CCUl Fan – New Replacements for Less Than Half the Normal Cost
04-17-2015, 02:37 PM
#1
CCUl Fan – New Replacements for Less Than Half the Normal Cost
Many thanks to those who paved the way and accomplished much of the work that I’ll try to finish up with this write-up.
The CCU fan has been the subject of many forum posts as its failures lead to noise and erratic temperature control. The very high cost of the Porsche 964.659.148.00 spare ($312.98 list, $222.68 street) has motivated Rennlisters with finite budgets to consider alternatives. Previous posts have documented that the Denso CCU fan used as part of the automated temperature control function was also supplied in similar forms by Denso to other auto makers including Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes, and Dodge. It has also been shown that reworking any of the 173000 series fans can produce an acceptable replacement. Several posts described successes with used parts from eBay. For me, what was missing was a path to the purchase of a new part so as to get maximum expected life from the replacement - hopefully still a much lower price point than the Porsche part.
Enter the internet and online parts diagrams! After a few hours, I was able to wade through the Mercedes diagrams for the MY 2001 ML320 to find that their part number 1638203442 (called an “aspirator engine”) was likely the 173000-871 Denso fan assembly we would consider as fodder for the 964 adaptation. If this was true then three things immediately became apparent –
1. At $105 list price, the MB part is certainly cheaper,
2. It could be had even cheaper from Rennlist advertiser ECS Tuning at $83.89,
3. Quality would be the same because it came from a warehouse in Stuttgart just down the road from the Porsche spares warehouse.
My CCU fan has accumulated 47K miles worth of operation and twenty one years of time and only makes occasional noise. However, I figured I would go in and renew the fan (and also stock a spare). I ordered the MB part from ECS Tuning and had it in less than a week. I also ordered the Porsche part from Suncoast to keep everything “apples to apples” and to make getting the photos for this post easier.
Comparing the parts, the motors appear to be the same, the actual fans appear to be the same, and the wiring is the same. The only differences are the air intakes (the plastic top covers), the cable lengths and connectors, and the mounting brackets. If we need only to replace the fan motor, we don’t need the brackets, we know how to swap air intakes, and we can shorten the MB part’s cable and swap its connector.
The Porsche application uses a two-pin AMP (now TE Connectivity) connector that is no longer easily purchased new (AMP 925014-0). The part number is still valid twenty years later, but it cannot be purchased in less than a production lot from the manufacturer. (Perhaps that explains some of the cost of the Porsche spare – Denso may be sitting on thousands of parts). However, the contacts for the connector are still used in other AMP connector styles, and are readily available and are dirt cheap. Digi-Key has the AMP 1217281-2 contacts for $0.20 apiece. Fortunately for us, the contacts are designed to be easily removed from the connector, just slip a miniature flat screwdriver or hook in from the mating end (opposite the wiring entry end), to release the retaining tab, and the contact and wire will pull out the back of the housing.
Our mission is first to remove the existing brackets and air intakes from both fan assemblies, then to reassemble the new fan with the old bracket and air intake. The brackets come right off by removing the two Phillips screw. The air intakes (top covers) are removed by carefully prying off the retaining clips.
The plastic mounting posts that secure the air intake are 0.190” diameter – The push on retaining ring is industry part number TY-18. I bought a bag of 25 parts for $12.75 shipped from WWW.MOTIONINDUSTRIES.COM.
Next, cut off the Mercedes connector, slide off the plastic tubing, and cut the two harness wires to length. The contacts I listed are designed to be crimped on, but we can solder them just as easily.
Finally, we extract the old harness wires and contacts from the old housing and slide in the new. This can be done one wire at a time to prevent accidentally getting the polarity switched.
We’re done – new fan motor with all new wiring and connector contacts ready for another twenty years of service – total cost ~ $90.
Note that the new Porsche spare actually has the assembly part number marked on it. This is a little bit more added value, (but not enough to sway the determined DIYer). It would help a Dodge owner find a more expensive option to repair their cars though!
P.S. I looked at swapping over the new plastic motor internals and bearing into the original Porsche case, but did not find a practical way to separate the bearing from the case without damaging it.
The CCU fan has been the subject of many forum posts as its failures lead to noise and erratic temperature control. The very high cost of the Porsche 964.659.148.00 spare ($312.98 list, $222.68 street) has motivated Rennlisters with finite budgets to consider alternatives. Previous posts have documented that the Denso CCU fan used as part of the automated temperature control function was also supplied in similar forms by Denso to other auto makers including Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes, and Dodge. It has also been shown that reworking any of the 173000 series fans can produce an acceptable replacement. Several posts described successes with used parts from eBay. For me, what was missing was a path to the purchase of a new part so as to get maximum expected life from the replacement - hopefully still a much lower price point than the Porsche part.
Enter the internet and online parts diagrams! After a few hours, I was able to wade through the Mercedes diagrams for the MY 2001 ML320 to find that their part number 1638203442 (called an “aspirator engine”) was likely the 173000-871 Denso fan assembly we would consider as fodder for the 964 adaptation. If this was true then three things immediately became apparent –
1. At $105 list price, the MB part is certainly cheaper,
2. It could be had even cheaper from Rennlist advertiser ECS Tuning at $83.89,
3. Quality would be the same because it came from a warehouse in Stuttgart just down the road from the Porsche spares warehouse.
My CCU fan has accumulated 47K miles worth of operation and twenty one years of time and only makes occasional noise. However, I figured I would go in and renew the fan (and also stock a spare). I ordered the MB part from ECS Tuning and had it in less than a week. I also ordered the Porsche part from Suncoast to keep everything “apples to apples” and to make getting the photos for this post easier.
Comparing the parts, the motors appear to be the same, the actual fans appear to be the same, and the wiring is the same. The only differences are the air intakes (the plastic top covers), the cable lengths and connectors, and the mounting brackets. If we need only to replace the fan motor, we don’t need the brackets, we know how to swap air intakes, and we can shorten the MB part’s cable and swap its connector.
The Porsche application uses a two-pin AMP (now TE Connectivity) connector that is no longer easily purchased new (AMP 925014-0). The part number is still valid twenty years later, but it cannot be purchased in less than a production lot from the manufacturer. (Perhaps that explains some of the cost of the Porsche spare – Denso may be sitting on thousands of parts). However, the contacts for the connector are still used in other AMP connector styles, and are readily available and are dirt cheap. Digi-Key has the AMP 1217281-2 contacts for $0.20 apiece. Fortunately for us, the contacts are designed to be easily removed from the connector, just slip a miniature flat screwdriver or hook in from the mating end (opposite the wiring entry end), to release the retaining tab, and the contact and wire will pull out the back of the housing.
Our mission is first to remove the existing brackets and air intakes from both fan assemblies, then to reassemble the new fan with the old bracket and air intake. The brackets come right off by removing the two Phillips screw. The air intakes (top covers) are removed by carefully prying off the retaining clips.
The plastic mounting posts that secure the air intake are 0.190” diameter – The push on retaining ring is industry part number TY-18. I bought a bag of 25 parts for $12.75 shipped from WWW.MOTIONINDUSTRIES.COM.
Next, cut off the Mercedes connector, slide off the plastic tubing, and cut the two harness wires to length. The contacts I listed are designed to be crimped on, but we can solder them just as easily.
Finally, we extract the old harness wires and contacts from the old housing and slide in the new. This can be done one wire at a time to prevent accidentally getting the polarity switched.
We’re done – new fan motor with all new wiring and connector contacts ready for another twenty years of service – total cost ~ $90.
Note that the new Porsche spare actually has the assembly part number marked on it. This is a little bit more added value, (but not enough to sway the determined DIYer). It would help a Dodge owner find a more expensive option to repair their cars though!
P.S. I looked at swapping over the new plastic motor internals and bearing into the original Porsche case, but did not find a practical way to separate the bearing from the case without damaging it.
03-08-2016, 10:02 PM
#4
Extra wires?
If I had to guess, I would guess there is a thermister somewhere inside that unit (that we don't need). If you open it up you should be able to see which two wires are connected to the motor.
Post pictures of the inside if it isn't obvious.
Good luck,
cajonfan
Post pictures of the inside if it isn't obvious.
Good luck,
cajonfan
