Repacking visocus fan hub

[mackayvx Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close mackayvx]

Gday,

I have booked the Prado in for a new radiator core at my local 'Specialist' and I asked the question about the fans efficiency and if a Thermal fan would be worth installing.

The bloke advise me that a thermal was not necessary and that if any thing 'Repacking the Viscous Fan' would be sufficient.

Apparently 'Repacking' means refilling the visocous fan with the correct oil until full again...

Has any one done this? Did you 'Repack' or 'Replace' the fan hub?

Seeing how the car has 250K on the clock, I will be replacing the water pump whilst the radiator is out and in my mind this fan mod seems like a good idea...

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Cheers Drew.

[Davros Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Davros]

Replacing the silicone oil in the fan hub is a good idea as long it is done properly. Just squirting the oil in for a hub of those kms is not the best practice. It should be pulled apart, cleaned and then reassembled and then new oil injected. Far less $ than a new hub if you do it yourself, but might be cost effective to just replace the hub if labour cost is factored in. Ask you mech the question.

You should get the whole system flushed out as part of the cooling job. Check and replace hoses, thermostat and radiator cap as well.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

And its not just the silicone some times either. You may find the bio spring in the middle has had its day as well so refilling with silicone if needed may not be the total answer. DONT buy after market either if you decide to buy a new one. Davis Craig do one as well but have heard reports that these have a mind of there own as well and some times will lock up some times they wont this is when I was looking at buying one some years ago in replacement of my genuine toyota one. I was informed by the salesman I was actually going to buy the coupling from. I ended up paying the extra $$$ and getting genuine. When you think about it the genuine one has done 250k so its proved itself. You could try the silicone and it may be fine but you wont know till its a hot day and it needs to cut in to cool or if hauling up a long hill under some load. Dont believe that these dont cut in when cruising along, Alot of people think that just cruising along is enough to cool the motor, most of the time it probably is but when needed these fans will cut in/lock up at what ever speed to pull the cool air through the radiator to cool the engine. Its definately a cheaper option to just replace the silicone and most of the time fixes the problem. This was a major common thing on the 80 series cruisers when over heating occured. I replaced mine with a new genuine toyota one as it had 300thou on it and I was doing a trip down to the high country in summer and didnt ant any issues.............Personally I would replace it with a new genuine one.......Cheers Steve

[kav Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close kav]

hi guys . i have first hand experience of when your viscous coupling fan decides its had enough and its not fun .( must clarify that it was not my prado ) i have 8 mates who are mechanics and i have never heard of anyone repacking a vc . yours has done 250 thou . do yourself a big favour and get a new one . simply because when it gives you trouble its going to be in the most horendous circumstances ie. when its 35 degrees and youve got the car loaded with your family and gear and maybe a trailer and on a steep mountain pass or in the middle of the outback miles from anywhere or anywhere where you can get it fixed for a reasonable cost . if you do it cheaply ,you will always have it in the back of your mind that you didn't do it properly and you will be constantly looking at that gauge ,waiting for it to show the slightest amount of movement while you should be enjoying your holiday . or worrying when the missus and kids are late home when its 40c outside . my vehicle had no previous warning signs that there was a problem untill towing my boat up a steep mountain pass in 35C fully loaded and it came down to oh shit if i have to stop here im in it deep in an extremely dangerous situation or do i drive it till it fries , windows down aircon off and hope . needless to say with the windows down the smell of raw fuel pumping into the engine to try and cool itself was nauseating . on that day i achieved 240 km from an 80 ltr tank of fuel . if you have to stop on the side of the road or have your car and trailer towed and fixed , its gonna cost a hell of a lot more than a new viscous coupling . cheers guys oh yeah not to mention the crap youre gonna get from the missus and kids and other road users when you stuff up their holiday by blocking a national highway in a holiday period .

[mackayvx Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close mackayvx]

Thanks Davros, Steve & Kav....

You all have given me a good idea of what I should be doing in this situation... with 250k on the clock its obvoius really - Along with the new radiator I will be buying a new genuine Fan hub.
Along with the Water pump I will also replace the Thermostat and the radiator cap. All in the name of preventative maintenance. (I renewed all radiator & heater hoses with genuine parts 12 months ago, and I kept the old ones for spares.)
Its always hard to justify spending the money on items that are working absolutely fine, but the point has been made... If anything goes wrong with the cooling system its trouble in a big way.
Im not going to go half arsed on this one... we have our Cape trip in august and heading around Oz, the long way, late next year... So its a full birthday for the cooling system.
Your right Kav, I dont want that in the back of my mind at all... And it saves me doing it later anyways...
Top advise fellas. PP does it again. Cheers.

[kav Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close kav]

it will be well worth it just for the peace of mind . cheers