1990 Toyota 4Runner 3-VZE Radiator fan collapse
09-01-2003, 07:55 PM
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1990 Toyota 4Runner 3-VZE Radiator fan collapse
Well, ladies and gentlemen, the **** has finally hit the fan for me, literally. More precisely, the fan probably hit the ****. Here is what happened. Once you read it, your thoughts on what might have caused it and pointers in the direction I should look for a problem would be greatly appreciated.
I was merging into an interstate in my 1990 4Runner with stock 3.0 V6, the one with clutch fan, that has an outer rim around the fan blades. As I hit the accelerator to pass a truck, and the RPM jumped from 2500 to around 4500, I heard a loud bang under the hood, and, glancing in my rear view mirror, I saw pieces of something or other bouncing on the highway. The engine was stopped and the whole dashboard lit up like a christmas tree.
My first thought, predictably, was ***t. My second thought was, did my engine just seize? I coasted over to a shoulder, and popped the hood. The damage was obvious; There was no fan shroud left, except very small pieces. The radiator fan itself was also severely damaged: the outer rim that goes around the tips of the blades was entirely destroyed. There was not a piece of it left larger than an inch. Radiator hoses were punctured by debris, and spewing hot fluid. Alternator belt was off the pulleys.
I was in a rush, so I got all the loose pieces out the best I could. I jumped back in, started the engine and slowly crawled back home, which was luckily not too far.
Just yesterday, I finished repairing most of the damage. I am able to drive the car just fine, minus the fan shroud and the fan outer rim (the blades themselves are intact except around the edges where the rim broke off) However, the cause of all this is still a mystery. I was unable to find the point of impact inside of the vehicle. I have formed several theories.
1) The radiator fan hit some part of the vehicle under the hood that was loose, or the fan itself was loose; I tried to look for what it might have hit, but was unable to find anything. There is slight play in the fan now, certainly not enough to make it hit anything. I do not know if the play was there before or if it has resulted from the impact. It seems unlikely that this is what happened. If it had hit the shroud, it also seems unlikely that the damage would have been this severe, considering that the shroud was made out of thin brittle plastic.
2) When I accelerated, the entire engine shifted enough due to possibly loose engine mounts, making the fan impact some part of the vehicle. Again, I was unable to determine if that's what happened. The mounts would have to be awfully loose for the fan to, say, strike the hood. The mounts do not appear to be loose, but I did not really torture the truck to see if I can get the engine to shift significantly. Is this worthy of investigation?
3) The fan has collapsed itself due to cracks; Unlikely? Never seen it happen.. even if outer rim had cracks, shouldnt there be bigger pieces? and then.. what about the fan shroud, how did that get entirely shredded?
4) The fan was hit by a foreign object, or the fan shroud; Seems unlikely, what could possibly have gotten under the hood; the shroud was not sturdy enough to cause this kind of damage by itself.
What seems the most ominous, is that it happened in the exact moment the RPM jumped as I accelerated. I am not concerned about the fan, but about the underlying reasons for this incident. I am now wondering if my engine is loose, haha. So far, I am driving the truck but avoiding sharp jumps in RPM and it seems fine. But I want to find the problem before it happens again and before more damage is done.
Any ideas and comments would be appreciated!
Incidently, I am being pushed in the direction of electric fan, now that my original fan is in pieces.
I was merging into an interstate in my 1990 4Runner with stock 3.0 V6, the one with clutch fan, that has an outer rim around the fan blades. As I hit the accelerator to pass a truck, and the RPM jumped from 2500 to around 4500, I heard a loud bang under the hood, and, glancing in my rear view mirror, I saw pieces of something or other bouncing on the highway. The engine was stopped and the whole dashboard lit up like a christmas tree.
My first thought, predictably, was ***t. My second thought was, did my engine just seize? I coasted over to a shoulder, and popped the hood. The damage was obvious; There was no fan shroud left, except very small pieces. The radiator fan itself was also severely damaged: the outer rim that goes around the tips of the blades was entirely destroyed. There was not a piece of it left larger than an inch. Radiator hoses were punctured by debris, and spewing hot fluid. Alternator belt was off the pulleys.
I was in a rush, so I got all the loose pieces out the best I could. I jumped back in, started the engine and slowly crawled back home, which was luckily not too far.
Just yesterday, I finished repairing most of the damage. I am able to drive the car just fine, minus the fan shroud and the fan outer rim (the blades themselves are intact except around the edges where the rim broke off) However, the cause of all this is still a mystery. I was unable to find the point of impact inside of the vehicle. I have formed several theories.
1) The radiator fan hit some part of the vehicle under the hood that was loose, or the fan itself was loose; I tried to look for what it might have hit, but was unable to find anything. There is slight play in the fan now, certainly not enough to make it hit anything. I do not know if the play was there before or if it has resulted from the impact. It seems unlikely that this is what happened. If it had hit the shroud, it also seems unlikely that the damage would have been this severe, considering that the shroud was made out of thin brittle plastic.
2) When I accelerated, the entire engine shifted enough due to possibly loose engine mounts, making the fan impact some part of the vehicle. Again, I was unable to determine if that's what happened. The mounts would have to be awfully loose for the fan to, say, strike the hood. The mounts do not appear to be loose, but I did not really torture the truck to see if I can get the engine to shift significantly. Is this worthy of investigation?
3) The fan has collapsed itself due to cracks; Unlikely? Never seen it happen.. even if outer rim had cracks, shouldnt there be bigger pieces? and then.. what about the fan shroud, how did that get entirely shredded?
4) The fan was hit by a foreign object, or the fan shroud; Seems unlikely, what could possibly have gotten under the hood; the shroud was not sturdy enough to cause this kind of damage by itself.
What seems the most ominous, is that it happened in the exact moment the RPM jumped as I accelerated. I am not concerned about the fan, but about the underlying reasons for this incident. I am now wondering if my engine is loose, haha. So far, I am driving the truck but avoiding sharp jumps in RPM and it seems fine. But I want to find the problem before it happens again and before more damage is done.
Any ideas and comments would be appreciated!
Incidently, I am being pushed in the direction of electric fan, now that my original fan is in pieces.
09-01-2003, 08:04 PM
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Maybe the shroud was cracked and finally gave away, and was decimated by the fan.
Consider what happened a good thing. Now you have an excuse to go electric. You won't regret it.
Consider what happened a good thing. Now you have an excuse to go electric. You won't regret it.
09-01-2003, 09:58 PM
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DOODE! i have a 3.slow too and i noticed the other day that my fan shroud was falling apart! it dangles from a few points that are left intact. the rest of the spots where the screw goes thru is cracked, so i can even zip tie it or nething. i better fix it before it turns out like yours! but yeh... maybe they should do a recall on the fan shroud too! LOL hahahahha
09-02-2003, 08:30 AM
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I suspect that the bearing in the fan bracket failed causing the the shaft that the fan is mounted on to wobble and thereby causing the crash with the fan shroud. At least that is similar to what happened to my 90 V6. Luckily for me, it did not cause any damage to the radiator but the fan belt snapped from the excessive wobble of the pulley so I had to have it towed home. Apparently, there is a defect in the design of the first 3VZE fans (too heavy) which cause the fan bracket bearings to fail. You'll notice that the newer 3VZE's have a fan without the outer ring on them. I'd suggest you replace yours with one of those regardless of the culprit of the problem.
Last edited by emr88; 09-02-2003 at 08:33 AM.
09-02-2003, 08:35 AM
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i just called toyota for the parts.... new fan: $105! new shroud: $94! OMG. its a freaking piece of plastic! 
i called my local parts shop too that sells non yota parts, and they dont have them! ACK!:cry:
i called my local parts shop too that sells non yota parts, and they dont have them! ACK!:cry:
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11-24-2008, 11:35 AM
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The same thing happened to me in my 90. but I got lucky, the fan hit the radiator which I was able to fix, but have to buy new fan an power steering hose. but the whole problem is just from the fan itself prob getting to old then small stress cracks turn into huge stress cracks then finally brake apart kinda like an airplane prob. parts aint cheep but you can find them at a junk yard
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