fan clutch and disconnecting ac

[Nemesis Gnat]

1985 fj60, 2f

how freely is the fan supposed to turn by hand with the motor off? the power steering has been puking, and mine seems to be stiffer now (harder to turn).

also, i dont really ever use my ac... is there any harm is disconnecting the belt from it? its making bad noises, and i just dont have the time/ money right now to fix it or replace it. seems to me that as no other system runs off of the belt that runs the ac, theres no harm is disconnecting it. right?

 

[cruiser_guy]

The fan clutch should have some drag but it should not be loose. You can disconnect the A/C if you don't use it and it doesn't work anyways. Long periods of non-use will cause the seals to dry and leak which means bigger repair bills when the time comes.

 

[Nemesis Gnat]

how much is some drag? and would it becoming stiffer be a sign of something?

and what seals are you referring to in the ac? refrigerant seals?

 

[Nemesis Gnat]

bumpity bump

still need help...

i think ive deduced from a lot of time on this site that my fan clutch is bad cause its getting harder to turn by the day now... its killing what lil power i have running that fan allll the time. does that sound right to people?

also, for the ac thing, am i worrying about refrigerant seals cause it wont be circulating rerigerant? or are there other seals i should be worrying about? i havent turned on the ac in probably close to a year, so it cant be worse on refrigerant seals since its already not circulating it... i think... maybe...

 

[REKCUT]

My understand of a fan clutch going bad is it wont engage therefore your truck will start to overheat. I have not seen one that stick on, but that just me and I could be wrong

 

[Nemesis Gnat]

from what i could figure, that is true in most cases, but in some cases is sticks on...

please if im wrong someone chime in before i drop a couple hundo

 

[Tapage]

The fan clutch engage with more temp .. it means if your engine it's cold ( at mornings ) it should be almost free ( little drag ) but when your engine at normal operative temp .. the fan clutch engage like a fixed fan ( almost close to )

 

[Nemesis Gnat]

what if its engaged all the time... when its cold its not completely engaged, but very very hard to move, and no moving at temp

i can notice the difference... i used to be able to tell when it was engaged and not and it was all groovy baby, and now i dont think it eeever disengages.

and any advice on the ac thing yet?

thanks for the responses already though

 

[GM60]

There is a bearing in the fan clutch unit. Sounds like this could be partially siezed.
If this bearing locks up the fan will run at high/full speed all the time and will make a fair amount of (fan) noise, soak up a fair amount of power and suck up a fair bit of extra fuel.

 

[Nemesis Gnat]

thsi bearing issue seems like the most likely issue at this time... is there a way to check for sure if its this bearing, and a way to replace maybe just the bearing and not the whole clutch?

and any news on the ac?

once again, this site has such a wealth of knowledge, its humbling... i could just sit at my computer and read all day and still learn new things about my car

 

[Tapage]

thsi bearing issue seems like the most likely issue at this time... is there a way to check for sure if its this bearing, and a way to replace maybe just the bearing and not the whole clutch?

and any news on the ac?

once again, this site has such a wealth of knowledge, its humbling... i could just sit at my computer and read all day and still learn new things about my car

I take my fanclutch off few week ago .. and dismantle it .. I can't see the bearing, soi, I'm not sure that you can replace it without a complete overhaul of the fan clutch ..

And actually fot the work of pulling the fan and fanclutch .. I will change it.

just my .00002 cents ..

 

[Nemesis Gnat]

thats not very many cents, but good advice i figure

its got almost 180,000 miles, replacing it cant hurt

thanks yall!

 

[1972FJ55]

On the A/C front...yes the o-rings in the system may dry out, but when you fix the system they should all be replaced anyway, so there's no reason you can't disconnect the belt. A complete o-ring set is cheap, about $6. If/when you decide to fix the A/C, I can get you the parts pretty reasonably.
Thanks,
Rex

 

[Nemesis Gnat]

awesome, exactly the advice i was lookin for... thanks again

next step, desmog

 

[GM60]

The bearing in the fan clutch would be difficult to renew I think. Not impossible but certainly not easy.
When the two halves of the unit are seperated, to get to the bearing you need to remove the driving rotor, and on the units I've dismantled (all from diesel HJ 60's) the rotor shaft has been counter bored and is peened over the rotor.

Easier to get a new or rebuilt unit I think.
Best of luck with it.

 

[Nemesis Gnat]

just got the new one today from toyota dealer (ugh$)... replacing it tomorrow, ill tear the old one apart for my learning and to try to figure out exactly went wrong...

but i will say this, just holding the new one in my hand and spinning it, there is nooo questions something is seriously wrong with the old one