What a crappy day! (radiator fan/motor went up)

[ctrlraven]

Day starts out decent besides having to do 3.5 hrs worth of work in a 2 hr span. Got past all that and had to run some errands for my mom and myself. So I'm driving alone and had just gotten off the phone with my wife and looked down at my temp gauge :eek: the needle was pointing at 30 mph so I find a clear spot to pull over to park and let the car pull off. I was just thinking it was some air bubbles that finally decided to show their faces after changing out my thermostat right before MMV (which I had no overheating problems at all during the event). I sat for about 45 mins and then turned the key to the on position to check the temp and it was reading normal point (18 mph). I started the car up and within 5 seconds I heard this god awful grinding sound and turn the car right back off. Was starting to get really worried now that something was wrong. Waited another 15 mins and turned the car back on and the sound was still there and I noticed it was coming from the radiator fan. Dropped the hood and made the choice of to keep driving it. Luckily enough I had mostly highway driving (40 miles or so) to do so if the fan was going to act up I knew at least at highway speeds it would help cool off. Went and did the things I had to go do, temp stayed just at 20 mph the whole time until I got into the city and had stop and go traffic which the temp would move slightly up and then back down. I knew I had to get it to a local L/M dealer and that's what I did. Three hours later and $648.21 later I had a brand new radiator fan and motor assembly installed because mine was completely fried and their was also a broken fan tip. I was really hoping my extended FMC warranty would have included this but from the service person told me it didn't :mad2:. The service person did bring out the old fan assembly to show me and sure enough their was a blade missing and it smelt totally burnt.

Has anyone else had to replace this thing? It doesn't come in pieces, it's all one unit that is $437.11 and the labor was $173.86 which for almost 3 hrs of work I can deal with. Can anyone check with my vin number what warranty I have and what it covers?

[Shora]

Do you have a Ford ESP warranty or an after market warranty. IF you have a Ford ESP you can call Ford, give them your Vin and they will tell you if said item is covered under your warranty.

The labor charges don't seem way too high but why would it take a certified tech 3 hours to change a fan assembly? To me, it seems like one hour of work is about right.

[MACFORD88]

What Warranty Do You Have?esp Has Basic Care,extra Care And The Veary Good One Premiumcare.

[ctrlraven]

Yes I did get a Ford ESP, I got it at the time of purchases with the car from a L/M dealer. It was a 4yr/48k mile warranty that cost me $1600-1700, I just can't remember if it was the basic (which for the price I know it's not) or the middle or top one they offered. I want to say I have the Extra Care one or maybe the Premium Care, though I'm leaning towards the Extra Care to be the one I got.

Shora, do you know what number I should call to check this out.

The dealership had the car for 3hrs but put the time in and time out at 2 hrs which puts their labor per hr at almost $90.

[ctrlraven]

I went on Ford's page about ESP and in the Extra Care plan it covers the Radiator Fan Motor or Clutch. I know for sure the motor was toast because of the smell and before I got to the dealership I could keep hearing the relay clicking and the awful sound the fan was making stopped and once at the dealership I popped the hood and the fan was not moving at all but the relay was still trying to kick it on.

[Shora]

I went on Ford's page about ESP and in the Extra Care plan it covers the Radiator Fan Motor or Clutch. I know for sure the motor was toast because of the smell and before I got to the dealership I could keep hearing the relay clicking and the awful sound the fan was making stopped and once at the dealership I popped the hood and the fan was not moving at all but the relay was still trying to kick it on.

Well, you need to call Ford with your vin and make SURE that you have the Extra Care ESP or Premium Care. They will even tell you over the phone if said item is covered on your current plan. If so, there is a service manager that needs to hear from you.

Can you not just check your paper work and see what plan you have? You should have received a package when you enrolled in the ESP program.

Also, for $1,600-$1,700 you better have received the ESP Extra/ Premium Care or you way over paid for the basic.

[larryo340]

The cooling fan is covered by both Extracare and Premiumcare. If the dealer charged you $1,600 or $1,700 for a Basecare warranty then unfortunetly you got taken.

check here and click on the folder tabs:
http://www.fordwarrantys.com/extraCare.cfm

Are you sure it was a FORD warranty? If you do have Extracare or Premiumcare call FORD and demand a refund for what you paid. They should refund it.
1-800-392-FORD

[Blackened300a]

Has anyone else had to replace this thing? It doesn't come in pieces, it's all one unit that is $437.11 and the labor was $173.86 which for almost 3 hrs of work I can deal with. Can anyone check with my vin number what warranty I have and what it covers?

I hate to tell you this but I had to remove my fan assembly to install my waterpump and it tool all of 3 minutes to remove the coolant and power steering reservoir's then its only one bolt on each side of the fan assembly, with them removed you pop the bottom coolant hose out of the holder, unplug the connector and slide the assembly up and out.
If they took 3 hours to do that, I wonder what the labor charge would be to rotate the tires?

Very costly repair bill but at least no harm to the engine.

[RoyLPita]

PM me the VIN. I'll run it for you again.

[Bluerauder]

Three hours later and $648.21 later I had a brand new radiator fan and motor assembly installed because mine was completely fried and their was also a broken fan tip. I was really hoping my extended FMC warranty would have included this but from the service person told me it didn't :mad2:.
Sorry to hear about your troubles, Chris. :( The FORD ESP should have covered this. Sounds like they are playing the "Claim Game" that has become so prevalent in the insurance industry at large. In the Claim Game, the very first step is to deny the claim without even checking the details. Some health care organizations have entire divisions with hundreds of people that do nothing all day but deny claims without any basis at all. I am sure that the service plans have similar processes. They do this because they know that 15-20% of people will never bother to counter-claim. For them, that is money in the bank that they don't have to pay out. Time to pull out your ESP plan and stand on the service manager's desk until you get a full refund. You are probably also entitled to interest on that money for the couple days that they had your money and you didn't. Maybe just settle for a free oil change or 6 Quarts of oil to do your own. :D

Per Blackened300a's comments about labor time ... it doesn't matter how long the actual time for the MM fan motor really is. Most if not all service departments have a book of labor times based on the typical time to replace the item on any type of vehicle. They bill to these times ... not to clock hours. I tend to believe that these book times are skewed toward the high end to offset inexperienced mechanics. And, no matter what the problem is ... you start off with a 1 hour diagnostic fee ... even if the problem is clearly visible from 25 feet away. It seems that labor is very padded on jobs such as these to make up for the "under-allocations" for oil changes and tires. Young and inexperienced mechanics can lose their "a$$" if they are only doing oil changes and tires. JMHO.

[ctrlraven]

Wow, well I think I am going to be drinking heavily tonight.

SAFFORD L/M (dealership I bought the car at) charged me $1845.00 for a 4yr/48k mile ESP FOR THE :censor: BASECARE PLAN.

:mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

Is their someone I can call and complain about this outrageous price for ESP?

[larryo340]

I don't think so, it's buyer beware with markups. Did they offer any other warranty to you?

Wow, well I think I am going to be drinking heavily tonight.

SAFFORD L/M (dealership I bought the car at) charged me $1845.00 for a 4yr/48k mile ESP FOR THE :censor: BASECARE PLAN.

:mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

Is their someone I can call and complain about this outrageous price for ESP?

[ctrlraven]

All I remember is them telling me the Marauder was a very solid car (which it has been) and shouldn't have any major problems or repairs and that they recommended this $1800 plan for my car.

I guess they had to make up the difference and mark up the ESP because I wasn't financing the vehicle I paid cash for it. Their really isn't any honor amongst thieves since they knew I was an ex Ford employee of another dealership that they had a strong tie with.

Just wish I knew it was the radiator fan assembly and not just the fan motor when the owner of the shop next to my work asked me if I wanted him to check out the price of the part with his wholesale discount.

[MACFORD88]

I Think You Can Get A Refund For The Remainder Of The Warranty.

[ctrlraven]

The ESP was a 4yr/48k mile warranty. I got it 12/02/05 and the car had 40390 miles on it. Current mileage is 76,3xx. If it's a decent amount I'd get back I think I might just cancel it.

[Drewstang]

I replaced the same part with a Motorcraft part for $230. And I would contact the warranty's Customer Service department for reimbursement.

[ctrlraven]

I'm going to call the dealership parts dept and get a price quote on the part. I wonder if it's going to be different than what they charged me.

[Zack]

Im swapping mine out today for a $50 deductible.
The cost of the assembly is $437 at my dealer as well.

[ctrlraven]

Must be nice Zack lol.

[fastcar]

My MM started over heating and making a jack-hammering noise yesterday. I got online, read a few threads, decided it must be the fan, found out the cheapest way to buy it, all in 30 minutes on MM.net. What a place to be! Because of MM.net (specifically Drewstangs post on buying a motorcraft part) I saved $200 on the part alone (Motorcraft P/N RF163). Next, thanks to MM.net, I found out it takes 10 minutes to swap out (thanks blackened 300A) so I decided to do it myself. Total savings? Hundreds! Thanks MM.net :-D
BTW, I want to help the next guy that has this problem, so I'm going to use a few key words: overheating, over heating, fan, noise, hammering.
My car would overheat while stationary, not moving. This indicated the fan. There was an intermittent jack-hammering sound from under the hood. I found out the blade was cracked, would expand when spun, and that this would rub on the shroud's reinforcing ribs, creating the sound. It must have slowed the fan down making it ineffective. All I did was replace the blade, and it works great again.
Also, if you are interested in a brand new fan motor/shroud PM me. Just use your blade, and you are good to go.
Good seeing you guys, and happy maraudering!

fastcar:burnout:

[ctrlraven]

Wish I could of saved money but I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Glad to hear you got it fix!

[Blackmobile]

My MM started over heating and making a jack-hammering noise yesterday. I got online, read a few threads, decided it must be the fan, found out the cheapest way to buy it, all in 30 minutes on MM.net. What a place to be! Because of MM.net (specifically Drewstangs post on buying a motorcraft part) I saved $200 on the part alone (Motorcraft P/N RF163). Next, thanks to MM.net, I found out it takes 10 minutes to swap out (thanks blackened 300A) so I decided to do it myself. Total savings? Hundreds! Thanks MM.net :-D
BTW, I want to help the next guy that has this problem, so I'm going to use a few key words: overheating, over heating, fan, noise, hammering.
My car would overheat while stationary, not moving. This indicated the fan. There was an intermittent jack-hammering sound from under the hood. I found out the blade was cracked, would expand when spun, and that this would rub on the shroud's reinforcing ribs, creating the sound. It must have slowed the fan down making it ineffective. All I did was replace the blade, and it works great again.
Also, if you are interested in a brand new fan motor/shroud PM me. Just use your blade, and you are good to go.
Good seeing you guys, and happy maraudering!

fastcar:burnout:

Just a thought, but if you just saved so much because of the site, why not contribute a few $$'s towards membership. That will help the next person also.

[Glenn]

Thanks goodness for an honest Ford dealer in Atlanta - Team Ford. They do not play games like this on their customers.

Glenn

[Todd]

My MM started over heating and making a jack-hammering noise yesterday. I got online, read a few threads, decided it must be the fan, found out the cheapest way to buy it, all in 30 minutes on MM.net. What a place to be! Because of MM.net (specifically Drewstangs post on buying a motorcraft part) I saved $200 on the part alone (Motorcraft P/N RF163). Next, thanks to MM.net, I found out it takes 10 minutes to swap out (thanks blackened 300A) so I decided to do it myself. Total savings? Hundreds! Thanks MM.net :-D
BTW, I want to help the next guy that has this problem, so I'm going to use a few key words: overheating, over heating, fan, noise, hammering.
My car would overheat while stationary, not moving. This indicated the fan. There was an intermittent jack-hammering sound from under the hood. I found out the blade was cracked, would expand when spun, and that this would rub on the shroud's reinforcing ribs, creating the sound. It must have slowed the fan down making it ineffective. All I did was replace the blade, and it works great again.
Also, if you are interested in a brand new fan motor/shroud PM me. Just use your blade, and you are good to go.
Good seeing you guys, and happy maraudering!

fastcar:burnout:



Please clarify exactly what you got for just over $200 by buying the motorcraft part.......

Is it the shroud, motor, blade, and the little silver control box??????

[fastcar]

Please clarify exactly what you got for just over $200 by buying the motorcraft part.......

Is it the shroud, motor, blade, and the little silver control box??????

Hi Todd. I got the entire enchilada. All of the above. Todo. Everything...
But just needed the blade ;-)

fastcar:burnout:

[Todd]

Hi Todd. I got the entire enchilada. All of the above. Todo. Everything...
But just needed the blade ;-)

fastcar:burnout:


Thanks man. I appreciate it. That is a great savings over the Mercury dealers price.

[Da Dark Jedi]

Call Ray Sr (The Dealer) he's a site vendor and ask him the price he charges. Here's his ph: 800/216-6411

[Da Dark Jedi]

Im swapping mine out today for a $50 deductible.
The cost of the assembly is $437 at my dealer as well.

Zack, who's you dealer, their price is better that the one I just got, $492 plus tax. This is from Metro Ford on Western Ave.

[Shora]

Hi Todd. I got the entire enchilada. All of the above. Todo. Everything...
But just needed the blade ;-)

fastcar:burnout:

But where did you get it?

[Aren Jay]

I had my local Ford Dealership (last time I ever went there), forget to bolt the fan back on my Mustang a while back. I was driving home and heard a thump noise and a sudden grinding with a huge plume of blue black smoke out the back, just as I was turning into my condo and I stopped and then slowly crawled to my drive way. I back in and popped the hood only to find my radiator fan lodged into the radiator. The main shaft was bent and the fan blades cut right into the radiator. I had it towed back, it stayed at the dealership over the long weekend and on the next business day they looked at me and said it wasn't their fault. After going off to talk to the manager, who was too busy to see me an ordinary person, the service manager finally said that maybe it was their fault after all. They did replace the radiator the fan and gave me a new serpintine belt as that was completely stripped...

Anyway I was really mad.

Not your problem, lucky you.