Seized cooling fans.

[Right is right.]

Seized cooling fans.

Having seen numerous threads on various Taycan forums regarding seized cooling fans I decided to check my own. The left cooling fan for battery management was seized solid. The right cooling fan for the air conditioning was also seized solid.
I contacted my local Porsche dealership, after inspection they declined the warranty claim. Porsche stated “as they are full of dried mud it’s not a warranty issue” I argued it was a defective design and not fit for purpose but got nowhere with them.
Knowing these fans are over £1000 each, I decided to see what I could do with them.
I put the car on a 2 post ramp in my garage. Removed front wheels, wheel arch liners and front bumper. The fans are then fully accessible for removal.
The fan motors were full of mud and road dirt. They are a sealed unit so I gave them a thorough cleaning with a pressure washer and then dried them out with an air blower. Spotlessly clean but still seized, I sprayed the motors inside and out with WD40 and left it to soak. I then worked the fan slowly backwards and forwards until it rotated freely. Another good blowing out with an air blower more WD40 for good measure. At this stage I refitted them to the car and activated them with a snap on diag box. They work perfectly. I then completed the re assembly procedure. Job done.
The whole job took about 4 hours with a text book result.
If anyone is in this position and Porsche won’t warranty it, save yourself a few grand and get an independent to do what I have done.

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[j.w.s]

Seized cooling fans.

Having seen numerous threads on various Taycan forums regarding seized cooling fans I decided to check my own. The left cooling fan for battery management was seized solid. The right cooling fan for the air conditioning was also seized solid.
I contacted my local Porsche dealership, after inspection they declined the warranty claim. Porsche stated “as they are full of dried mud it’s not a warranty issue” I argued it was a defective design and not fit for purpose but got nowhere with them.
Knowing these fans are over £1000 each, I decided to see what I could do with them.
I put the car on a 2 post ramp in my garage. Removed front wheels, wheel arch liners and front bumper. The fans are then fully accessible for removal.
The fan motors were full of mud and road dirt. They are a sealed unit so I gave them a thorough cleaning with a pressure washer and then dried them out with an air blower. Spotlessly clean but still seized, I sprayed the motors inside and out with WD40 and left it to soak. I then worked the fan slowly backwards and forwards until it rotated freely. Another good blowing out with an air blower more WD40 for good measure. At this stage I refitted them to the car and activated them with a snap on diag box. They work perfectly. I then completed the re assembly procedure. Job done.
The whole job took about 4 hours with a text book result.
If anyone is in this position and Porsche won’t warranty it, save yourself a few grand and get an independent to do what I have done.

If I were you, I'd be super proud that I got the fans working again with a bit of persistence and elbow grease... and then I'd go order some new fans anyway, figuring that they're probably going to seize up again in a year or so.

 

[f1eng]

If I were you, I'd be super proud that I got the fans working again with a bit of persistence and elbow grease... and then I'd go order some new fans anyway, figuring that they're probably going to seize up again in a year or so.

Why waste money on un-needed new fans when a cheap solution to fixing clogged ones exists? Particularly for the person who has already fixed them.

 

[j.w.s]

Why waste money on un-needed new fans when a cheap solution to fixing clogged ones exists? Particularly for the person who has already fixed them.

in my experience, a rotating part like a fan that needs that much effort to un-stick is quite corroded, and will corrode again relatively soon. I've seen this so many times before on cars, and even more on boats. You can wait for it to freeze again, checking it every so often to make sure, or - and this is my personal style - replace it with a new part and stop thinking about it. It's a personal choice, of course, which is why I prefaced my remark with "If I were you..."

 

[alexsas]

Thanks for sharing the tips. But the car does not give any warnings and keeps thinking that it spins those fans??

 

[hifi239]

Thanks for sharing the tips. But the car does not give any warnings and keeps thinking that it spins those fans??

My left fan seized. No warnings! The dealer report says, "p2b3200 left radiator fan blocked." So the car KNOWS the fan is seized, but it doesn't tell you! Sounds like a software update was needed for that a few years ago.

Will

 

[alexsas]

My left fan seized. No warnings! The dealer report says, "p2b3200 left radiator fan blocked." So the car KNOWS the fan is seized, but it doesn't tell you! Sounds like a software update was needed for that a few years ago.

Will

sounds like another heater-gate is coming...

 

[DougFrisk]

Seized cooling fans.

Having seen numerous threads on various Taycan forums regarding seized cooling fans I decided to check my own. The left cooling fan for battery management was seized solid. The right cooling fan for the air conditioning was also seized solid.
I contacted my local Porsche dealership, after inspection they declined the warranty claim. Porsche stated “as they are full of dried mud it’s not a warranty issue” I argued it was a defective design and not fit for purpose but got nowhere with them.
Knowing these fans are over £1000 each, I decided to see what I could do with them.
I put the car on a 2 post ramp in my garage. Removed front wheels, wheel arch liners and front bumper. The fans are then fully accessible for removal.
The fan motors were full of mud and road dirt. They are a sealed unit so I gave them a thorough cleaning with a pressure washer and then dried them out with an air blower. Spotlessly clean but still seized, I sprayed the motors inside and out with WD40 and left it to soak. I then worked the fan slowly backwards and forwards until it rotated freely. Another good blowing out with an air blower more WD40 for good measure. At this stage I refitted them to the car and activated them with a snap on diag box. They work perfectly. I then completed the re assembly procedure. Job done.
The whole job took about 4 hours with a text book result.
If anyone is in this position and Porsche won’t warranty it, save yourself a few grand and get an independent to do what I have done.

What I'd like to mention is that while WD-40 is a great anti-seize formula it is not a lubricant. What would be a proper lubricant in this case would depend on the motor shaft and bearings/bushings.

I happen to have some of this oil on hand and the circulator pump I use it on is sixty years old, so it's probably what I'd use, but there are other products out there.

 

[Lekfx]

I think we may be missing an important step here. If the fans are clogged by mud, then a mud-guard of some kind seems essential to preventing the mud from messing up the fans again. Is this possible? I do not know the design personally.

 

[f1eng]

I seem to remember reading about a design update to reduce the likelihood of debris getting to the fans. Not sure when it was introduced.

 

[MrB]

Mine is heading into the OPC this Friday for noise from the fans, particularly notable under HPC charging (which I do almost exclusively). Will be interesting to see upon whom they put the responsibility for paying to sort it.

 

[alexsas]

Mine is heading into the OPC this Friday for noise from the fans, particularly notable under HPC charging (which I do almost exclusively). Will be interesting to see upon whom they put the responsibility for paying to sort it.

please do keep us posted... it's ridiculous if a customer needs to pay for something they designed that does not work in the normal driving conditions...

 

[MrB]

please do keep us posted... it's ridiculous if a customer needs to pay for something they designed that does not work in the normal driving conditions...

Will do.

 

[hifi239]

I seem to remember reading about a design update to reduce the likelihood of debris getting to the fans. Not sure when it was introduced.

There is a TSB for pre 11/21 builds. See Tooney's post here. I don't know if those TSB's apply to other countries outside the USA. Some European members have reported the free TSB upon reporting fan noise.

 

[hifi239]

I think we may be missing an important step here. If the fans are clogged by mud, then a mud-guard of some kind seems essential to preventing the mud from messing up the fans again. Is this possible? I do not know the design personally.

Yes, the question is whether the mud is getting into the fan motor from the wheel well (much more likely) or from the front (less likely). The front has its own issue, which is rocks kicked up on the road can break the radiator (Zunsport makes a grille for that). The redesigned fan vents and fans after 11/21 builds are supposed to reduce debris intrusion causing a problem.

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