B8 a4 cooling fan replacement

[bailey611]

Ok i had my whole front end ripped apart trying to figure a way to get the old fan out..

Has anyone done one of these? Do i need to tAke the radiator out? That was my next step but im on call for work and cant be without a car..

Any info or tricks to do this would be great... Cant find much about this..

Thanks


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[bailey611]

Fyi when you get to the part where you can slide the fan housing up, there are four tabs.. On the bottom two tabs there are a few clips you need to release on the bottom tabs to allow it to pull up..

You need a flat head and come from the side to release them. Then the whole housing will come up..

The only line i had to remove to get enough clearance was on the top passanger side tranny line.. And also took the intercooler out.. Besides that everything stayed connected and i didnt need to refill any fluids..

Took me about 2 hours to do last night but i also had a lift so that helped speed it up





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[gordiano_14]

Hello

Anyone had to go through replacing the cooling fans? Mine just gave out. I wanted to see if anyone could guide me the proper way.

Thanks,

[Jezza]

One if my fans is completely busted as well. Sub'd for a possible link to a diy guide or any guidance on how to perform the replacement.

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[JamesOliver]

Same, drivers side completely broke off


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[Downhill]

I had the drivers side fan bearing go out... the fan still worked, but it wobbled a lot, and clicked against the radiator.
It was too big a project for me to attempt..so I let a local shop do it, and they charged me $400 labor, and I paid $200 for a new shroud, radiator fan, ac fan combo from Auto Parts Warehouse.com

[j1194]

Can you give a little more detail about what you did? What do you mean tranny line? Did you have to remove the bumper?

Thank you!!

[Jezza]

I did this in approximately 2 hrs in the driveway. I've never replaced a radiator fan or shroud before. I have removed the bumper on this car on one previous occasion. So, if you paid someone $400 in labor, you liked laid $200 per actual hour of labor.

This was pretty simple, and you can do it alone, but I highly recommend a second set of hands to pull the radiator forward while you slide the shroud and fans out through the top.

I wish I had taken pics, but it's really so simple that there's not too much reason for it. For a guide on removing the bumper and getting the car into position for this, go watch ESC's guide for pulley installs on S4s. It'll get you most of the way there. Once you've done that, look for a large clip on either side of the shrough. It'll be just below the fans. Insert a flat head screw driver, gently twist till the two parts have clearance, and then lift up. I know it's not a definite guide, but feel free to pm me and I'll try to reply with reasonable haste.

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[thedeha]

I seem to be having the same issue as 'Downhill' where my fan is loose and clicks a bit. I went in there to try and get the shrowd out and I was not successful. I wonder if someone would clarify the two tabs on the bottom clips that need to be released to allow for removal so I don't break them. I see 8 clips on the shroud. Two clips on the bottom, two on each side and two on the top. Could someone please clarify which clips need to be released? I tried to release the lower clip on either side of the unit but they didn't seem to allow the unit to budge. If I were to number the clips as below, which clips need to be unlatched?


XXXXX 1 XXXXXXXX 2 XXXXX
X-------------------------------X
3-------------------------------4
X-------------------------------X
5-------------------------------6
XXXXX 7 XXXXXXXX 8 XXXXX

Also, to remove the shrowd, it appears that if I could unlatch it, I could remove it through the bottom of the car without removing anything else (bumper) except the electrical supply. Does this sound possible.

Thanks everyone!

[Jezza]

Sounds like your fan blade is coming detached from the fan motor. You'll probably just want to get a new fan assembly as I did. I'm not really sure where you can get just the blades at. Also, with mine, the motor rotating out of round is what causes ed the blade to come off in the first place.

Mine only had 2 actual clips. The others were just tabs that more or less just slid into a gap. The clips that need to be released are 5 and 6 according to your diagram. Although, I don't remember a 7 or 8.

You will need a flathead screw driver, and you'll have to come at them from the side. When viewing them from the side, it should be obvious how the clips fit together. They pretty much hook into each other. You just insert the flat head between them and carefully work them apart.

It cannot be removed through the bottom without either removing the fan control unit or the radiator support. There just isn't enough clearance.

What you can do is loosen the radiator from the support and disconnect it from the coolant reservoir (the connection on top of reservoir) which will allow it to be pulled forward (preferably by an assistant) just enough for you to wiggle it out the top. You really have to be careful and take your time on this part, and don't pull on the radiator too hard. Also, having small hands will help. There are some screw here and there that will need to be loosened up to allow this. The ones holding the headlight trays in come to mind. There might be more. It's been several months since I did this. I wish I had taken pics. It would make things easier for you, but I figured it out without any. I'm sure you can too. Maybe I'll take pics and do a write up the next time I have the bumper off. That might be a while though.

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[Jezza]

Just remembered I downloaded a workout manual pdf the other day. Fortunately, I found this in it.



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[bestboss]

Just replaced both fans from my 2011 audi A4 and it took a little long to take apart but rather easy to reassemble...

[91CQ20v]

Just wanted to add to this thread - thanks to the helpful comments on here, I was able to replace my broken fan at a minimal cost (about $130 for a German-made Behr-Hella fan, part #351044351) and in just a few hours. Here's a few notes from my experience:

1) By replacing just the broken fan itself instead of the entire shroud, I did NOT have to remove the front bumper or the fan shroud, nor did I have to disconnect any radiator hoses (except for the small line running from the coolant reservoir), all of which probs saved a ton of time.
2) I removed the upper and lower black plastic trim pieces protecting (or blocking access to) the radiator area, then removed the two vertical trim pieces that sit directly on either side of the radiator and run from the top to the bottom of the engine bay to shield the radiator from debris. These vertical pieces were difficult to remove without breaking - take your time with them. I couldn't get them out without breaking at least one or two tabs or each one, but that was fine.
3) After removing the stuff in the way, I was able to loosen the radiator enough to move it forward about 3 inches. I had a helper, and at that point we tried to get the entire fan shroud out, but it was heckin' impossible. High fives to the other dudes on this thread that got the entire shroud out without removing the radiator, but we spent almost two hours trying and the clearances were just too tight. That's when I just moved on to replacing the fan by itself. (As a side note, I can confirm that the diagrams above are correct, and that you only need to loosen the tabs at the "5 and 6" positions described above to remove the shroud.)
4) With the 3 inches of play in the radiator position, I was able to pull the rad forward, reach down, and remove the three screws that attached the fan motor to the shroud. Then I simply slid the old fan out the top ( I had to remove the hood latch assembly from the rad support first), and with some wriggling I was able to slide the new fan down back into position.

Screwing the new fan into the shroud also took some patience, but that was essentially it - take off all the stuff in the way, loosen the shroud from the radiator, loosen the radiator so it has about 3 inches of forward movement, unattach the broken fan from the shroud, slide it out the top, slide the new fan in, screw it into position, plug the electrical conection back in, reposition the shroud properly, put it all back together, and if you have no leftover screws then it's beer time. Cheers.

[bradthoc]

I’m trying to swap out one of my fans that stopped working. I’ve taken off some of the upper black trim and working in the rubber trim on both sides of the radiator. I’ve been able to get maybe 1/4 of the passenger side removed but am at a stuck point. Any tips or tricks for getting these off? Do they back in place easier than they are to remove? Hoping I can do this by myself and save a few hundred bucks! Thanks all.