Blue fan clutch mod...Thread has gone to hell, read at your own risk (7 Viewers)

[Dusty]

any updates?

Rick
most of the time how far do you need to move the disk in the counterclockwise direction in relationship to the adjusting screws? And what would be a reasonable adjustment without testing in the water bath?

for example: Lets say that in your experience you have found it necesary to adjust/rotate the disk between 1/8-1/4 inch with testing to change the opening temp from a preset 110'-125' to an adjusted temp of 90'-105'. So could one get close to the desired opening temp (between 90-105') by adjusting/rotating the disk 3/16" without testing?

 

[landtank]

Dusty, it depends on the clutch. I've had some very close to the 95* mark and some way off.

What I do now is heat the piece in a pan of water to about 100* and then set it on a wooded chopping block. That way the chopping block slows down the cool a littel and when it gets to 95* I dial it in.

 

[Dusty]

ok
I just adjusted mine. only needed to move the disc about 1/8" in the counterclockwise direction in relation to the adjustment screws

Be sure to clean off the fan clutch well before dissassembly or you will drop dirt in the silicone oil and will need to clean it out. if you do need to clean it out use a lint free cotton rag. I suggest you go to your wife's/girlfriend's panty drawer and pick out a couple of your leaste appreciated panties and use those. dont return them to her drawer. She will never know they are gone

 

[CappyKD]

Was there ever a concensus as to whether the old style blue hub or the new style blue hub was superior. I have one of each and was just wondering.

 

[jsmith8918]

I just did mine. I started with a brand new blue hub from CDAN (many thanks). After allowing the fluid in mine to settle overnight, I found it to be just about one full tube below the fill point shown in the photos for this mod. I put in one tube of 10K CST on top of the stuff that came in it so I figure I'm at around 5333 CST which I'm hoping is close to just right here in So. CA. One of the two internal bolts was a complete bugger to loosen. It completely stripped the Phillips-head portion before it finally broke loose. At 95 degrees, the adjustment needed was more than I expected. Made the adjustment and tightened everything up. (I hope that stripped one holds.) For me, the hardest part of this mod (after being patient) was removing my original 150K-mile clutch from the pulley. Even with all four of the nuts removed, I still had to resort to using two pry bars and a hammer and cold chisel to break the old hub away from the pulley and bolts. I still haven't tried it out as it's midnight and I'm beat (as I also put in a new radiator, hoses, thermostat, and cleaned up the battery and terminals).

 

[franku]

I asked my mechanics to check my new blue fan clutch they installed a few months ago as I was not happy with the temps I was getting...

They said they emptied it and put two tubes of the toyota stuff in it. I presume it is 10,000 as from what I am reading in this thread that is all we get here in Australia?

I don't think they could have emptied it fully as they only had the car for a day - they id say there was not much in it - but after reading this thread - I am thinking they didn't spend enough time letting it all pour out...

Anyway - I reckon the fan might be locked on all the time. It is loud - especialy above 2500 RPM....

I can hear it inside the cabin even when the engine is up to temp.

The temps are now stable though - 195 degree's no matter how I drive it or idle on my gauge on the top radiator hose.

Before at that speed, I would go up to 210.

I have a digital gauge on the thermostat - that is now lower than it was before when driving and sits between 73 and 76 when moving all the way up to 75mph.

At idle - it wont go above 82 degree's C - before it would go up to 86 at idle.

All temps are with the A/C on full blast NOT on recirculating and windows open with ambient temps of 20 degrees C (86F)

Do you guys hear your fan whirring inside your car when driving around above say 2500 RPM?

or is mine locked up due to being overfilled?

Maybe I should rip the clutch off myself and take oil out if it is overfilled? I should have done it myself in the first place I think...

 

[e9999]

what I'm wondering about this whole better clutch thing (and no, I haven't gone back and reread this whole thread... ) is the impact on mpg. Surely, the reason why Toyota did not make a locked fan is to improve gas mileage among other things (e.g. faster heating up for emissions, noise etc). So, sure, one would have lower temperatures if the clutch is on all the time, but at what price?
So, gotta choose mpg vs temps?

 

[franku]

I don't think the goal is to have it locked all the time - hence my questions above...

The goal for me was to give me a little breathing space - when I was towing my boat, the temps were getting right up there with the blue fan clutch un modded and a complete new cooling system with new brass radiator with brass tanks and all new heater hoses and the new blue fan clutch un mod'd.

 

[e9999]

Sorry, I wasn't talking about you, just in general.
Sure, I'm not suggesting it should be on all the time, but if you do the mod it's to increase the run time, obviously, so that has to have an impact on the mpg. Curious how much. Maybe one of the Scangauge guys could do a test at idle and see by how much the HP increase when the fan kicks in.

 

[franku]

mmm - I agree - it would be very nice to know...

Pity I cn't have a scangauge

 

[landtank]

if the clutch is on all the time they have over filled it. Take the clutch off and place it on the flange over night. You can then remove the top half and view how full the base is. There is a picture above that shows the level that I fill to and I haven't had any issues and it's definitely more than what comes from the factory.

 

[landtank]

what I'm wondering about this whole better clutch thing (and no, I haven't gone back and reread this whole thread... ) is the impact on mpg.

Back in this thread somewhere is a post where I towed a trailer to Cape cod and back for my vacation. During that time I had adjusted the clutch to come on earlier as the drive down was still running a little warm for my taste.

On the return trip in near identical ambient temps I saw a cooler running truck and the engine was more responsive and got a half mile better fuel economy. Now a half mile might not seem like much but considering we only get 14/15 anyway it was pretty good.

But that was just one test run.

 

[franku]

if the clutch is on all the time they have over filled it. Take the clutch off and place it on the flange over night. You can then remove the top half and view how full the base is. There is a picture above that shows the level that I fill to and I haven't had any issues and it's definitely more than what comes from the factory.

So your's isn't making a loud whirring noise that can be heard inside the car at say 3000 RPM?

 

[landtank]

So your's isn't making a loud whirring noise that can be heard inside the car at say 3000 RPM?

only when I first start the engine after a long time of being off. Then within a minute the noise subsides and it runs normal. If you have the same blue clutch that we have it never really locks up. It just continues to increase the drive gradually. So it's not an off/on type thing.

 

[franku]

landtank - Thanks - sounds like the definitely overfilled mine then!

Looks like a project for me to work on

 

[e9999]

Back in this thread somewhere is a post where I towed a trailer to Cape cod and back for my vacation. During that time I had adjusted the clutch to come on earlier as the drive down was still running a little warm for my taste.

On the return trip in near identical ambient temps I saw a cooler running truck and the engine was more responsive and got a half mile better fuel economy. Now a half mile might not seem like much but considering we only get 14/15 anyway it was pretty good.

But that was just one test run.

not obvious why that would be so. A hotter engine would in principle be more efficient, thermo wise. Higher temps would also mean lower oil friction. There could be something with incoming air temps or solid friction due to expanding parts or something like that I imagine.

Or more likely, 1/2 mpg is probably in the noise range, like wind factors etc... Or did you go more downhill one way than uphill the other...?

 

[landtank]

not obvious why that would be so. A hotter engine would in principle be more efficient, thermo wise. Higher temps would also mean lower oil friction. There could be something with incoming air temps or solid friction due to expanding parts or something like that I imagine.

Or more likely, 1/2 mpg is probably in the noise range, like wind factors etc... Or did you go more downhill one way than uphill the other...?

if I'm not mistaken the ECU will retard the spark when it sees the engine running hot to guard against detonation. That in itself will cause a drop in power and a loss in MPG.

Maybe the thermal dynamics will make up for that. I'll leave that for you to figure out.

I did however tune a clutch a half hour ago and it was only 5* off from where I set it. This was a brand new one that just arrived from Dan. I've done quite a few now and the one thing that is consistent is the inconsistency of the temp timing. This one was 5* off and some are more than 30* off from where I set them. This one would have performed real well and very close to the others that I've tuned. The ones that were 30* off would have had issues for sure.

 

[e9999]

if I'm not mistaken the ECU will retard the spark when it sees the engine running hot to guard against detonation. That in itself will cause a drop in power and a loss in MPG.
snip

sure enough... nowadays with computers all is possible

 

[alaskacruiser]

e9999- I've observed a drop in fuel economy with landtank's clutch mod, but I'm still very pleased with the result. Overall fuel economy has dropped from 13-14MPG to the 12-13MPG range pretty consistently over many tanks before and after, with nothing else changed. But the approx. 8 degree F drop in operating temps and knowing my coolant temps won't rise over 205-210F even under heavy load makes this mod well worth the price of 1MPG.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

e9999- I've observed a drop in fuel economy with landtank's clutch mod, but I'm still very pleased with the result. Overall fuel economy has dropped from 13-14MPG to the 12-13MPG range pretty consistently over many tanks before and after, with nothing else changed. But the approx. 8 degree F drop in operating temps and knowing my coolant temps won't rise over 205-210F even under heavy load makes this mod well worth the price of 1MPG.

I have noticed the same and have wondered if it's over full. I did not change the temp setting from factory, but did fill with 6000 CSt fluid. It could just be the crappy winter gas..