radiator fan question=-

[jamesmetairie]

05 base Vibe . about 185,000 miles. In 06/24/radiator fan motor stopped working. My honest mobile mechanic was out of town , so I went to a recommended local shop. They charged me a arm and leg.($400.+) and replaced the entire assembly/housing. Now 08/25 the fan blade is wobling and hitting stuff. The shop will honor the part warranty, but wants almost $200. for labor.
So I bought a auto zone "dorman" assembly (part # 620-546) for $72. and my honest mobile guy will install.

Question = When I searched around Amazon (part # 620-546), etc. they always question if the Vibe is manual transmission. What does that have to do with a fan motor?

[joatmon]

I don't know why that would make a difference in the fan assembly, unless it is for a fit issue. Auto tranny radiators have a passage for transmission fluid to be pumped through, manual tranny radiators do not. Maybe its something to do with the different radiators, and how the shroud fits to it. I can't see where the tranny difference would need different fan performance, that's all controlled by the computer anyway

edit :
tpollauf's below makes more sense than it being just a fit issue, excellent point that the auto needs more cooling power to cool both the engine and tranny

[tpollauf]

Similar to what Joatmon mentioned, I believe most vehicles that had transmission choices, did receive a different radiator depending on the transmission. Mainly for capacity of the cooling fluid. With a manual tranny, lets say you only needed 3 qts of coolant (just grabbing some random numbers there) whereas an automatic may require 4 qts. So then possibly a stronger/bigger fan would be needed to cool the fluid for the automatics. Just my guess at this point.

[jamesmetairie]

Mobile mechanic installed it today. No problems doing it. AZ stocks dorman and also their duralast. Took a better look at the old one after it was pulled. The shaft was wobbly.

[andrewclaus]

I just did that replacement a couple of weeks ago, failed motor bearing. Got the whole fan and shroud at the local auto parts store for $80. Maybe I'll need to keep an eye on it.