[s-cars] Rad Fan Troubles get More Viscous

[racingiron at comcast.net]

Thanks for all the feedback on my recent questions about the viscous fan bearing replacement.  I finally got a chance to work on it today.  Using the new longer wrench I ordered, I was able to get the viscous clutch released from the bearing flange.  For the record, both my cars ('92 & '93) are normal thread.

Now, here's where the plot gets more viscous, if you will.  There's been lots of discussion about the change from early bolted-in bearing to the later pressed-in.  Well, I'm here to say that there's another difference--between two types of bolted-in bearings.  I had planned to use the bearing from my '93, which is basically a rolling parts car, to replace the bad one in the '92.  That plan didn't pan out...

The two cars are different in the following ways:
- Pulleys have different offsets
- Flanges that pulleys mount to have different reach to the threads for the viscous clutch
- The brackets on the block are different to account for the different placement of the bearing

The effect is that the later design locates the bearing further out, closer to the centerline of the belt.  I'm sure this change was due to premature failures.  For example, my '92 bearing failed at just over 100K miles, and the '93 bearing (presumably original) is still OK at almost 200K miles.

So, I can't use the '93 bearing because the flange pressed into the inner race of the bearing is different.  I can't swap that without destroying both bearings.  I guess I'll order a new bearing and press the original flange into it.  My other option is to swap the brackets.  That might give me longer bearing life, but removing/installing the bracket is lots more work.

I've got pictures of all the parts, so I'll upload for addition to the QW FAQ soon.

Eric R.
'86 urq
'92 urS
'93 urS