Since its getting hot out in the midwest and across the nation I thought it might be nice to post this fix to your AC Condenser Electric Fan since it saved me about $310.00 or between both my Disco's $620.00.

I've did notice that on my 03' Disco the temp was rising in traffic to about 220. Shortly after this I lost a water pump thinking this was why I was seeing the temp increase.

Now I can't say I heard my electric fans running in some time so I went out and poked them with a screw driver through the grill to see if I could get them to move. They were both completly siezed. I'm guessing they've been this way for a long time. I run external digital temp gauges so I know my engines have been operating within limites.

I search around looking for the Part Number to replace the electric motor. XRacer or RacerX had suggested that a Four Season 35110 motor would work. So I ordered one from Advanced Auto Parts for $71.00 delivered knowing if it didn't work the most I'd be out is $10 buck for shipping. Had some problems with the order and wanted to get the job done so I called O'reilly's and they told me the Siemens VDO brand PM9116(also available from amazone for $63.00) was the same and that they could have me two unit the next day so I placed the order and they met the price of Advanced. The VDO unit looks identical to the stock motor removed and I would suggest these over the others listed. I also ran across thes PN's after the fact on another forum AC Delco - 1580341 / NAPA- BK 6552105 /.

On the install, using a dremel tool and a drum sanding wheel (Pic atached), you'll need to sand off about 1/16" off the back side of the plastic fan hub material because the new motors shaft is a bit shorter and the fan will rub on the shroud if you don't. You'll need to cut the connecters off your old unit and install on the replacement motor. Red and Black are commonly Positive and white and Blue tend to be Negative. If you get the polarity incorrect, the worst case is your fan will spin the wrong way. After you get it wired up make sure the the fan is moving the air toward the engine. If your not sure take a paper towel and see that the fan wants to suck it in. If your motor is sieze you've also blown your #5 40amp fuse located in engine compartment fuse box. From start to finish your looking at about and 1.5 hours on this job.


The fan should kick on when your Air conditioning is on or when your engine is above 212 degrees.

I had called a independant Rover shop before I had a part number for a motor and they didn't know this could be done which I found very odd. They said they just replace the entire unit at $380.00,I think they see easy money. It took me about 20 minutes longer to replace the motor and sand the fan hub vs. a standard replacement.

Hope this helps someone else save some coin for the next Disco issue they face!!!

Cheers,
Rob

 

Great sticky class write up, pix would be great if you have them.



IMHO the Discos are so noisy that owners just don't notice the fan being dead until overheating happens. Maybe that Saturday under hood inspection should include a spin of all the fans...

 

any tricks to removing the grill on a 99-02 Disco?

 

Have an 03'and 04' so I don't know if the grill fastening is he same as your model year. On my grill it is as easy as removing three scrivets which takes about a minute.

 

No tricks, but it's not super straight forward.

Remove the side markers, use a long Phillips #2 to reach the screw holding in the plastic trim under the headlights and pull away, then remove the scrivets at the top of the grill, and remove the grill.

To be honest, the real pain in the *** is going to be the rad fan, as the small screws holding it in tend to snap because of rust. IIRC, they're M5x0.8x20 or 25mm.

 

Yeah you'll want to soak those small #10 bolts holding the fan to the supports in a good penatrating oil for a day or so. I snapped one off but the rest came out. Didn't want to drill out the shank that was left in the nut plate so I used a zip tie to secure it. You'll most likely need to drill the heads off the screws that hold the motor to the shroud as the strip out real easy. You'll just need to purchase some new number #8 screws 10/32 thread I believe.

 

thanks, i looked at the Rave quickly and it did look like a pita, typical LR.

 

Grille isn't a big deal (just the RAVE description makes it sound that way) One screw each side and pop the marker lights out. One screw each side and pop the lower headlight trim out. Two screws at each lower corner of the grille and Three across the top and the grille is out. I second the motion of the rust penetrating oil (Kroil, PB Blaster or something similar, WD40 doesn't do a thing except make a mess)

 

so, 0304disco did this fix your high temps? This is what I did with mine https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...lacment-48525/ But, I am still running to hot. Im wondering if the after market fan blades dont move enough air.

 

Never had a problem with overheating. I would imagin the fan speed and for sure the fan blade design do have a great deal with the volume output of the fan.