Has David replied to this Ed?

Here's my take on it. The bushing is probably, or maybe, an oilite type sintered bronze bushing. Well I would hope it would be anyway.

They are porous and hold the oil. But they can get all gummed up. If the bushing is removable you can try soaking it in a solvent, or even heating it to burn up the old gunk.

Then soak it in hot lubricating oil, under vacuum if possible.

Does seem like a lot of work eh? Even finding new bushings, sizing and installing them is a bit of work.

Alistair 

> On Sep 18, 2015, at 5:25 PM, Edward Maglott <emaglott3@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> This seems like a good question for David B. and others on this list.  I
> like to fix old things up and use them or repurpose them.  Old fans are one
> of those things.  Usually they are AC fans you plug in to the wall, but
> this probably also applies to the DC fans in our vanagons.  I can take them
> apart and get to the bearings, which are usually just a metal shaft in a
> metal bushing.  I clean up the surfaces and lube them with some handy oil
> but this fix usually only lasts a little while.  What is the best lube to
> use for this situation to get the most "revive time" between service
> intervals?  I assume the bearing is actually worn and not fitting correctly
> and can never really be right again.  Ideas?
> Edward