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Seized cooling fans.

caslca

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Interesting. I just got both of my front fans replaced on my '22 under warranty due to clanking noise.
I second the wd40 comment too - it is designed to dissolve existing greases and oils, while it also adds some of its own oil blend. It will not be good for long-term usage and you should lubricate the fans with the proper grease soon to avoid damage to the bearings
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andb

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Mine are also replaced this week in warranty. Nothing blocked the fans just one died and they change only both. So many issues the Taycan has, its crazy.
 

D00notD00d

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From the TSB link above it is clear there has been a design change as an attempt to cure this.
I can’t therefore see how Porsche can refuse warranty claims. Isn’t there a ‘thermal event’ risk from a seized battery cooling fan?
Positioning a fan inside a wheel arch is asking for trouble.
 

BigBob

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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.
Just wondering, but do you have a CT or the regular shape? As the CT has a 'gravel mode' you'd think/hope they'd put some added protection (or duty of care) in for the CT at least.

When working, do the fans run all the time, or just when the car gets warm? What's the easiest angle to see them from please?
 

Hirschaj

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When working, do the fans run all the time, or just when the car gets warm? What's the easiest angle to see them from please?
No, they don’t run all the time. They only run when cooling is required. You can’t see the fan’s themselves but you can feel them pushing out hot air from the front wheel wells. If you look in the front wheel wells towards the front of the car you will see the slots for the fans that let in all the gravel and other debris that can clog the fans. I’ve poked a screwdriver in there before to manually move the fans to check if they are seized or not.
 


MrB

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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...
My profuse apologies for not getting back to you on this one sooner. My car went in for this and they replaced the fans under warranty within a couple of hours with no fuss. Another tick in the box for my OPC (Norwich).
 

SemPan

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This is another manufacturer's fiasco. Last week I changed both fans after three years of operation. The fan motor is completely open to the flow of water and dirt, as it is not sealed. Fans almost never turn on in winter. All the dirt from the road is clogged into the electric motor between the rotor and the stator. Since 2019, three versions of the C, B fan have changed and today D. If you do not live on the equator, two years is the maximum service life of the fan. Through the arch, you can check the health of your fan. I took the old fans for restoration, but the WD-40 doesn't help yet. If anyone is interested in seeing the open part of the electric motor, write, I will post a photo in the evening. What is the protection status of the new version of the fan, I can't say anything, because the fan itself covers the open part of the electric motor. But what I saw on the C version I was just struck by the level of engineering thought of the manufacturer.
 

eimhear

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Thank you for sharing this! This is excellent advice for anyone dealing with seized cooling fans on the Taycan, especially considering how expensive these replacements are. Your approach to cleaning and manually freeing the fan motors makes a lot of sense, especially since mud and dirt buildup seems to be a common problem with the cooling fans on these vehicles
 


FrostDrive

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This is another manufacturer's fiasco. Last week I changed both fans after three years of operation. The fan motor is completely open to the flow of water and dirt, as it is not sealed. Fans almost never turn on in winter. All the dirt from the road is clogged into the electric motor between the rotor and the stator. Since 2019, three versions of the C, B fan have changed and today D. If you do not live on the equator, two years is the maximum service life of the fan. Through the arch, you can check the health of your fan. I took the old fans for restoration, but the WD-40 doesn't help yet. If anyone is interested in seeing the open part of the electric motor, write, I will post a photo in the evening. What is the protection status of the new version of the fan, I can't say anything, because the fan itself covers the open part of the electric motor. But what I saw on the C version I was just struck by the level of engineering thought of the manufacturer.
How cay I check in the Swedish winter (now around zero degrees) that the both fans are working properly? :)

Drove today 20km with sport plus. Battery temp goes from zero to 4 degrees after 20 minutes driving but no fans are spinning. :)
 

chun

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How cay I check in the Swedish winter (now around zero degrees) that the both fans are working properly? :)

Drove today 20km with sport plus. Battery temp goes from zero to 4 degrees after 20 minutes driving but no fans are spinning. :)
Ideal temperature for taycan battery is 30 degrees. Why would the fans be spinning to cool down the battery when it hasn’t even reached 30?
 

FrostDrive

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Ideal temperature for taycan battery is 30 degrees. Why would the fans be spinning to cool down the battery when it hasn’t even reached 30?
First, is fans used to spread out the heat then it would start when heating?

Mine started for some time ago with battery temp 10-14 degrees and 4-8 degrees outside. By just standing still and activate sport plus.
 
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SemPan

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How cay I check in the Swedish winter (now around zero degrees) that the both fans are working properly? :)

Drove today 20km with sport plus. Battery temp goes from zero to 4 degrees after 20 minutes driving but no fans are spinning. :)
Повернуть колеса влево до конца, потом вправо - открывается доступ к вентиляционным отверстиям в передней части колесной арки. Через эти отверстия можно проверить вращение вентиляторов пальцем или отверткой. Если вращаются - все хорошо, если нет - на замену.
How cay I check in the Swedish winter (now around zero degrees) that the both fans are working properly? :)

Drove today 20km with sport plus. Battery temp goes from zero to 4 degrees after 20 minutes driving but no fans are spinning. :)
Turn the wheels to the left all the way, then to the right - access to the ventilation holes in the front of the wheel arch opens. Through these holes, you can check the rotation of the fans with your finger or a screwdriver. If they rotate - everything is fine, if not - for replacement.
 

FrostDrive

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Повернуть колеса влево до конца, потом вправо - открывается доступ к вентиляционным отверстиям в передней части колесной арки. Через эти отверстия можно проверить вращение вентиляторов пальцем или отверткой. Если вращаются - все хорошо, если нет - на замену.

Turn the wheels to the left all the way, then to the right - access to the ventilation holes in the front of the wheel arch opens. Through these holes, you can check the rotation of the fans with your finger or a screwdriver. If they rotate - everything is fine, if not - for replacement.
So, if it can go around if I turn it around with a screwdriver it is ok?
Is this valid for both right and left fans?
 

chun

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First, is fans used to spread out the heat then it would start when heating?

Mine started for some time ago with battery temp 10-14 degrees and 4-8 degrees outside. By just standing still and activate sport plus.
On sport plus fans turn on at max speed all the time, as sport plus starts precodnitiong the battery ALL the time, as if navigating to a high speed charging.

It's how some people pre-condition their battery when not using pcm navigation. But it does use a lot more power to have the car in sport plus, so it might result in you not reaching the charger.

What I usually do, if I arrive at a charger and the battery is not quite right temperature, i put it in sport plus for 2-4 minutes and it reaches the temperature.
 

chun

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So, if it can go around if I turn it around with a screwdriver it is ok?
Is this valid for both right and left fans?
I would not turn the fans manually around, as depending on how they are wired, it might result in generating a small electrical load and putting it in some motherboard or some circuit that is not expecting electrcity, creating a short. It's how you can shortcircuit a PC mobo/GPU for example...

If they work, as you said, in sport plus. They are ok.
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