Originally Posted by RicketyTick

(no disrespect to you or your son but when I was a chap I would do nascar victory lane burnouts in my pops 60's corvettes so, unless teenagers have changed...?)

Originally Posted by Jared9220

how are you planning on testing the engine with the MAF destroyed?

Originally Posted by potxoli

Hi Everyone,

my 2001 disco decided to celebrate our 1 anniversary of ownership by having the fan explode into bits in the engine bay. My son was driving the car at the time, he said he was at full throttle accelerating trying to merge when he heard a loud explosion and the hood seemed to want to pop up. He immediately pulled over and saw there was oil and water everywhere on the ground. We had the car towed back to the house.

I took the pics below to show the carnage. The fan blades took out the MAF, the thermostat and cooling hoses, and poked a nice gash in the oil filter which explains why the oil leaked out of the car.

Here are my questions that I could use some help with:

1- Does the repair seem like something I could DIY or should I go to the mechanic? I am reasonably handy, but this is larger in scope than anything I have attempted.
2- It feels like damage is not too bad, but do you think it might not be fixable or permanent damage was done? My son said it took him 30 seconds to pull over, so the car ran a bit before the engine stopped. Since the oil leak is from the filer, I figure there would be enough oil left not to cause block damage or something, but it would suck to order all the parts just to find out something permanent had happened to the engine. Should I change the oil/filter and run the engine with no coolant for a few seconds just to make sure it cranks and starts? Thoughts?
3- Any idea why this happened? Is there a better fan unit, maybe a metal one so it does not happen again?
4- The coolant hoses look ok upon inspection, but I'm wondering if I should replace them all. Probably safer? Is there a hose kit/thermostat that is recommended as an upgrade?
5- the plastic shroud protection around the fan that also surround the sides of the radiator is in shambles. Total loss. Is this part necessary? It seems it is there for safety, but has no functional role. I'm wondering if I should skip ordering it.
6- MAF was Bosch and brand new. Connector is toast, but perhaps there is a way to salvage it?
7- Finally, anything else I should be looking for or considering at this point that I might not have spotted?

Thanks for the help!

-Eric

Originally Posted by RicketyTick

From post #2 :

"Change only the filter, check oil level and fire it up. If no knocks, fix it. Will run rough or hard to start without MAF. But, this is doable, IF, he stopped immediately.
"

The member that posted that has alot of years with rovers so, he could be right? I've never tried it but, sounds like he has. But when you do try to start it without the maf, I would make sure none of the bare wires on the maf sensor lead or any other wires that may have got damaged are touching each other.

Also remember potxoli, you will have to take the belt off to check the water pump shaft for play. If you haven't done that already.

AND draw yourself a diagram of exactly how the belt is routed before you take it off.... easy to put back on with wrong route.

Originally Posted by potxoli

When I first got the truck, it had a persistent MAF check engine light. The MAF was some crappy chinese version. Truck ran rough and seemed to not pull at all. But it worked fine, meaning it started and got me from point A to point B. Bought a bosch and check engine light went away and truck ran much better.

My understanding of fuel injection is that the DME has a "default" MAF map that covers normal conditions. The MAF sensor provides a feedback loop and the MAF map is altered realtime based on the feedback. In absence of the feedback loop, DME's default back to the built in map.

I think that is right, but I am just an enthusiast, (computer programmer by trade), so I might be completely wrong.