Greetings!

I wanted to get some advice regarding the installation of a replacement fan shroud.

Since my radiator was leaking and the shroud had a gaping hole in it, I decided to replace the shroud at the same time I was replacing the radiator.

I got the old shroud out by slowly angling it around the fan and rotating the fan a bit when needed. I figured that I could kind of go in the reverse direction to get the replacement shroud in place and over the fan. Man, I have spent at least two hours unsuccessfully trying to get things to work. It seems that as I angle the shroud down, edges of it keep bumping into other parts of the car. I have not been able to successfully manuever the shroud in order to get the edges to turn the corners.

Common sense tells me that if I got the old shroud out, I should be able to do the reverse to get the replacement one in. Since I did not remove the radiator support to get the old shroud out I did not think that I would have to remove it to get the replacement shroud in. I am quite sure that this is "user error" on my part. Is my logic flawed here?

Let me know what you think please.

Eddie

PS - there is a condensor attached to the radiator support.

 

On my 79 I've had the shroud out several times, and never had to loosen the radiator support. Acutally, now that I think of it, I never had the shroud out without the radiator out first, and then the shroud went back in before the radiator.

 

Hey C3,

I did exactly what you mentioned during the removal process. I unloosened the shroud first. Then pushed it up a bit towards the rear of the car. That gave me enough room to get the radiator out fairly easily.

Just came back in from the garage. Still having problems with the getting the shroud back in. Although the old shrould was put into the trash yesterday, I did previously check it against the replacement one. They appeared to be the same.

Is it feasible to:

(1) remove the fan,
(2) drop the shroud down in the cavity, and
(3) rebolt the fan back up into place while the shroud is just hanging down?

I cannot tell for certain if too much of the shroud would be in the way when I tried to bolt the fan back up. But I believe this would solve the trick.

 

I hate to say it, but I bet you're not going to get the shroud in with the radiator in place. With the radiator removed, it's a non issue. I remember trying to take the shroud out with the radiator in place, and it wasn't happening.

 

Remove the fan. With the radiator out, place the shroud in the vehicle and pull back as far as it will go. Install the radiator. Bolt up the shroud and be sure you place the shroud bottom inside the radiator support with the retainer clips holding the bottom of the shroud. You can then re-install the fan without any problem.

 

Thanks to you both. I figured that I was going to have to remove the fan.

C3 - I do have the radiator out. And you are definitely correct about not being able to get the shroud in with the radiator still in.

I will get back on this after running some errands. I will let you know how I make out.

Eddie

 

Okay; unbolting the fan did the trick. I have the replacement shroud and radiator in their locations now. It is just a matter of bolting things back up.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

Eddie

 

Careful with the fan. I usually bang a knuckle or two on those.