Hello all, need some help please. Have a 2000 Land Cruiser. After an exhaustive search to find a power steering leak, replaced pump, pressure hose and return hose. Lots of fluid everywhere, did a good job cleaning it up. Didn't love the shop who did the repairs, as they missed some key indicators. Anyways, now a week later my 100 series roars on startup and when driving. Engine is loud but sounds more like a very loud fan. Acceleration seems to hesitate and then really roar when it finally kicks in. Need help with diagnosis. Fan still spins when running, but it is very hard to turn by hand when vehicle is off. Both hot and cold. It turns, but with more effort than required when compared to my 4runner. Many thanks for any / all help.
Fan Clutch ? Loud engine / fan noise (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter SDCORT
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- Thread starter
- #3
Hi Jim - please elaborate on “ how the bearing feels “ . Thx
- Thread starter
- #5
Thanks very much Jim. Its very hard to turn by hand. So the fix it just to replace the fan clutch itself, correct ? Replace with this : http://www.amazon.com/Aisin-FCT-021...r=2000|2000&carId=002&n=15684181&s=automotive
BullElk
SILVER Star
Sounds like fan clutch is toast....not necessarily the pulley it is attached to unless the fan is wobbly from front to back.
- Thread starter
- #7
Thanks, Fan is not wobbly. Really the only indicator in all of this is the loud roar when driving, in addition to the hard to turn by hand fan .
Did you remove the serpentine belt? If so and it's hard to turn the bearing is shot.
I've had a fan bearing go and it cost me a radiator, fan, fan clutch, PS pump, and a tow.
Jim
- Thread starter
- #9
I did not remove it yet. Its hard to turn with the belt still on. If the bearing is shot, the only fix is a new clutch correct ? There is no way to just replace the bearing ?
I had the same roar going on with mine. It was the fan clutch. Funny that it happened about the same time my power steering pump went out too. 315k
Good luck with it- Thread starter
- #12
What is that video showing ? Looks wobbly but not understanding why the belt needs to be pulled to know if the bearing is shot. My 4runner fan spins easily by hand with the belt on as does my other SUV with belt on. Its certainly not a big deal to take it off, rather just curious to know why it needs to be done to diagnose ?
Trunk Monkey
Moderator
The video is showing a bad bearing. It's best to tell if there's play in the bearing by feel with the belt off. With the belt on it's pulling tension in a direction and won't give you a sense of play. And yes, best to do both clutch and bracket at the same time.
FAn clutch MUST be OEM or AISIN. Any aftermarket fans don't function as it supposed to. My 4runner got a new fan clutch from an auto parts store and it was LOUD no matter the temperature. Later replaced it with an AISIN and no more loud sound.
I recall a couple years back my sons 2000 LC had one of the internal screws in the fan clutch come loose and it locked up the fan clutch, which made the fan sound like an airplane taking off when driving. Unfortunately the fan clutch was damaged beyond the point of easy repair when we took it apart. They are also full of a special viscocity silicon oil from what I remember, so not easily serviceable. We just put in a new AISIN fan clutch and all was good. Best of Luck
Agreed. Fan Clutch issue.
While it is a good idea to replace both Fan Clutch and Fan 'Bracket' at the same time *because of similar service life* it would be prudent to first check the Fan Bracket separately... since it might have been replaced during a Timing Belt change.
Also, the two {though physically connected} perform different functions.
The Fan Bracket is bolted to the engine and provides support for the Fan Clutch. The 'hub' of the Fan Clutch bolts to the Fan Bracket 'pulley/mount' and turns anytime the engine is running.
But the Fan itself only turns *as needed* via the link of the Fan Clutch. The Fan Clutch creates a viscous coupling *silicone fluid* that is governed by temperature and internal valves in the Fan Clutch.
So the Fan Clutch {if properly working} is capable of Free Wheeling *when not needed*, fully engaging or anything in between.
With engine off....the Fan Bracket has no influence on the Fan Clutch. Only the Fan Clutch Bearing and state of the fluid inside would determine how hard it is to turn the fan blade before start up.
- Thread starter
- #18
Thank you, very very helpful.
Does the bearing for the fan live within the fan bracket housing or the clutch?
I am chasing down some bearing noise. I just has Toyota replace both the clutch and bracket as part of the timing belt job. With the belt removed, I spin the fan and hear some bearing noise. It spins smoothly but I suspect the noise isn't normal and it could be the source of my squeaking.
I am chasing down some bearing noise. I just has Toyota replace both the clutch and bracket as part of the timing belt job. With the belt removed, I spin the fan and hear some bearing noise. It spins smoothly but I suspect the noise isn't normal and it could be the source of my squeaking.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
Yes bearing is attached to fan bracket. Fan clutch, when going bad, will cause to engage completely when first starting up (hence roaring sound) as the fan is pushing more air than needed. There are plenty of tests out there to determine if fan clutch is going out (If I remember correctly, when at operating temp it should not be fully engaging so you should be able to stick some rolled up papers in the blades and have blades stop if operating properly, but don't quote me on that).
I had some bearing noise that I thought was coming from my idler pulley bearings. I replaced those and did not solve. When I had TB/WP done my guy said that bearing was "noisy" and felt a bit gritty causing the noise. I ended up replacing and noise is pretty much gone. This was at just over 200k. I had replaced my fan clutch right after I bought my truck in 2019 as it died on me one afternoon and caused the roaring sound. You can snake it out without having to remove upper rad hose but if you are replacing bracket already, it is kind of a "while you are in there" replacement.
