SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr
SILVER Star
Moral of the story, consider replacing your fan as preventative maintenance if it even looks slightly yellow or discolored.
Last Wednesday I was on my way to Durango, CO from Pagosa Springs driving up a hill pushing 3500 rpms when I felt a clunk and saw debris in the mirror. At first, I thought I had hit something in the road but there was nothing there and the road was smooth.
Slightly after that first clunk, I started pulling off into the shoulder when I noticed something was out of balance. I hopped out of the cruiser and walked to the front to find all of the coolant gushing out.
After popping the hood, I saw plastic pieces all over and on top of the valve cover. I thought the overflow bottle had somehow exploded but quickly realized it was a fan blade sitting on the valve cover.
The radiator had been punctured in multiple places and what was left of the fan shroud was still bolted up.
After getting it towed back to my neighbor’s summer home in Pagosa, I was able to start tearing it down so I could examine it. The plastic was pretty yellow (which it has been for quite some time) and may have had some tiny hair line cracks in it (they didn’t really show up in pictures). The water pump was still tight, motor mounts were fine, etc.
No evidence of anything impacting the fan or rubbing against it. Everything that we saw points to just the plastic failing.
After 27 years and 410k miles, it turns out that fans can explode. This has been the first breakdown this cruiser has ever had and only second time it has been towed. Ironically towed by my neighbors’ truck both times. Previous time was after flooding it in a river.
Thankfully the guys at High Country Cruisers in Pagosa hooked me up with a replacement fan and shroud and autozone was able to get a radiator in in a couple days and I was able to resume my trip.
Last Wednesday I was on my way to Durango, CO from Pagosa Springs driving up a hill pushing 3500 rpms when I felt a clunk and saw debris in the mirror. At first, I thought I had hit something in the road but there was nothing there and the road was smooth.
Slightly after that first clunk, I started pulling off into the shoulder when I noticed something was out of balance. I hopped out of the cruiser and walked to the front to find all of the coolant gushing out.
After popping the hood, I saw plastic pieces all over and on top of the valve cover. I thought the overflow bottle had somehow exploded but quickly realized it was a fan blade sitting on the valve cover.
The radiator had been punctured in multiple places and what was left of the fan shroud was still bolted up.
After getting it towed back to my neighbor’s summer home in Pagosa, I was able to start tearing it down so I could examine it. The plastic was pretty yellow (which it has been for quite some time) and may have had some tiny hair line cracks in it (they didn’t really show up in pictures). The water pump was still tight, motor mounts were fine, etc.
No evidence of anything impacting the fan or rubbing against it. Everything that we saw points to just the plastic failing.
After 27 years and 410k miles, it turns out that fans can explode. This has been the first breakdown this cruiser has ever had and only second time it has been towed. Ironically towed by my neighbors’ truck both times. Previous time was after flooding it in a river.
Thankfully the guys at High Country Cruisers in Pagosa hooked me up with a replacement fan and shroud and autozone was able to get a radiator in in a couple days and I was able to resume my trip.
