Can anyone shed some light on the checking to see if your fan is about to destroy your radiator before it actually happens. I can tell it must of happened to the previous owner by the deep grooves in the radiator that were repaired before so the hub and fan must have been changed, just don't know when.
If I grab the fan blade , I can see very slight movement side to side, I know there is a rubber dampener in the hub.
That seems to be one of the " is it going to explode on the road" things , that hangs over my head if I take a trip.
Thanks, Nelson
Greetings Nel: That fan is stout and when it is propping the air through the radiator Hulk Hogan could't hang on. Variations in weight and balance along with gyration forces work on that dampener over time. I solved that day-mare by spending a couple of weekends putting a new one in place. If I were you I would look at the one you have just to make certain the dampener membrane is not new. It wont be super hard. A scratch awl should barely pierce the surface. If its hard as a rock I would plan those weekends. Best Wishes!
Been there and done that! If there is ANY movement in the fan whatsoever (without turning the whole crankshaft) - REPLACE THE FAN HUB ASAP...! The hub should have NO play or movement whatsoever.... Honestly!... As far as the rubber being hard, - it shouldn't matter as long as there is NO movement. You mentioned seeing slight movement. ANY movement would put the hub as suspect to failure soon!
GOOD LUCK!
Thanks for the advice. will get a closer look, Nelson