cooling fan motor snap ring

The passenger side radiator cooling fan on my 1995 Accord was rattling badly, so I took it off, and removed the fan blade. There is a tiny snap ring that keeps the motor shaft for the fan blade centered on a series of washers. This tiny snap ring has broken off.

Is this ring available as a part? I am having trouble finding it. I will call the dealership tomorrow, but I was hoping that someone here has some prior experience with this.

Also, is this the A/C cooling fan or the primary one?

Thanks,

Pat

Reply to
pws
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Actually, I am pretty sure that this is the A/C fan, but I am wondering if I can drive the car (with the A/C off) to go get my parts without causing additional problems.

This is, or was, my only working car right now.

Thanks!

Pat

Reply to
pws

pws wrote in news:i6ikg3$k41$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

That's the rad fan. So long as you're never in heavy, stop-and-go traffic, you can get along without it just fine. Just watch the temperature gauge carefully when at lights.

If the snap ring isn't available from the dealer, you can get a whole fan motor from the wreckers very cheaply.

Reply to
Tegger

Can you post a pic of the broken ring?

Reply to
Airport Shuttle

Thanks Tegger, I will let you know what I end up doing.

Reply to
pws

There was only a small sliver of metal left in the receiving groove for the snap ring, most of it must have fallen away when it broke off. I cleared the rest of it out in case I can fit a new snap/retaining ring on the original fan motor shaft.

I have a cooling fan assembly from a 1991 Mazda that is nearly identical in appearance, using a snap ring on the fan shaft and it even mounts to the shroud in exactly the same way using three bolts.

The snap ring on the Mazda motor is a very standard looking thing, just very small, but it is too big to fit the Honda motor. Compared to the Mazda unit, the Honda uses a larger fan motor with a smaller fan shaft.

Reply to
pws

Just for the information pool. No radiator cooling fan snap/retaining ring is available from Honda dealership, and a new radiator cooling fan assembly for the '95 Accord is $441.00 for me locally.

I went to the hardware store and found a snap ring that fits. Upon closer inspection, the thickest washer was trashed, but the washer from the Mazda motor was the correct size, as the fan blade shafts are the same size where the washers are located. I used this washer, put it all together, and it spins nicely with no more wobble and no more excessive noise.

We'll see if it holds. The repair attempt was only 80 cents plus my time and a donor Mazda fan motor that I already owned. Since I am broke right now, that means a lot.

If it comes loose, I will buy a new fan motor at that time. The salvage yard wants $119.00, and there is an aftermarket unit for $61.00 shipped, but I am hoping that this repair holds out.

Pat

Reply to
pws

The snap ring that I am referring to looks exactly like this one, and is about 1/4" in size.

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Pat

Reply to
pws

That's a standard retaining ring available at any hardware store.

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Reply to
Howard Beale

Most snap rings are standard and can be had from almost any hardware store or someplace like mcmastercar.com

Reply to
Stewart

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