I was out playing in the mud and water late last night and my rig started to overheat. Got it home, got everything power washed out of the engine compartment and it seems that the radiator fan is not turning with the engine running.

Wiring and connections are good, fuses are good, it looks to be the fan motor to me.

The OEM replacement assembly runs $150+, does anybody know of a fan that can be used? I saw quite a few on parts sites, but I didn't see a way to determine if it would fit on the Jeep...

 

FWIW, during a visit to the dealer, I was talking to the service writer about StarScaning for the uConnect mod. He said they were surprised to find that after replacing a fan, it wouldn't work until they scanned it. I HOPE that's not true but the guy is pretty credible. Might be worth checking out before you buy a stock fan. Also, I don't know if the fan is on the bus but if it is, you might have problems with a replacement fan unless it is electrically identical to the stock fan.

I'd be interested in what you learn...

Steve

 

Mate i had that happen to me bout 4 weeks ago they replaced it under warrenty, faulty fan, then went 4wding again next w/e died again took it back explained what i was doing playing in the mud abit and it died after 30mins, the fan is a sealed unit so didnt have to worry about water in motor, and they replaced it again, so far no more breaks, but just becarefull i think because it was trying to run in the water the motor could have burnt out. but get it on warranty.

 

like ive mentioned before these fans have absolutely no locked rotor over-current protection... if you lock the rotor in mud caked up around the blades and the fan turns on it will burn up....

the problem arises when mudding where you first start out and the fan is off because the it is not needed.. mud gets caked up in the shroud area.. the jeep warms up and the fan goes to turn on.. the rotor is locked.. the jeep continues to warm up... the fan attempts to switch to high... at that point the damage may be done.. or if the rotor is still locked when you hit high speed the motor is history in a matter of seconds....

as mentioned above when water fording at high water levels the fan very well may be trying to run in the water until the water cools off the radiator enough for it to shut off..

if the air-conditioning is on it may take even longer for that to occur... .

what bugs the crap out of me is that my 1986 cadillac seville had over-current detection / protection on its fans(if I stopped a fan on the cadi it would shut down the controller in a matter of seconds and turn a message on the display (Fan Error).. yet a 2007 - 2010 jeep wrangler doesnt...

-Christopher

 

Yet another "jeep thing", combine the week transmission cooler with the stock fan and you just have to shake your head. They probably saved $1.50 using that fan without the switch in it.
I just got my recall for the transmission warning chime yesterday, what a bandaid.

 

my guess is that same fan motor is used in the fans on most other chrysler vehicles.. so they save money on the volume...

chances are the JK's are the only modern jeeps / trucks chrysler has that really get wheeled hard.... and even then most wrangler dont ever see anything but pavement or snow...

plus chrysler knows they only have to pay out very few warranty claims on the fans.. off-roaders are treated like they abuse the JeeP... hello! then dont advertise it as the ultimate off-road machine..

yeah drives me crazy!
-Christopher