The Rickman Ranger (MKII 1300 MkII Escort based jeep style kitcar) has been unused for a few months and as typical the engine starts first time but the Kenlowe fan doesn't.
I think this would have been the second one in there, the first failing under similar circumstances (unused for a while).
I've spoken to Kenlowe c/s and a very nice man tells me he can still supply a replacement fan motor but it will be 80 notes delivered ;-(
Soooo, before I splash the cash, has anyone opened one of these 'sealed' motors and can tell me what goes wrong with them and therefore could I salvage it do you think please (I have more time than money atm and am a reasonably good 'old school' engineer).
Same as any motor, they seize up the bearings and the armature gets coated in crud and the brushes stick, so rip it to pieces and have a look, you have nothing to lose. If it is turning freely then power it up and give a good whack and a manual spin, it may start up, rather than spend good money, just go to a scrappie and buy a suitable looking one from something modern, almost everything has them now, about ten to twenty quid should do it. I have a big heap of electric fans, just in case, off various things if you are in Essex.
Ok, well if it's worth a go then I will thanks (I have to drop the rad out and wasn't going to bother till the new one arrived if it wasn't worth a go)
It wasn't (seized solid) but with a bit of gentle assistance / working back and forth it at least goes round and actually 'tries' to run under it's own steam (I shorted the contacts from the thermal switch).
I did consider that but it's all a bit tight in there I'm not really in the mood / position to do anything major on it at the moment (If I fit anything thicker than the Kenlowe I'll have to move the rad back towards the engine and start playing with hoses etc etc).
Well thanks very much for the offer and I may well take you up on it (I'm in Herts) but I'll do as you suggest and try the strip / clean out first. (I did that recently on our AEG washing machine motor (it was tripping the CU) and saved myself £100+! ) ;-)
I've stripped this KLM1708 motor down now and it is absolutely full of rust (both the rotor and commentator areas). ;-(
I don't know how it could get like this because it is (or should be) pretty well sealed and the cable entry was facing down as the label suggests.
Having said that I had marked it and it looks like it was either the one we fitted when we first built the car or I swapped it out in 1991 (so 18 years can't be bad either way I suppose)! ;-)
Sooo, I can either buy something 'else' (for under 80 quid new you suggest Conor?) and possibly have issues re fitting (there really is no room in there as it all stands) or buy the same again (just the motor, the fan is ok) and just wack it back in again, knowing it will all just 'work'?
Hi Tim, are you sure the motor is getting a supply or is there a fault in the fan control circuit? Have you disconnected the fan feed and tried a direct 12v feed or at least checked the voltage getting to the fan ?
Hmm, well this was what I got from Kenlowe for a replacement motor today ..
PRICE £58.25 + £9.90 P&P + VAT = £80.07
I am checking what sort of trade discount I can swing (it could be considered 'old stock' so we will see.
I've found a link to Spal fans and they do a complete rad mounted kit for less than the price of the Kenlowe motor and have 'hermetically sealed motors' which judging by the rust in this Kenlowe KLM 1708 model it isn't?
Yep, a later design Kenlowe was £120 or so he said.
Nothing on there at the moment and I need to get it MOT'd by the end of the month (for road TAX). ;-(
The Kenlowe has a 5" diameter pancake motor driving a 12", 'rimmed' fan. Because it's a bit bigger than the core size of the Escort rad I fabricated a bracket (17+ years ago) to carry the fan just behind the front grille and a couple of mill off the rad header / lower tank.
A smaller (< 260mm) 'blower' Spal (255 mm dia actually) should fit onto the rad cores itself so I can do away with the bracket and it should be more efficient.
The fan is triggered by a Fiesta fan switch set into a thermostat housing I modified (turned a threaded mating collar to take the switch and ally welded it into a new 'opened up' thermostat housing) and switched by a fuse protected relay. In the 17+ years I think I've replaced the thermal switch once but I think this is the second the Kenlowe (they seem to seize up if left unused for a while?
The next job is to sort the white spoke wheels where on a couple the paint must be flaking off inside and causing leaks .. ;-(
Because is hasn't been used for a while the two rear tyres have sat 'soft' and I will probably replace them. Finding 185R14 'Mud n Snow' (or 'off road pattern) tyres isn't that easy (at the right price anyway) ..
When I first started and let the car run I gave the fan a quick spin because I'm used to finding it seized if left for a while. It was at that point I discovered that this time it was seized badly. I disconnected the fan switch connections so it didn't try to 'drive' a seized fan.
I have since removed the whole motor / fan / bracket assembly from the car, stripped it right down and found the 'sealed' motor completely full of rust (brushes / comm in good nick though). Ok, it had 1991 on it so I'm not complaining but I think that was my second Kenlowe so might try something else (and probably cheaper) this time.
Funny enough we had a Rickman but the larger Space Ranger. That was converted to Diesel via an old Ford P100 engine and gearbox. For simplicity I opted to use a standard Ford electric fan and top hose (that had a built in thermo switch) to activate the fan. You must have quite a bit of room between the rad and the front of the engine (or even in front of the rad and grill) so a visit to the local scrap yard should give you a cheap replacement although of course you would have to manufacture the appropriate brackets unless the Kenlow support bars could be used.
I know it and had I had a choice may well have got one. We picked our std Ranger (as a van) as an un started project and save a few hundred quid ;-)
The 2L Pinto out of my Sierra was set-aside for transplanting into the Ranger but as it's not being used much at the moment it would just cost more to have sitting there (TAX / Insurance etc).
Sounds a good solution ..
Rad and engine, space I was reserving for the Pinto? The Kenlowe fan is quite thin and the fan motor isn't far from the grille (10mm?) and the fan itself is very close to the rad (2mm).
Well, that's what I would have done first thing a few years ago but 1) most of the local scrap yards have long since gone and 2) those that are left seem limited to fairly late stuff or a single make (and / or are expensive)?
They were my support bars but yes I'd be happy to mod stuff it I had the time to do it all (impending MOT). Once through the MOT I can play away but I've got another 100 things I *really* should do first ;-(
My Ranger has a Citroen BX fan mounted in front of the rad, it fits perfectly & blows a gale when it comes on, cools the injected Pinto from 100 down to 80 in about 30 sec when stationary.
You might get more ideas by posting on the Owner's club forum at "
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