Hey all, first time poster here so if I say something incorrect or dumb, please forgive. I have a 2003 DII with about 50k miles on it. Just recently, my wife called and sure enough, the temp light was red. Luckily she was at home so I told her to turn it off since it hadn't even warmed up yet, and when I checked (within 2 weeks of the prior fluid check), there wasn't a drop of coolant to be found. So, I had that fixed along with the reservoir and cap, timing mechanism and a leaking gasket (1200 in all) ugh.

Anywho, they wanted to fix the fan. I called the service dept guy and told him that about every 10 seconds, the rover would make a small, 1 second vibration, almost like if you took the sharp buzzer sound out of a buzzer (if that makes sense). It would only last like I said one second or so. The tech was able to reproduce it since it happened during idle. I didn't notice it when driving however (maybe road noise covered it).

So, they did a full body check on the rover and sure enough, one blade of the viscous fan (right in front of the engine when you open the hood), looked like a kukuri knife instead of the machete shape. He said that was the reason for the vibration. Can anyone confirm or deny this, and, is having a small chunk out of the fan a necessity to replace? dealership wanted 295 for the fan and i found it, clutch and all (since apparently 2003-2004 discos have a 1 piece viscous fan instead of the earlier discos where you can separate the clutch from the blades).

Any help would be appreciated such as if this could be the cause, or if there are other things to check for.

 

oh, if it matters, it is an SE model with just about everything stock right now.

 

A fan missing a piece is going to be out of balance, it will cause problems.
http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/PGG000080G.cfm

 

doesnt sound like that would cause it, but a chunk missing from the fan is NEVER good.. Replace it yourself, stop throwing away money at the dealer.

You could have saved yourself a lot here, and what the heck is a timing mechanism? why did they need to fix it?

 

Just buy a new fan and clutch off of e-bay and replace it yourself.
its a 15 min job.
Just do NOT run the engine until it is replaced because you will ruin the water pump.
Or buy from www.atlanticbritish.com
If you order it tonight and have FedEx 2day it you will have it by Sat.
In the mean time go buy a 36mm combination wrench from Harbor Freight.
Take the wrench and a hammer to the fan clutch, there is a nut on the back of the fan.
Whack the wrench with a hammer to the left (pass side) and loosen the nut.
Unscrew it and remove.

Go to the DI tech section and read up on the fan clutch thread.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2000-...#ht_1548wt_957

get it for 50$

 

Wrong part, that's for a 1999-2002, the 2003-2004 does not have the ring around the fan blades.
Just get a new one, the viscous clutches give in and do you really want to put on and old part?

 

all, thanks for the comments, however i believe the ebay link was incorrect. that was only for the fan, and after checking, my fan does not have the circular guard around it. the only one i've found so far was at http://www.roverlandparts.com/2003-2...fanblades.aspx which is still 50% (not including labor) less than the dealership. anyway, thanks for the feedback, i'll be ordering later today and hopefully have it this weekend.

 

Roverland sells used parts - just so you are 100% aware of that.

 

Ha, mine has had a big chunk out of one of the blades for years now and it does not affect anything, no vibes, nothing.