Cool, Dave! For sure I'll post performance results. good luck on your trip to N.Cal.! Good to hear our 80s are similar. Looking forward to your results!
Blue fan clutch mod...Thread has gone to hell, read at your own risk (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter landtank
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Cool, Dave! For sure I'll post performance results. good luck on your trip to N.Cal.! Good to hear our 80s are similar. Looking forward to your results!
- Thread starter
- #502
in another thread Cruiserhead05 had an issue which was resolved by replacing his blue fan clutch. I asked him if he would send me the "bad" one so I could autopsy it.
He did and this is what I found when I cracked the shell open
He did and this is what I found when I cracked the shell open
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- Thread starter
- #503
and more
- Thread starter
- #504
When I saw the debris in the clutch I suspected a timing issue and the clutch being set too early.
Boy was it, at @ 70* room temp the clutch was almost fully open and there wasn't enough adjustment to get it back to where only the primary stage would engage.
It would seem that these bimetal springs can change over time and I think people should take that extra step to ensure the clutch they are working with is one worth working with.
Boy was it, at @ 70* room temp the clutch was almost fully open and there wasn't enough adjustment to get it back to where only the primary stage would engage.
It would seem that these bimetal springs can change over time and I think people should take that extra step to ensure the clutch they are working with is one worth working with.
I haven't kept up with this thread lately and didn't realize there were variations on the blue fan clutch out there. I put one on a couple of years ago. Is there a way to distinguish by model part number which one I have?
TIA,
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The most common way that they change is rust, but it takes a lot of rust to make significant change. The other possibility is mechanical damage. Is the bimetal spring or mount bent, is the swedge that holds the valve to the shaft tight, it may have slipped?
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A couple of years ago would be the late type. The easy way to tell is, the bimetallic spring mount is a cast part of the housing on the early and a sheet metal bracket on the later type.
Is that part visible in one of Landtank's photos? Do you have to take it apart to see that?
semlin
curmudgeon
has anyone ever checked whether the phillips head screwdriver in the factory toolkit is jis and would fit?
Go to post # 50 on page 2 of this thread for side by side comparison pics. I think you have to pull clutch out and remove fan to see the spring. HTH
Thanks for looking it up.
Based on the description, I have the newer blue fan clutch... two recessed areas on the perimeter fins. So sounds like I need to keep an eye on how it's working.
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everything looks normal. I grabbed onto the valve piece and checked it for looseness and the spring looked un touched.
Cruiserhead05 would have more info on the age of it. He was complaining of constant engagement but I thought that was in error until I cracked it open.
Dave,
Just finished a round trip to Portland (trip length 300 miles) with practically empty Cruiser and outside air temps not exceeding 80*. Temp gauge stayed mid - range for majority of the time. Exceptions were while coasting down long hills or ascending same, gauge never varied more than 2 needle widths from center. I feel confident in staying with original fluid at this point. Waiting for warmer weather before final decision.
What kind does mine have?
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Looks like an Eaton clutch.
semlin
curmudgeon
just a small outlier data point but afteryears of not being able to quite cool the truck to my satisfaction no matter how i adjusted the fan clutch, i have accidently solved the problem. my ac started squealing over the winter and i just removed the belt while getting up the energy to fix it. since i did that the truck cools much much better especially on sustained hill climbs in hot weather (keeping in mind the ac would never be engaged on such a climb). the ac was blowing fine last summer.
i don't know if my ac pulley or clutch was perhaps failing slowly for years, or if removing this small amount of drag was the tipping point on cooling for my truck, but if people are having cooling issues it may be worth taking 10 minutes to drop the ac belt and see how much it helps.
i don't know if my ac pulley or clutch was perhaps failing slowly for years, or if removing this small amount of drag was the tipping point on cooling for my truck, but if people are having cooling issues it may be worth taking 10 minutes to drop the ac belt and see how much it helps.
What temps are you/were you seeing? On a 90 degree day I'm often seeing 197-200.
semlin
curmudgeon
i use an rt modded factory gauge so i can't give numbers with precision.
in town or on a more or less level highway i am always down at mid level no matter what the temperature. with ac on i might jump 4 degrees or so and then shed it only on a downhill.
but on daytime summer sustained hill climbs i could climb into the low 200s easily. towing a trailer it would not be hard to get it to red, which is about 209 on mine. i have never continued into the red.
If those are real numbers it's running right where it should be.
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The belt causes very little drag, even if the bearings aren't in the best condition it's not going to be that big. My guess is it's more about the heat load, the A/C removes heat from the interior and dumps it in front of the radiator. My condenser temp is often 150F, so significant heat load.
None of this should be an issue for a properly functioning cooling system. They can climb 7% grades for miles, with the A/C running at max, in triple digit temps without issue.
