cooling fan motor snap ring

The passenger side radiator cooling fan on my 1995 Accord was rattling
badly, so I took it off, and removed the fan blade. There is a tiny snap
ring that keeps the motor shaft for the fan blade centered on a series
of washers. This tiny snap ring has broken off.

Is this ring available as a part? I am having trouble finding it. I will
call the dealership tomorrow, but I was hoping that someone here has
some prior experience with this.

Also, is this the A/C cooling fan or the primary one?

Thanks,

Pat

 

Actually, I am pretty sure that this is the A/C fan, but I am wondering
if I can drive the car (with the A/C off) to go get my parts without
causing additional problems.

This is, or was, my only working car right now.

Thanks!

Pat

 

That's the rad fan. So long as you're never in heavy, stop-and-go traffic,
you can get along without it just fine. Just watch the temperature gauge
carefully when at lights.

If the snap ring isn't available from the dealer, you can get a whole fan
motor from the wreckers very cheaply.

 

Can you post a pic of the broken ring

 

Thanks Tegger, I will let you know what I end up doing.

 

There was only a small sliver of metal left in the receiving groove for
the snap ring, most of it must have fallen away when it broke off. I
cleared the rest of it out in case I can fit a new snap/retaining ring
on the original fan motor shaft.

I have a cooling fan assembly from a 1991 Mazda that is nearly identical
in appearance, using a snap ring on the fan shaft and it even mounts to
the shroud in exactly the same way using three bolts.

The snap ring on the Mazda motor is a very standard looking thing, just
very small, but it is too big to fit the Honda motor.
Compared to the Mazda unit, the Honda uses a larger fan motor with a
smaller fan shaft.

 

Just for the information pool. No radiator cooling fan snap/retaining
ring is available from Honda dealership, and a new radiator cooling fan
assembly for the '95 Accord is $441.00 for me locally.

I went to the hardware store and found a snap ring that fits. Upon
closer inspection, the thickest washer was trashed, but the washer from
the Mazda motor was the correct size, as the fan blade shafts are the
same size where the washers are located.
I used this washer, put it all together, and it spins nicely with no
more wobble and no more excessive noise.

We'll see if it holds. The repair attempt was only 80 cents plus my time
and a donor Mazda fan motor that I already owned. Since I am broke right
now, that means a lot.

If it comes loose, I will buy a new fan motor at that time. The salvage
yard wants $119.00, and there is an aftermarket unit for $61.00 shipped,
but I am hoping that this repair holds out.

Pat

 

The snap ring that I am referring to looks exactly like this one, and is
about 1/4" in size.

http://www.out2win.com/catalog/images/snapring.jpg

Pat

 

That's a standard retaining ring available at any hardware store.

http://www.arconring.com/

 

Most snap rings are standard and can be had from almost any hardware
store or someplace like mcmastercar.com