds. The other provides for an extension of the warranty on the fans whould they fail. The second recall is not a federally madated one since there is no longer a safety issue once the fuses are installed.

On the first recall, there is also an inspecion of the fans. There were two styles used during that time from two different vendors. One of them is trouble free and the other one could be a problem.

To better understand what is going on, ask your dealer to run OASIS for you to see what recalls are there. If you like, post your VIN and someone here will probably run it for you. Then ask the dealer to let you see the recall instructions. Once you understand what the instructions say, you should be able to rest easier.

Mine lasted till about 48K miles and caught fire. This happened before the recall. The dealer was nice and replaced the fan assembly with the new type for no charge. Ford is still mailing me recalls to add the fuse. :rolleyes:
The high heat and traffic may have something to do with how long they last....