Need a temporary fix for engine fan bracket

[Bruce Sieloff]

I noticed the radiator wobbly again today (after replacing a cracked shroud 3 months ago) and found that the fan bracket had cracked at the base of the bracket assembly. Right now the fan is supported at three points. I Am 250 miles from our winter base and need a mechanical fix to limp there until I can get it welded or replaced with a better design.
It is a clean break and my tools are minimal so I'm thinking Vice grips or C clamps (shudder) or go to Home Depot for some steel and bolts for a homemade clamp.  Right now I have Sunday to come up with a solution, or decide to sit here  in Bakersfield until a permanent fix can be made. Any ideas?

[Steve Huber]

Bruce,
Don't know what your brace looks like but maybe a strip of iron/steel/aluminum from Home Depot and a couple of small vice grips to hold it in place on the broken brace would keep it together for 200 miles.
Steve

[Neal E Weinmann]

Is the break at a 90 degree or other angle bend or along a straight section? Any chance you can post a picture?

[Edward Buker]

Bruce,

Whatever you do for a temporary brace needs to stay in place and vice grips/clamps are not very reliable under vibration and movement. The last thing you want is to have something come loose and go through the radiator or break the fan. I cannot tell you what an on the road fix would be, as Steve pointed out we cannot see the problem.

I would be more inclined to have a source bend some steel that could be sandwiched on both sides of the break and be able to drill the sandwich and bolt it in place above and below the break if at all possible.  If you can fashion something that fits well enough, maybe even triangle pieces welded at the bend before hand, and then bolted onto the coach bracket. Take your time and be sure that you are comfortable that the temporary repair is solid. It may be possible to add the weld while in place later to finish the bracing. Hope this helps.

Later Ed

[Bruce Sieloff]

This is what it looks like from what I can see. Not a lot of margin to grip, but it looks like two plates (3X4 inches?) bolted together might hold it for 250 miles.

[Rod Ogle]

Bruce.

  It looks like your fan mount bracket broke in the same area as mine (see pic)  You still have three legs supporting the fan motor which should provide enough strength for lateral movement.  My concern would be the deflection....towards the radiator.
Are the other three legs securely bolted to the shroud?  Any cracks in the shroud?   If it were me, I would look for a mobile welder and spot weld the broken leg. That should get you home to make better repairs.

[Joel Ashley]

I know some will question this, but when done properly I've had good luck with epoxy.  I'd clean the vicinity of the crack thoroughly and dry.  Then use a small triangular or other file with a sharp edge, or a Dremel tool, to make shallow cross hatched cuts all around the crack;  this provides micro-grooves for the epoxy to grip to.  Mix a good deal of epoxy, preferably 2-tube style J-B Weld or other steel content type, and spread it to cover the crack on all sides if possible, engaging the file marks well.  If you have easy access to the crack, the use of a 5-minute epoxy will be tricky but the fast set-up will limit bulging and dripping.  Alternatively, you can apply 2 thinner coats of regular slow-set epoxy an hour apart. 

Done right, it is not a weld, but rather just a bridging medium, a temporary one in this case where stress is likely.  A Tektronix engineer cousin of mine, though, that owned a Marina on the Columbia, used epoxy to "weld" broken outboard motor driveshafts back together, believe it or not.  I often use super glue prior to an epoxy job, to get the parts tightly together long enough to apply epoxy and get it set up, not as a permanent glue repair.  Ambient temperature affects cure time, so don't be in a rush to leave if it's very cold out.

Another thing I've tried recently is new stuff I got at my local Ace in the glues dept.  In your case, you'd simply super glue the arm back in place, then squeeze a good deal of super glue all over and around the crack line, similar to what you'd do with epoxy.  Then you simply sprinkle/pour this new stuff (it's like fine powdery granules) onto the wet super glue.  It hardens practically on contact, and the bond or "weld" is instantaneous.  I learned after several tries to use only high-quality liquid super glues... the gel type doesn't react with the powder properly. 

It's just a suggested option.  If you have a drill and bits and other tools necessary, and can get at things adequately under there, by all means try the plate sandwich idea instead.  You just don't want the bolts coming loose and parts (s***) "hitting the fan", so use lock washers.  As others said, without being there to closely appraise the damaged area, it's hard for us to do more than guess at solutions.  It's ultimately your call.

Joel

[Dave Atherton]

Bruce, looking at picture, I would suggest drilling a 3/8 hole in Bracket toward center
( looks like plenty of room and cut little piece of metal and drill hole next to broken hole
And bolt together) may need to get a drill and drill bit and two bolts. If room for 7/16 or
1/2 hole would be better. Note. Bolts will hold well untill a good repair can be made without
Worry and will not shear or break like weld at this point. Dave Atherton Retired Cat Mechanic

[Bruce Sieloff]

Everything in the area of the other brackets and the shroud looks sound with no cracks, so I don't want to make the situation worse by hoping the 3 points will hold together. Whatever I do will entail getting the bracket from around the fan so I can have access to the bracket. Removal from the shroud is no problem, but I'm not sure about removal from around the fan itself, since the bracket is sandwiched between the backside of the fan and the fan motor. It looks like the fan can be removed from the motor shaft via a series of bolts. A question for Dave here, what is the correct method of removal? Is there enough room to move the motor and shaft aft and get the bracket off?

[Dave Atherton]

Bruce, would suggest removal of Bracket with motor attached. Remove hydraulic hoses
and Mark for correct install. There should be room to drill on the center hub edge with
Fan inplace ( will save lots of time and make things easy. ) once you can drill hole in Bracket
hub, drill hole in strap and bolt in place tighten up than cut strap put in place on Bracket
than drill hole in both pieces and install next bolt. ( note I would suggest using fine thread
bolts and nuts, will not loosen up and back off like course thread bolt and nut.
Dave Atherton Retired Cat Mechanic

[Jerry Carr]

Bruce you may want to give Ken a call at BCS in Bend they have made the brackets and may have one on hand, it just a thought.
 

[Bruce Sieloff]

Well my "plate sandwich" worked well enough to get us to home base. I tried to purchase some mending plates from Tractor Supply that were predrilled but ended up buying some 3 feet of 3" flat stock from Home Depot and whacking off two 8 inch pieces. This gave me enough margin to comfortably cover the bracket break top and bottom and to drill a couple of holes for some Grade 8 bolts through the plate on either side of the break and then tighten it down nice and tight. Never budged as far as I can tell. Sometime in the next 6 weeks I need to remove the fan and bracket and have all four corners reinforced before I reinstall the whole thing. I remember someone else here designed his own bracket so a little research may help. As they say, nothing is quite as satisfying as being shot at...and missed.

[Dave Atherton]

Bruce glad to see your temp repair got you to in ok. One thing I did notice in the pictures
of break there was a real lot of welding spadder where Bracket was welded to center hub.
what this is telling me the heat from weld may have caused failure being a clean break so
close to weld. Dave Atherton Retired Cat Mechanic

[Edward Buker]

Bruce,

As Dave noted, glad you got in safe and good job on the temporary repair. In your redesign I would certainly not have any holes, all of those are weak points. I like rectangular steel tube structurally but there is probably not enough room in this area to work with that material. You can bend and weld flat bar to follow what you have for bracket arms. If there was a way to weld even small triangle steel pieces on the edge of the bends they will go a long way to cut the vibrations that fatigue and break the steel with time. It will not be hard to come up with a much better design then the original, not sure what they were thinking using steel stock with holes in it. Looks like a good project :-)

Later Ed