How many fan clutches till I get a good one?

[chris142]

When I got my truck the fan clutch was locked solid. As in the bearings were siezed and I could not rotate the fan by hand with the engine off. Plus it sounded like a jet airplane with that huge fan spinning constantly.

I replaced it with a new Hayden fan clutch about 2 months ago. It's been fine around town.

Went on a trip today into the mountains. I watched the temp guage climb and climb. The fan clutch never hooked up to pull air It got past the "L" in normal, dont know the actual temp but it was up there and the stupid thing never locked up.

Grrrrrr. Rant off.

 

[riotwarrior]

Time for electric....or use a FORD clutch

 

[rhkcommander]

When I got my truck the fan clutch was locked solid. As in the bearings were siezed and I could not rotate the fan by hand with the engine off. Plus it sounded like a jet airplane with that huge fan spinning constantly.

I replaced it with a new Hayden fan clutch about 2 months ago. It's been fine around town.

Went on a trip today into the mountains. I watched the temp guage climb and climb. The fan clutch never hooked up to pull air It got past the "L" in normal, dont know the actual temp but it was up there and the stupid thing never locked up.

Grrrrrr. Rant off.

0, lock it or go electric fans!

 

[RLDSL]

The operative word there was HAYDEN
Unfortunately, if you live in the US or Canada, ALL of the aftermarket fan clutches available are made by Hayden ( they may be sold under different names, but they are all still made by Hayden ) and they are all CRAP The ford factory one is just slightly better, but doesnt completely lock up untill your engine is ready to melt down, the only other option is an MStech fan clutch which is a modified Ford one which comes on sooner, but after my experience with them, I cante speak well of them either, as they do not stand behind their work.. If you happen to be lucky enough to live in Europe, you can get fan clutches made by Sachs, for some reason they sell them there, but not here, i WISH i could get one of those quality clutches for my truck here ( Ive got a friend in the Netherlands , I may have to hit him up ) in the mean time I spent a minor fortune putting E fans on to not have to fuss with the things anymore

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

When I got my truck the fan clutch was locked solid. As in the bearings were siezed and I could not rotate the fan by hand with the engine off. Plus it sounded like a jet airplane with that huge fan spinning constantly.

I replaced it with a new Hayden fan clutch about 2 months ago. It's been fine around town.

Went on a trip today into the mountains. I watched the temp guage climb and climb. The fan clutch never hooked up to pull air It got past the "L" in normal, dont know the actual temp but it was up there and the stupid thing never locked up.

Grrrrrr. Rant off.

My advice is to put that siezed-up old clutch back on and enjoy.

In summer's heat, I have never had anything but grief from fan-clutches.

I have several older trucks around here that NEVER had a fan-clutch; and, the fan was the last thing one ever wondered about whenever a cooling problem surfaced.

With these fan-clutched engines, the fan-clutch is more often than not the culprit in any over-heating event, so long as the anti-freeze hasn't spewed from a ruptured hose.

 

[MUDKICKR]

but with the clutch fan system the fan blades are bent different so when the fan clutch does in-gauge, then it pulls in more air then a regular fan would, so putting one which is locked up on the truck would in turn sound like a leaf blower under the hood, and take away from the fuel mileage.
i remember reading somewhere where someone asked about electric fans and it seemed that people were bashing them and saying the clutch fan was a better set-up, but i cant remember where i read that.
best advice one can give is either buy a factory one from ford, buy one aftermarket for less and expect to replace it more often, or convert to an electric fan setup and enjoy the little better fuel mileage, little bit more power, and the reliability of the electric cooling fans. also there are a few companies that sell an auto thermostat system for the cooling fans, so you dont have to worry about turning them on and off, you just adjust it to kick on when the temp is right and dont worry about it again.

 

[chvycmnslvr68]

One thing to keep in mind is that if you have a truck with a charge air cooler you dont want to put an electric fan on it that has electric temp control ... the fan only runs when the water temp is up and you need the OEM fan to pull a little air through all the time to keep the charge air cooler cool .... otherwise your intake air temp will climb and this can cause problems ...

 

[chvycmnslvr68]

also you need to keep in mind that most of your factory ford fans dont even lock up till around 230-240 and you are only running at the "L" in normal ... your probably not even getting close yet ... you need to put a quality temp gauge under the dash and see exactly where your engine is running temp wise ... My dodge cummins fan comes on at exactly 210 every time and never fails ... I cant count the times that I have stopped to help people on the side of the road with their hood up and once I start asking them questions they tell me that the temp was getting close to the red zone so they pulled over and then it boiled over ... If they would have just backed out a little bit and kept going they would have been just fine ...

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

chevycummins guy makes a good point about the inter-cooler needing constant air-movement.

One other very important point to consider is the A/C condensor.

With a wimpy clutched fan, A/C performance is gonna suffer big-time whenever stuck in traffic, sitting still, or just easing along.

Once up to speed, even with the fan simply coasting along, which is what most clutch-fans only ever do, enough air movement will yield mediocre A/C performance, though never stellar.

This is where electric fans really shine; they are either OFF or wide-open, regardless of engine speed; thus, the A/C condensor gets full air velocity regardless of engine speed.

Everyone speaks of un-heard of "CFMs" of a stock clutch-fan; this is only achievable in a perfect laboratory setting and usually by mathematics, not in reality.

I have no doubt that a good set of electric fans will outperform any clutch-fan in any real-world setting.

That is my opinion; you all are welcome to dis-agree.

 

[chris142]

My AC works great! I retrofitted it to R134a and today it was over 100F and it froze me out. I only need the blower on low to keep it cold in that cab. The fan clutch moves lots of air @ idle.

It's my understanding that a fan clutch is supposed to engage @ idle/slow speeds and also to hook up at higher temps when the spring in the center gets hot enough to spin the vanes inside it to the lock up mode. It works fine idling. Just never hooked up when I think it should have due to the temp.

I've got a lazer temp gun so I can shoot the thermostat housing to get an idea on actual temp. No turbo so no intercooler.

The Hayden fan clutch did work when it was new and I could hear it hook up and roar when it needed to. The one that was locked up was all wobbly so I don't want that on there and i'm not a "fan" of electric fans.

I'll just keep warranting the fan clutch untill I get one that works I guess.

 

[2stroke]

My class 8 truck has a fan clutch and yes its air operated and very reliable/long lasting. My point is, the truck has an intercooler and ac. They work as follows. Ac system has a freon high presure sensor, the freon presure goes up when not enough air is pulled through the condenser and engauges the fan clutch. As far as the intercooler goes there arent and sensors that are connected to it but the engine temp will rise with an increase in exhaust temp. This will eventualy engauge the fan clutch by the coolant sensor.

 

[sle2115]

As was said, get a real gauge on it...the L in normal is only guessing cause they are not remotely accurate! Put a real temp gauge on and keep the in dash gauge hooked up and you will see what I mean...180-220 on my "real" gauge and the in dash one shows the same!

 

[2stroke]

By the way has anyone ever looked into Horton as a source for a new clutch rather thay Hayden or ford. Horton makes air as well as viscus clutches.

 

[justinray]

By the way has anyone ever looked into Horton as a source for a new clutch rather thay Hayden or ford. Horton makes air as well as viscus clutches.

How do the two types work differently?

 

[2stroke]

Not shure what you mean justinray. Viscus is what we have on our fords and air needs a compressor for air and various sensors/switches to make fan turn on and off.