| Author |
Message |
    
Kingfish (Kingfish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 09:38 am: | 
|
Can someone tell me how to check my fan clutch? I have a prob where temp goes high (making me turn on the heater) while stuck in traffic and then starts to cool down when I get to about 40mph. I'm guessing fan clutch. Any help? |
PerroneFord
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 10:09 am: |
|
With the car cold, try to spin the fan. If you give it a good push, it may spin half-way around but usually 4-6 blades worth.
Warm up the truck for 15 minutes by driving around, then turn it off and try to spin the fan again. It should tune 1-2 blades at most. If it spins as much as it did when cold, its toast. If it spins only 1-2 blades when cold, its siezed.
-P |
Jorge P. Gutierrez, Jr. (Jpg2esq)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 10:16 am: |
|
The cooling system in my 95 Disco (94k miles) is definitely on the fritz. I took a 3hr drive to the west coast of florida this weekend and had no overheating issues. I did the same trip a while back and it overheated and caused me to start the heater. A few days before my trip,wife had been running errands around town and if got hot while waiting for me inside the store. I had previously thought it was the radiator. In any event, I'll replace the fan clutch first. How difficult is the clutch to replace? |
PerroneFord
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 10:20 am: |
|
Fan clutch replacement is a 30 minute job if the nut holding yours on is not siezed. Otherwise it may take longer. I used a 12" adjustable wrench when I removed mine, but the nut is like 1.25" or 1.5".
Be careful of which way to turn it. If in doubt, watch the way the engine turns the fan. It always turns the fan in a directon to tighten the fan. So the nut comes off the opposite way.
-P |
Jon Williams (Jonw)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 10:35 am: |
|
The nut is 36mm (just shy of 1-7/16"), and NAPA sells a fan clutch nut wrench that is the correct size.
...not that you really need one, as an adjustable wrench will work just as well, like Perrone used. We call them Carolina speed wrenches 'round here  |
Kingfish (Kingfish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 10:58 am: |
|
P, thanks for the info. I have to comment about the fan removal, though. If the fan spins Counter clockwise (as mine does), the nut needs to be turned counterclockwise for removal. I just did it a month ago. When the engine kicks over, it jerks faster than the fan, thus tightening it. Try putting your finger in the palm of your other hand and turn your finger counterclockwise. You will see that upon a quick jerk (no smart ass comments) it tightens. Also, keep loctite away from those threads.
About the tool, a place called bavarian Auto (the sell BMW parts) sells a long thin fan removal wrench for removing BMW E36 fans with a 32 mm nut. The other end of the wrench is a 36mm end (which works perfectly for the Disco). That tool costs about $22. I have a BMW and a Rover, so it works out great for me.
Thank you all for the help. |
PerroneFord
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 11:05 am: |
|
Kingfish,
Thanks for the heads up. My 91 RR fan nut works the traditional way. I've heard the newer trucks with the Serpentine belt spin the other way, but I've not fooled with one yet.
As for loctite, I tend to like it, and it gets a bad rap. There are at least 8 varieties of threadlocking loctite for different uses. Loctite purple is perfect for this kind of application.
I use Bavarian also (I have an E30) but have not really paid any attention to the fan tool. My $10 crescent wrench did the job remarkably well.
Again, thanks for the heads up.
-P |
Kingfish (Kingfish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 11:37 am: |
|
P, I wasnt bad mouthing loctite, when I owned my Jetski, I bought it by the gallon (well, almost). Its great stuff but should not be used on the fan nut because it is self tightening. When I put my fan back on, I used loctite blue on the nut. The next day, it dawned on me that this might make removal too hard so I decided to remove the fan asap (24 hrs later) to clean the threads and use an anti seize compound. I was too late. Removal was at least 10X harder with the loctite. My father had to bang the wrench with a hammer while I pushed. It finally took my Herculian strength (ha!) to get it off. |
PerroneFord
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 11:47 am: |
|
Blue loctite has a breakaway strength somewhere near 250 ftlbs. I'm speaking of 242. Purple loctice is less than half that, and is akin to fitting a nyloc nut on a bolt. Since I really hate nylocs, the low strength Loctite works well for me. The medium strength gets put on things like brake bolts, hub drive members, steering components, and other things I don't want coming loose until I damn well want them off. I haven't used red loctite (271, 277) on anything yet, but it's use would almost certainly be reserved for engine applications like head bolts. I don't keep 6 ft. cheater bars handy so red loctite is beyond my needs!
-P |
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page