Results w/Blue Hub Fan Clutch?

[kpudden]

I am getting ready to see the impact from replacing my OEM clutch w/123K on it to see how much it impacts my temperature. Temps have been very high on hills/passes or under load...sometimes reaching as high as 240F. Coolant is Toy Red, maybe a couple years old but its clean, no signs of HG failure.

So, back to my original question, how well does the Blue Hub perform and is it worth the coin?

Thanks!

 

[Cruiserdrew]

So, back to my original question, how well does the Blue Hub perform and is it worth the coin?

Thanks!

240??????

I get panicky over 200, and the highest I have ever seen is 211.


Do not drive that thing unless you want to replace the motor in short order.


If you are overheating because of the fan clutch, then is well worth it. It can save your $10k motor, or $2k headgasket.

However, I'll bet you need a new radiator, and while replacing that you should replace the fan clutch and thermostat.

 

[FirstToy]

240 is pretty darn high.
there are threads about replacing the oil in your fan clutch with new, thicker stuff. That could save you a grip of cash.
Dan can sell you a blue clutch for a good price.

I also would say a new radiator would not be a bad idea if yours is old. If it's beat, even a good cheap aftermarket would be better than a clogged up original.

 

[94SRUNNER]

I strongly agree with Cruiserdrew and FirstToy, 240F is a bit high!

get the radiator replaced or at least professonally cleaned if at all possible.

What other coolant system maintenance have you done? You said the coolant was only a couple of years old, but it may be time to do a full system flush and fill. The fan clutch won't hurt.

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[jjhancock]

240?? I've had my truck loaded with fishing gear and friends, climbing a pass in near Yellowstone in Wyoming, and the highest I saw was 217 (on my scanguage II). I agree with CruiserDrew... anything over 200 and I start to get a little nervous, and certainly very watchful. I have a blue hub fan clutch sitting in the box ready to go in, but I think I'm going to do my HG as PM here in the coming months, and will wait until that time to do the install, along with a brass OEM radiator.

If the A/C cuts out at ~ 225 degrees, I can't imagine what other bad things are happening while driving at 240. How exactly are you measuring the temp?

 

[kpudden]

I have only seen 240F one time, and it was the top of the mountain pass and it was very brief. I am using a Scanguage II to read the temps. Going up hills/mountains 215 is common, with spikes going much higher if i don't crank the heat I am going to start with LandTank's modded blue clutch then maybe replace the radiator/fluid if that doesn't get it done. The really crappy thing IMO is that looking at the stock temp gauge nothing really ever appears to be out out line, with the exception of the brief spikes going over the passes...if i had to guess, that gauge has resulted in a lot of HG failures cause folks don't realize that they have an issue until its too late!

240?? I've had my truck loaded with fishing gear and friends, climbing a pass in near Yellowstone in Wyoming, and the highest I saw was 217 (on my scanguage II). I agree with CruiserDrew... anything over 200 and I start to get a little nervous, and certainly very watchful. I have a blue hub fan clutch sitting in the box ready to go in, but I think I'm going to do my HG as PM here in the coming months, and will wait until that time to do the install, along with a brass OEM radiator.

If the A/C cuts out at ~ 225 degrees, I can't imagine what other bad things are happening while driving at 240. How exactly are you measuring the temp?

 

[kpudden]

So is the OEM radiator the way to go then? There aren't any "super" aftermarket radiators to consider? I don't want to fry my engine or for that matter speed up the inevitable HG failure.

I strongly agree with Cruiserdrew and FirstToy, 240F is a bit high!

get the radiator replaced or at least professonally cleaned if at all possible.

What other coolant system maintenance have you done? You said the coolant was only a couple of years old, but it may be time to do a full system flush and fill. The fan clutch won't hurt.

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Atoyot1031]

The really crappy thing IMO is that looking at the stock temp gauge nothing really ever appears to be out out line, with the exception of the brief spikes going over the passes...if i had to guess, that gauge has resulted in a lot of HG failures cause folks don't realize that they have an issue until its too late!

Read here:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/64252-93-97-coolant-temperature-gauge-modification.html

 

[94SRUNNER]

kpudden,

I would say it is wise to stick with OEM whenever possible. I don't know of any aftermarket "super" radiator. 93-93 Brass radiator is a popular choice for replacing the original Aluminum radiator. I guess what I have gleaned from the site is that a well maintained cooling system is what the bottom line is.

I expect others with greater knowledge on the subject will chime in and fine tune this.

Also read through the FAQ section, there is a HUGE amount of coolant system maintenance information there.

 

[Salue]

Having just replaced my radiator with an aftermarket unit from Performance Radiator, I now wish I paid the extra $200 and went with OEM. The tranny cooler connectors at the bottom of the radiator needed to be bent to fit the shroud correctly (had to bend it slightly and am now worried it might crack at that bend). I'm even considering pulling it out and getting a stock one because I have a feeling it's not going to last long.....That is, if it wasn't such a pain for me to get out the first time. For now, I'll just keep an eye on it.
I just also installed a modified blue fan clutch from Landtank, but of course it's back to cool weather here in the Seattle area so don't know how it does in hot weather. But the Scanguage is showing normal temps.

Good luck with it.

Salue

 

[Tools R Us]

... So, back to my original question, how well does the Blue Hub perform and is it worth the coin? ...

IMHO the blue hub is a very nicely crafted part, high quality, but is hobbled by less shearing area and light fluid, when compared to earlier clutches. One important point missing is the ambient temp that your running at. My observation is; the blue hub doesn't provide enough fan drive for desert conditions in the stock forum.

For a desert driven rig, I wouldn't bother opening a blue hub to put less than 15K fluid into it, a few are running 20K in them with very good results. In my observations, it takes about twice the viscosity in a new blue to equal the drive of an older clutch, ie 10K in a black/early blue equals about the same fan drive as a newer type blue with 20K fluid.

If your running the original clutch, the fluid is probably dead. Simply changing the fluid can bring performance back or if the fluid viscosity is upgraded will make it stronger than stock. The job is easy and fluid is cheap, so good test.

It's called a cooling system for a reason, all of the parts must work together to function correctly. The radiator condition, foam seals, etc, are important. One way to test the radiator is warm the motor at/past thermostat opening and measure the temp of the core tubes at the bottom tank. They should measure close, any radically differing core tubes are clogged. We replaced the radiator in my brother's '97 with ~170mi due to a leak and it made zero difference in cooling, the old one still had plenty of cooling capacity.

 

[kpudden]

Tools- you mentioned the VIS for the Blue Hub, how bout the OEM? I know i can search but...

IMHO the blue hub is a very nicely crafted part, high quality, but is hobbled by less shearing area and light fluid, when compared to earlier clutches. One important point missing is the ambient temp that your running at. My observation is; the blue hub doesn't provide enough fan drive for desert conditions in the stock forum.

For a desert driven rig, I wouldn't bother opening a blue hub to put less than 15K fluid into it, a few are running 20K in them with very good results. In my observations, it takes about twice the viscosity in a new blue to equal the drive of an older clutch, ie 10K in a black/early blue equals about the same fan drive as a newer type blue with 20K fluid.

If your running the original clutch, the fluid is probably dead. Simply changing the fluid can bring performance back or if the fluid viscosity is upgraded will make it stronger than stock. The job is easy and fluid is cheap, so good test.

It's called a cooling system for a reason, all of the parts must work together to function correctly. The radiator condition, foam seals, etc, are important. One way to test the radiator is warm the motor at/past thermostat opening and measure the temp of the core tubes at the bottom tank. They should measure close, any radically differing core tubes are clogged. We replaced the radiator in my brother's '97 with ~170mi due to a leak and it made zero difference in cooling, the old one still had plenty of cooling capacity.

 

[Tools R Us]

Tools- you mentioned the VIS for the Blue Hub, how bout the OEM? I know i can search but...

It depends on what clutch, the highest temp that it's operated in and rig load, towing? Most '96 & '97's have the Eaton clutch, good clutch, most here are running them 10K with good results, this summer have been filling them with ~12.5K with great results.

 

[UCBerzerkeley]

It depends on what clutch, the highest temp that it's operated in and rig load, towing? Most '96 & '97's have the Eaton clutch, good clutch, most here are running them 10K with good results, this summer have been filling them with ~12.5K with great results.

What do you think a Jan 1995 FZJ80 has? I have some new 10k CST for it, not ready to move to Blue clutch, specially after hearing your high praise for some of the older clutches.

 

[landtank]

I have swapped out a few clutches recently and one of them was the earlier black hubbed Aisin clutch. This is the clutch that is finned all around and when opened up it has the square hole for the first stage and a boot shaped hole for the second stage.

While there is more shearing area in the first stage the second stage is lacking severely compared to the blue clutch.

It's this second stage that provides the bulk of the drive to move the fan.

I'm not sure what the eaton fan clutch looks like but don't assume because you have an older clutch you have a better one.

 

[Tools R Us]

What do you think a Jan 1995 FZJ80 has? I have some new 10k CST for it, not ready to move to Blue clutch, specially after hearing your high praise for some of the older clutches.

If it still has the original clutch, it's probably an Eaton, in my experience the most common original clutch. The black hub Aisin is rare, have only seen it in '93 & '94 rigs.

The Eaton has a bare metal hub, often with a small blue dot on the rim where the mounting nuts go. The Aisin clutches all have painted hubs, black or blue in the case of 1FZ motors. When off of the motor it's easy to tell, the Aisin has their name on them and are held together by 8, #3 phillips screws. The Eaton isn't marked, but is held together by 4, T25 torx.

If your not sure post a pic of it.

 

[EricG]

So is the OEM radiator the way to go then? There aren't any "super" aftermarket radiators to consider? I don't want to fry my engine or for that matter speed up the inevitable HG failure.

Here's another radiator to consider: https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-...diator-replacement-some-photos-some-data.html

 

[UCBerzerkeley]

If it still has the original clutch, it's probably an Eaton, in my experience the most common original clutch. The black hub Aisin is rare, have only seen it in '93 & '94 rigs.

The Eaton has a bare metal hub, often with a small blue dot on the rim where the mounting nuts go. The Aisin clutches all have painted hubs, black or blue in the case of 1FZ motors. When off of the motor it's easy to tell, the Aisin has their name on them and are held together by 8, #3 phillips screws. The Eaton isn't marked, but is held together by 4, T25 torx.

If your not sure post a pic of it.

Sounds good. I am not experiencing any heating problems, so hopefully some new oil and I will knock another item off my PM list

I have swapped out a few clutches recently and one of them was the earlier black hubbed Aisin clutch. This is the clutch that is finned all around and when opened up it has the square hole for the first stage and a boot shaped hole for the second stage.

While there is more shearing area in the first stage the second stage is lacking severely compared to the blue clutch.

It's this second stage that provides the bulk of the drive to move the fan.

I'm not sure what the eaton fan clutch looks like but don't assume because you have an older clutch you have a better one.

I'm not saying I have a better one, just one that might not need replacing. I was either gonna switch to blue or do the mod on my old one + replace oil. I'm definitely gonna try your mod + oil on my old clutch first (your mod can be done on any hub, right, or is it just the blue hub?)

 

[landtank]

If it still has the original clutch, it's probably an Eaton, in my experience the most common original clutch. The black hub Aisin is rare, have only seen it in '93 & '94 rigs.

The Eaton has a bare metal hub, often with a small blue dot on the rim where the mounting nuts go. The Aisin clutches all have painted hubs, black or blue in the case of 1FZ motors. When off of the motor it's easy to tell, the Aisin has their name on them and are held together by 8, #3 phillips screws. The Eaton isn't marked, but is held together by 4, T25 torx.

If your not sure post a pic of it.

so that is what the other one is. I thought that it was some off brand POS. I'll have to crack that one open and see what all the hubbub is all about. Funny thing that clutch was the worst one I've seen as far as resistance is concerned when first removed from the truck.

 

[wxm]

Sounds good. I am not experiencing any heating problems, so hopefully some new oil and I will knock another item off my PM list

Sounds good, UCB, I am pretty much on the same boat, and I will be watching outcome of your PM. Please keep us posted. I have noticed my ScanGauge II had repcorded 207 F in a stop-go traffic lately. I am planning to do some cooling related PM to see whether I can improve it a bit.

Sorry kpudden for stealing your thread.