Hello all,

 

I have just started my attempt to replace the viscous fan clutch. I have managed to undo all 4 nuts holding on the fan, but I need to remove the rad cowling to get the fan assembly out....

 

....I have removed both intake hoses and the rad top hose, undone the two retaining screws at the top, but cannot seem to work out how the cowling is held at the bottom. How do I get it off without taking the radiator out - or breaking the cowling???

 

Next time I'll just take the car to Jeff's - it's along time since I have dabbled mechanically and now I know why. LOL!!

 

Richard:thumbup1:

real easy, the cowling comes in two parts, there is a small lower half moon part that goes onto to the main lot, you need to be under the car, get a torch and shine it on the under side of the cowling and all will be revealed, there is a small lower clip holding the bottom part that needs to be removed off. pop that out and it will fall away leaving a lower section hole that the fan will miss when removing the radiator.

if you get stuck richard give me a ring

if you get stuck richard give me a ring

 

LOL - you know I was about to do that an hour and a half ago; as I know you'd know the answer mate!!

 

But I after I went back and took another look, I unbolted the radiator top brackets, lifted the rad up a couple of inches and that was enough to slide the fan out from between the cowling and the rad. Jobe done!!

 

Thanks for the advice though Ian.....

 

.....and I cleaned out the throttle bodies whilst I had the intake pipes off too; I'm going to take the ZX out for a little blast now to complete the cleaning process!! Plus I need to get some antifreeze so I can top up the rad after removing the upper hose.

 

Richard:thumbup1:

take it for a blast um to see me bud lol

take it for a blast um to see me bud lol

 

If it was earlier in the day I would have done mate!! With the TBs cleaned, a little 30 mile run along some fast A-roads and a bit of "empty motorway" action has done wonders - the Z feels more responsive and the power feels stronger than before....

 

Plus I can now hear the viscous fan whirring once more when I rev the engine after a spirited drive. I definitely think the old coupling was dead - as the temperature had started to rise a bit too much, for my liking, when sitting in traffic. And we all know how important good cooling is for a 300zx!!

 

Job done - and I'm proud I did it myself this time.

 

In fact it gets better - I couldn't get the last nut on the fan assembly as I don't have small girly hands. But when I stopped the engine just now, hey presto, guess which stud is sitting bead at the top! Yup - the one for the last nut....:thumbup1:

 

Richard:rockon:

where did you get your new fan clutch, as it would be a nice idea to get a brand new one for mine, also how much was it?

where did you get your new fan clutch, as it would be a nice idea to get a brand new one for mine, also how much was it?

 

I got a second hand one from Jeff a couple of months back, I did try to get a brand new one but they are f*****g expensive!!! Even from Mike at MJP the OEM Nissan one was about £400....:surrender:

 

Courtesy in the USA does them for US$185 - and, according to the e-mail I got back, carriage to the UK is about US$85 (not as expensive as it says on their website). So to save the extortionate Nissan UK price - and the hassle of importing one from America, I stuck with the one I got from Jeff. There's always the chance it will go bad again, but as I don't use my ZX as a daily driver I will take that risk.

 

Richard:thumbup1: