Yellow Fan upgrade to Black Fan?

Looking at slowly renewing my cooling system - I still have the original yellow fan in my 1988 XJS.

I don’t see any cracks. Is this a must replace item ASAP?

Also, I see OEM at about $188, and aftermarket Eurospare for $75. Who makes the OEM? Is Eurospare fan a piece of junk? Quite a big price difference. And my fan clutch seems fine. Re-use?

Thanks

I didn’t see any cracks in mine ,either, until I removed and cleaned it. I figured I would sooner replace it BEFORE it came unglued and changed the appearance of my hood. Your choice!
I replaced my 30 year old clutch with a new Hayden 2747 HD unit Very happy with results. Bought the black fan from one of the usuals. Aftermarket.
Some will tell you to go electric, but the PO just replaced the alternator, so I left well enough alone. Once you get your ECU back, I think you might be tempted to discover the upper RPM limits on your engine… (and so will your yellow fan)

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Yup. circa 71, I removed the “lump”: from my 83 XJ about to become a V8. As in the picture, cracks at the hub, but in my car, a lot more. I tossed it, lest it cause someone grief. A back story goes with it. but, I’ve tossed it as well, trusted, Misplaced…

Carl

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, it sounds like these yellow fans do eventually go, similar to the Lucas distributor eventually seizing. Is it a heat thing, mileage thing, or age thing? LOL, yeah, testing 6000RPM may test my fan.

It doesn’t seem too hard of a job? Should probably do it while I’m replacing all hoses and thermostats. Glad to know the aftermarket fan is fine, lot of savings there, which will pay for the clutch. May as well replace clutch while it’s apart, I guess. Don’t want to do this job twice. Thanks for the Hayden reference.

According to The Book, the GM Hayden 2747 will fit to the old yellow fan, but not fit with the new black fan? Are there modifications you had to do to black fan?

The blades of the black fan need minor trimming to fit the clutch. (Dremel)
BTW, my fan came from Welsh.
I’ll try to find a photo. (of the trimming)

One fan blade pic- AND, This is what my radiator looked like inside. Same age as yours…

Radiator

Greg,
I replaced the old white (that turned to yellow with age) cracked engine cooling fan (EAC3265) with a new black 11 bladed fan (EBC4553) a couple of years ago in my wife’s 1990 XJ-S convertible when I cleaned up the engine bay. I reused the original clutch (EAC4751), had no issues, and didn’t have to trim anything.
If you search the archives for “black engine cooling fan EBC4553” you will find a lot of helpful information about what I did and related comments and suggestions from others. Some of which I followed, and others (like replacing the clutch) which I did not follow. :slight_smile:

Paul

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It’s highly recommended to change the Yellow Fan Greg.
If you plan to take the radiator out, also highly recommended as it will most certainly be like Dave’s picture, it’s very easy, otherwise it can be quite fiddly.

The Black Fan is the same with the Range Rover P38, direct fit and inexpensive.
I got mine a long while ago from Britcar, I don’t remember if it was a Eurospare, but works fine.

Two months ago I changed also the Fan Clutch and put the Hayden 2665 (standard).
The fan fits perfect and no trimming was needed.
I was skeptical about the 2747 (heavy duty), I was afraid it might make a lot of noise.
So far so good with the 2665, albeit summer hasn’t come yet, but it sure moves a lot of air!

Best,
Aristides

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So this one needs no altering of fan blades? I think I’d rather do that. HD may be too heavy duty for the cool Seattle climate.

Thanks Paul, I read through your thread from 3 years ago. Apparently Kirby thinks you’re insane? :wink:

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My yellow fan (aka, the formerly white but aged to yellow) fan catastrophically disintegrated at 5k rpm. Remarkably, the only thing it damaged was the hood – I still have the little bumps from the fan blades to this day. So yeah, replace the fan. I just used the Jag black fan and it was fine.

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I went electric. I got a 16" fan that fitted the regular cowl like it was OEM. Added a temp sensor to each of the top hoses, and wired up a couple of relays in conjunction with the lower hose sensor. Works like a charm, ditched a load of heavy pulleys, reduced the belt count, and it doesn’t draw power away from the engine.

Going electric is the best way to go, but a lot of work. I found it easy to put in new black fan and clutch, and the car actually stays pretty cool, my secondary electric fan almost never comes on.

The Book advises YES, ditch the yellow fan! In fact, there is an interesting variation shown in that section - a variable pitch black fan. Can’t remember whether it will fit in the same space w/o modifying the fan shroud or not, though. :thinking:

Speak of the devil, this is the second used Jaguar yellow fan I have seen for sale on Ebay just this week where the seller specifically notes in the pics that the fan has a crack(s) in it! :open_mouth:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-JAGUAR-XJ6-RADIATOR-CLUTCH-FAN-3-6L/323491240272?fits=Year%3A1992|Make%3AJaguar&hash=item4b51949950:g:J2EAAOSwVYtbvOY3

I wrote the first seller, letting him know his item - an XJS fan - is a CATastrophe waiting to happen to an unsuspecting purchaser, and imploring him to just trash the part. :man_teacher: Anyone want to write this seller similarly?

A decade or so ago, my engine bay was empty. Selling off unneeded parts as an SBC was going in…

I adverttsed. A fellow in Sebastapol. No the one in Norcal!! As I prepared the fan for shipping, I noticed all the cracks at the hub!!! No way… A business associate gave me a black fan. Left over as he decided to sell his well worn XJS.

So, I sent the new black unit… What a deal for him.
The SOB stiffed me!! Never before and never after, has that taken place.

to the contrary, I sold the radiator to a fellow in Las Vegas. He was “amazed” that I would trust him to pay me . His background suggested trust not a usual thing.
He told me of it in a telephone call. I felt pretty good.

Oh, he sent the money…

Carl