Seized cooling fans and my solution

[Dee]

As we all know, the cooling fans can get seized due to rocks, debris and sand due to poor louver design.

The bottom left louvers are a good design but 3/4 of them are just utterly shitty.
What was Porsche thinking??

I checked mine and the left fan was seized, the right one was still ok.
I found loads of rocks and stones in it.
The left one is for motor cooling, the right is for battery cooling and A/C (and/or heatpump).

The left one doesn't run as often so it's easy to get seized.
I managed to remove all the gravel and rocks and got the fan moving again.
There was even gravel between the fan and the motor but after a little twisting, turning and persuasion I got it all out.

Porsche already made an improvement, it has a motor cover and there are holes at the bottom so dirt can't build up there.

So, what did I do to prevent them to get seized again?
I added some mesh to keep most of the road debris out.

After that I was looking for a way to create some sort of motor cover but it wasn't easy to find the right part/material but in the end I managed to find something useful.
That was after literally hours of visiting household, hardware and DIY shops...
Guess what? I ended up in a garden shop!
I bought two flower pots, dia 18 cm for €3,99 total and cut them to a height of 4,5 cm.

After that I made some cutouts and added centering pieces made of self-adhesive neoprene.

I attached the motor cover with cable ties.
I think it does look OEM, lol!
I didn't cut out holes at the bottom of the cooling fan frame (which is aluminum) yet.
First I want to see how this home-made improvement will perform.
It's just nice to work on your car and make it better without spending €1500 for a new fan...?

Grtz Dee.

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[rb33gl]

I admire your ingenuity in coming up with your own solution, but owners shouldn't have to do this if Porsche had come up with a better design!

There seems to be some confusion whether their new design is covered under warranty - as the original isn't fit for purpose, it should be!

 

[Dee]

I admire your ingenuity in coming up with your own solution, but owners shouldn't have to do this if Porsche had come up with a better design!

Thank you.
Yes indeed, but this is what we are facing now.
It can last several years before the fans seize up.
In my opinion they should have made new loevers cuz that's the main cause.
The louvers should be horizontal at an angle, just like the ones in the bottom left.

Instead, Porsche improved the fans, which basically is solving a symptom, not the cause.
A new inner fender liner with horizontal louvers is much cheaper to replace and doesn't need coding (and a dealer).
Porsche does things differently, I really don't understand...?

 

[D00notD00d]

TSB info
https://www.taycanforum.com/tsb-noise-droning-humming-from-vehicle-front-end/

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2024/MC-11011580-0001.pdf

 

[Dee]

TSB info
https://www.taycanforum.com/tsb-noise-droning-humming-from-vehicle-front-end/

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2024/MC-11011580-0001.pdf

I know man, that's why Porsche improved the design.
But....
I don't have warranty anymore and I don't think there was an active recall on it.

Edit: I see Porsche also redesigned the lower part of the wheel housing liner...

 

[chun]

The part is covere

I know man, that's why Porsche improved the design.
I don't have warranty anymore and I don't think there was an active recall on it.

No active recall indeed.

I would advise owners to get it replaced under warranty while they still have the warranty, before DYI solutions.

However, great work. For people out of warranty, it looks like a pretty straight forward "upgrade", assuming they don't wait until the fans die.

 

[hifi239]

In the US, if the car is under warranty and for vehicles made before 11/2021, if the owner complains of buzzing/humming coming from a fan, the dealer will perform the TSB to replace the fans and shrouds. For me, my fan was already seized and so of course not buzzing. The dealer insisted that I register a complaint that it was buzzing in order to get the TSB, or Porsche would not reimburse them.

 

[Howieleem]

Does anyone know if it is possible to clear the debris by removing wheel and then focus a water hose on the debris through the louvers?

 

[D00notD00d]

I know man, that's why Porsche improved the design.
But....
I don't have warranty anymore and I don't think there was an active recall on it.

Edit: I see Porsche also redesigned the lower part of the wheel housing liner...

Even though there’s been a design change, presumably to address a design defect, it seems from experiences here that warranty claims are not honoured anyway. Shabby.

 

[figure1a]

Does anyone know if it is possible to clear the debris by removing wheel and then focus a water hose on the debris through the louvers?

I do this every time that I wash the car as preventive maintenance. I can see small bits of debris falling out of the bottom (rubber flap) each time that I do it. I just flood that area with the water hose so hopefully most of the debris floats/falls out.

 

[Paul S]

I had fans replaced under warranty in UK 2 weeks ago as one was blocked/stuck. Invoice price for work was £3800, I'm glad I had warranty still on my car (2022 CT Turbo)

 

[Dee]

I had fans replaced under warranty in UK 2 weeks ago as one was blocked/stuck. Invoice price for work was £3800, I'm glad I had warranty still on my car (2022 CT Turbo)

Of course it's expensive, they have to take the bumper (and headlights) off, replace the fans, recode the fans to the car and recalibrate the headlights!
I can fix it for less than €10. ?

 

[tfurbay]

How exactly are you fixing this?

 

[Dee]

How exactly are you fixing this?

By removing the debris so the fans are turning again and adding mesh and a motor cover to prevent it from happening again.

 

[F1Ruaraidh]

As we all know, the cooling fans can get seized due rocks, debris and sand due to poor louver design.

The bottom left louvers are good design but 3/4 of them are just utterly shitty design.

I checked mine and the left fan was seized, the right one was still ok.
I found loads of rocks and stones in it.
The left one is for motor cooling, the right is for battery cooling and A/C (and/or heatpump).

The left one doesn't run as often so it's easy to get seized.
I managed to remove all the gravel and rocks and got the fan moving again.
There was even gravel between the fan and the motor but after a little twisting, turning and persuasion I got it all out.

Porsche already made an improvement, it has a motor cover and there are holes at the bottom so dirt can't build up there.

So, what did I do to prevent them to get seized again?
I added some mesh to keep most of the road debris out.

After that I was looking for a way to create some sort of motor cover but it wasn't easy to find the right part/material but in the end I managed to find something useful!
That was after literally hours of visiting household, hardware and DIY shops...
Guess what? I ended up in a garden shop!
I bought two flower pots, dia 17/18 cm for €3,99 total and cut them to a height of 4,5 cm.

After that I made some cutouts and added centering pieces made of neoprene.

I attached the motor cover with cable ties.
I think it does look OEM, lol!
I didn't cut out holes at the bottom of the cooling fan frame (which is aluminum) yet.
First I want to see how this home-made improvement will perform.
It's just nice to work on your car and make it better without spending €1500 for a new fan...?

Grtz Dee.

Brilliant McGyvering a solution here!! ????

Shame the Porsche design is so useless.

Point of shame - my 7yo "badly built and unreliable not German quality" Tesla model S front fans still work a treat at 140k miles.

Oh Porsche

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