Fan-to-Radiator clearance

[bimmer630]

Whats the usual distance from the front of the engine fan to the face of the radiator On a stock M20 in an E30? Mine seems awfully close, and the drivetrain came out of a car that had a hard rear impact.. the impact being so hard that it bent the rear subframe and pushed the differential foward, thus collapsing the driveshaft slipyoke.

Im wondering if its possible for a rear impact like this to bend the motor mount arms. Seems like that wouldnt happen, One would think the rubber motor mounts would break off first, but my fan seems very close to my radiator. when you unthread it, its pushed against the radiator tightly.

[slammin.e28]

Sounds normal to me. Mine is touching the radiator when I un-thread it, and my car has no signs of being in a collision. Same true with my e28, and I know for a fact it's never been wrecked.

[jlevie]

A hard rear end collision could be expected to shift the engine rearward, not forward. When unthreaded the fan will be very close to radiator so yours sounds normal.

[bimmer630]

I got the car on the road finally. I drove it to work and checked some stuff over up on the lift.

Heres a pic of how close my fan is to the radiator. I also took a pic of the distance between the rack and oil pan (e36 rack). Its about 7/8". I dont know if my motor is too far foward or what, but my shifter does seem to be sitting a little bit foward in the console, and I think my radiator mounting is all legit.

[billybobjoseph]

Fan is leaving a black mark by rubbing on your radiator.

[urbancynic]

I think your motor might be shifted a bit forward. When I changed my fan clutch it didn't come that close to hitting the radiator.

[billybobjoseph]

Are you sure the radiator is right; is the clearance between the radiator and the fan consistent from the top to the bottom?

[md-va]

I have the exact same problem as bimmer630. I have new motor and trans mounts installed, but am having a clearance issue with the fan and radiator. Mine rubs the bottom the same way as in the pics. I thought my radiator was seated correctly, but I'll have to double check when I do some cooling work soon.

[bimmer630]

Well my last car, the one this drivetrain came out of, had the same issue, but I thought it was because I bashed in the lower rad. support when I hit a mailbox in the snow.. This is friggin weird.

Another new problem since Ive dropped this engine into this car. At cold starts the idle is high. around 2200 Rpm. I tried another ICV and I also cleaned out the ICV, made sure it moves inside, but it still does it. Sometimes the Check engine light comes on too. I wish I had an old MoDic to hook up to it

[bimmer630]

Fan rubbed into the radiator tonight and put a hole in it

[u3b3rg33k]

Are your tranny/engine mounts fubar? if I got rear ended hard, I'd check those asap.

[leone30]

There is a small rubber buffer under the motor part no RUBBER BUFFER 11811132527
from RealOem. I have mine replaced recently. probably you need to check it

[bimmer630]

Yeah after replacing the radiator, I played around with the mounts. That little buffer that keeps the drivetrain from pushing into the subframe is missing on my car. the bracket is there but no rubber.

I was able to loosen up the trans mount "sliders", pry the engine back and tighten the trans mounts. all looks ok now.

My Trans mounts are the UUC "enforcer" ones with the aluminum caps over the bushings. I have Urethane Ireland engine mounts, although one seperated and i have a stocker swapped into one side for the time being