All the ones I've had fail (3 -- none actually on a Vanagon since I've
never owned one before, but on same era VWs) have been bearing
failures, or possibly a seal failure that allowed moisture/dirt/salt
to cause a bearing failure.

Allan

"neil N" <musomuso@gmail.com> writes:

> Obviously all things mechanical eventually fail. Interesting to hear
> opinions on failures or not. I would imagine that salt and moisture
> are big factors in fan motor failure. From what I saw in archives,
> the problems with fans were mostly related to the electrical side of
> things.
>
> I'll probably install a bypass switch and "fan on" light.
>
> For now the one I have should be fine. I'll look into Pro Long or
> other lubes.  I'm tempted to remove the end cover and see if I can
> sneak some oil in there, but maybe I'll save that exploration for a
> broken fan motor!
>
> Neil.