How funny!!!   I found exactly the same thing...even had to ream the fan to fit its shaft.  Thought mine was too loud to put in the camper though.  I was afraid I wouldn't be able to sleep with it going on all the time right by my head.  Does the noise lessen when it's finally in the cavity behind the fridge???  Another crazy thought I had was to install some kind of a rheostat in series with it to vary the speed.  Turn it up all the way on the hottest days, and down when I lay me down to sleep.  I just can't quite get the circuit right, though.  Anyone on the list know of a simple way to control the speed on a 12 VDC motor????

TIA!
Rod Woten
'87 Westy
Des Moines

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From:   MIME :thewestyman@MINDSPRING.COM[SMTP:MIME :thewestyman@MINDSPRING.COM]
Sent:   Tuesday, November 05, 2002 3:05 AM
To:     vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject:        Fridge fan, turbo version?

Well, not quite, but read on....the van I just finished working on needed a
fridge fan. No time to order one, and being not impressed with airflow from
computer fans led me to search the drawers of the hobby parts at the local
Radio Shack. There I found a slightly larger 12 volt motor ($3.50) that
bolted directly in place of the original, just a slight ream in the fan
blade hole was all that was required. This new motor kicks a**!! It churns
up quite a little breeze over the fins of the cooling unit. Noticeably more
'vacuum cleaner' sound than the original, but not really louder. Cycles
on/off faster too. Try it, if you need a new fan.

Karl Mullendore
Westy Ventures
1987 Westfalia Syncro 1.9TD