Were forum members replacing the OEM fan before it failed?

[EricEdelman]

I don't even have my truck yet (I'm picking it up in Dallas and driving home to Syracuse, NY in a few weeks), but I'm nervous about the fan after reading the forum.

The fan from simple-engineering seems easy enough to put in. Is it worth doing before the OEM fan fails? (The truck is a 2005 with a six speed and 5,000 miles on it if makes a difference.)

I don't necessarily mind spending $300 and a little time to install it if the OEM fan is that bad, but if it's not necessary, that's alright too.

Thanks in advance.

[xoxoxoBruce]

It's probably not necessary... but since you're already going to be in Texas, it's cheap insurance to not have to worry about it on the trip home.

Or ever, for that matter.

[CQQL_SSR]

Make sure it doesn't already have one.
A lot of the Southern members have already replaced them.

I bought my 2005 Silver 6 speed last year from a Chrysler dealer in Syracuse.
He couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

[artsmart]

If you don't want to be stuck in some podunk town waiting for a replacement, I would put in one of the aftermarkets. Mine failed at less than 3000 miles, so its probably just the luck of the draw. GM replaced the OEM under warranty but it still ran hot, took it out, put in Mike's and all is good.

[dyoung]

i added mikes pusher fan and his rear replacement fan just for peace of mind,,easy to install and well worth the money...

[yellow bear]

Eric, Welcome Aboard!! In these times, put your $$ where they belong, Not where we suppose they should be.
TRUE, the OEM fan Will Fail, but, where does your warranty fail? (end). Use your $ where they should be. I have indeed had a failure and a "catastrophic" failure(accident) all at the same time. If it's not broke, don't fix it.
The other side of the token says, check the fan(s) first. Maybe a Fanatic owned it and did the 'upgrade' already? Check First....
There is a "Traveling Fanatics Spare Parts" thread and a 'pin map' of Fanatics' here that will be of Great Importance to You as You Travel around these Great United States of America. Don't leave Home Without It!!! Believe me... there is a whole Family out Here That wants You Home Safe and Sound..... No matter What...

[ibjeff]

I called Mike in AZ up the week after I bought my Supercharged. My oem fan had been replaced at the dealership the month before, but I just did not want to worry. Mike installed his for me at his house Money well spent and I have the new oem fan in storage in my garage. To me, it meant a little more peace of mind......my opinion MONEY WELL SPENT

[Topspin]

All I can say is, Mike's replacement fan is the best investment I've made so far. Picture you in your new ride heading home and getting stuck in one of the many interstate work projects going on right now. Stop and go and relying on a part known to fail that's on a marginal cooling system. Having the R towed into an unknown dealership for service or worse, leaving it behind because you have to get home, would scare me to death. Put the upgraded fan on and releave your mind. It's got a nice shroud on it and fits perfectly. At a later date you can alter the programing to bring the fan in sooner if desired or install a higher capacity radiator. I've done all of that and feel very safe in any climate. But, the fan is the important part for low speed survival. Mike's the best - PM him and he'll take care of you.

[shiftz33]

I replaced my 06 SSR OEM fan with a simple-engineering replacement fan right after I purchased this SSR. There have been far too many OEM fan failures documented by sight members of the GM OEM (rebadged VW fan) even with the slight modification GM/VW did to the fan (added small filter to the air inlet to the fan motor to keep more dust out of the fan motor).

The concept of waiting for it to fail is simply a matter of how much risk are you willing to take. I'm not willing to have a failure occur (it's not a matter of if it's a matter of when) in the central California summer heat. Even if my warranty covered a failed OEM fan, why would I want the same poor design installed as a replacement part.

The fact that the OEM fan is an unshrouded fan is another strike against it. The simple-engineering fan is a shrouded drop in replacement that works GREAT!

[hdflstf]

34k miles - still on the original fan.

[parrotbobssr]

me too

[leeb]

Originally Posted by hdflstf

34k miles - still on the original fan.

Ditto - 30k and counting

[6.0TOGO]

O5 40000 PLUS MILES-ALSO STILL ON ORIGINAL FAN....CHUCKSTR

[Dick Bellville]

My original fan was replaced at 6000 miles, failure.

Replaced with, I think, another OEM fan, may have been an upgrade by GM.

Anyway, just turned 34K and fan has been fine.

Dick

[crazyrtr53]

To answer your question what is your time and peace of mind worth????
Damn I hate it when someone answers a question with a question..
Anyway I replaced my OEM fan with Mike's as Chevy was replacing my fan when it went out at 7k miles. I put both of Mike's fans on OEM replacement & Aux fan. When Chevy called to say my fan was in I said fine I"ll be up and pick it up, so I have a spare OEM fan for anyone cruising thru my area that needs one if their R breaks down....
I also replaced the lower rad. support bar with Mike's, all money well spent to keep my Chevy realiable....

[Purple Penelope]

Originally Posted by EricEdelman

The fan from simple-engineering seems easy enough to put in. Is it worth doing before the OEM fan fails? (The truck is a 2005 with a six speed and 5,000 miles on it if makes a difference.)

I don't necessarily mind spending $300 and a little time to install it if the OEM fan is that bad, but if it's not necessary, that's alright too.

Thanks in advance.

Eric....welcome to the group.....you'll find peace of mind goes a long way when your willing to spend a little money to obtain it.
I lost my fan at 12K miles the day before I was going on a trip. Local Chevy dealer said he could get one by Monday, three days later. That won't work. I drove 165 miles to a dealer in Tallahassee to get a replacement, w/o the fan turning one revolution. (Overheating occurs mainly in slow traffic, now I said mainly, as adequite airflow occurs on the road over 35mph.) Shortly after that I bought Mike's "pusher" fan for the '04
I replaced the OEM fan with Mike's replacement when he offered them and the needle now stays mainly on the "2" of 210 indicated temperature. Narry a problem since that day.

When I bought the '06 the first thing I did was buy a "pusher" fan for it. That should handle any problem I have with the OEM fan until a repalcement can be obtained, should that occur.

Tony's comment about buying a radiator support bracket is a valid one. I have bumped my air dam enough times so to break the attachment of the "pusher" fan to the plastic support bracket. The fan is not secured to the support bracket any longer....so I've just ordered & received Mike's metal support bracket to shore up that "dangling" pusher fan.

Mike has offered us a number of products which provide an improved service for know deficiencies at a reasonable price. This is what peace of mind is all about.

P/P

Peace

[BIG JIM]

Eric,

Welcome to the fold. I have a '05 with 56k miles I had mikes puser fan installed by him at the Springfield Rally just for insurance. The Factory fan failed 2 weeks ago and thanks to mikes pusher fan I am still able to motovate. BTY I am still waiting for my Factory replacement Fan from GM...


Jim

[RUN ROD RUN]

I've got Mikes puser fan also as my main fan with 10,888 miles died on me during the Durando Rally. Best insurance you can buy.

[hawaiinfun]

i have mikes pusher fan also and it works great and as soon as i can get the grandkids from taking the rest of my money i will get the other fan and hopefully the lower support

[popsssr]

Added Mike's aux fan then replaced the oem fan with Mike's replacement. Money well spent. Even looks better.