GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

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?

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

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.

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.

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.