Fan Clutch R&R help (1 Viewer)

[paflytyer]

Has anyone replaced their fan clutch without removing tons of stuff to get it out?

I'm not seeing any temp issues and everything is still tight, but clearly the bearing in the clutch has failed. Gotta swap it out, but I'm somewhat time critical for how long I can stand on a stool and lean over my truck. I guess I could take a few days to do it at 30 min intervals but would rather not.

Maybe just removing the shroud will give me enough room to pull the clutch and the fan together?

Any quick tips?

Noise.....

 

[Spike555]

Is there any play in the clutch?
It mounts to a pulley, the bearings in the pulley go bad.
As far as I know you need to remove the fan shroud.

 

[paflytyer]

The pulley bearing won't spin if the belt isn't spinning, correct? No play in clutch and it feels smooth when hand-spun. You can clearly hear the bearing whrrr after the pulley stops spinning.

 

[Spike555]

Correct, the pulley will not spin unless the engine is running.
If there is no play in the fan clutch then it is still good.

 

[elk]

You will have to remove the shroud, but if you slide a piece of cardboard behind the shroud mounts and let the fan hang off the four studs, you can safely pull both up at the same time and slip the fan out without fully removing the shroud.

 

[hoser]

I know I can pull the fan out w/o pulling the shroud but I have not tried pulling both fan and clutch as a unit.

 

[paflytyer]

Correct, the pulley will not spin unless the engine is running.
If there is no play in the fan clutch then it is still good.

Just to follow up and close the loop.

Fan clutch was no good. Seized up to the point that it cannot be spun by hand, but it would turn by spinning the fan. New fan clutch installed. Shroud and top hose removed to make room.

There was no play whatsoever in the fan clutch. No shake, no belt misalignment, no wobble.

 

[flintknapper]

Just to follow up and close the loop.

Fan clutch was no good. Seized up to the point that it cannot be spun by hand, but it would turn by spinning the fan. New fan clutch installed. Shroud and top hose removed to make room.

There was no play whatsoever in the fan clutch. No shake, no belt misalignment, no wobble.

^^^^^^ Yeah, that's what I did with mine too. Just loosened the shroud and removed the top radiator hose. Placed a piece of cardboard over the radiator then was able to wiggle the fan and clutch out together. Reinstall the same way.

Hardest part is getting the four nuts started back on the studs. There isn't much room in there.

 

[Spike555]

Just to follow up and close the loop.

Fan clutch was no good. Seized up to the point that it cannot be spun by hand, but it would turn by spinning the fan. New fan clutch installed. Shroud and top hose removed to make room.

There was no play whatsoever in the fan clutch. No shake, no belt misalignment, no wobble.

Thank you for reporting back and closing the thread.

 

[gray rider]

Regarding the video in the initial post: Should the fan lock and stop when the fan pulley/engine stops?

 

[Spike555]

Regarding the video in the initial post: Should the fan lock and stop when the fan pulley/engine stops?

No.
The fan clutch is full of fluid, it is a viscous clutch, there is a bimetallic spring inside the fan clutch as well as fluid channels.
When the spring reaches a certain temp it moves and opens the fluid channels and allows the fluid to flow into them and then locks the clutch to the shaft that runs through the middle of the clutch.

The fan freewheels until that spring moves. The friction of the shaft spinning is enough to turn the fan slowly.
Shut the engine off and the shaft stops turning but the fan still spins until friction stops it.

When a fan clutch goes bad it stops locking up OR stays locked all the time. You will know when a clutch fan is engaged, it is very very loud.
When a fan clutch is engaged (locked) the fan spins at the same speed as the engine. A engine fan is only needed at low road speed, anything over 45mph and there is enough air moving past the radiator to keep the engine cool.

 

[gray rider]

Thanks Spike.
I have a very small amount of play in the fan clutch front to rear. Low inconsistent knocking sound when in park or stopped and idling.

I replaced the idler pulley, tensioner assembly, and serp belt yesterday.

I suspect the fan clutch is failing.
Any way to check the fan clutch without removing it? I have searched and not anything definitive....

 

[Spike555]

Fan clutches are cheap, if you suspect it is buggered just replace it. Do NOT buy a heavy duty one though, that does not mean it lasts longer, it only means it comes on at a lower temp.

You can roll up a magazine, stick it in the fan and have a friend start the engine, if the fan does not turn the clutch is good.
This is with the engine cool and not hot because if the fan clutch is engaged the fan will spin and rip the magazine out of your hand.

The fan clutch has no moving parts, so it will not make noise. If it is wobbly it is because the bearing it is bolted to is bad.
The fan clutch is the thing with the cooling fins on it, it bolts to a pulley.

https://www.amazon.com/Aisin-FCT-02...cruiser&keywords=2004+land+cruiser+fan+clutch

https://www.amazon.com/Aisin-FBT-00...cruiser&keywords=2004+land+cruiser+fan+clutch

That fan pulley bearing goes bad and needs to be replaced, tends to last about 200k.

 

[Spike555]

Fan clutches are cheap, if you suspect it is buggered just replace it. Do NOT buy a heavy duty one though, that does not mean it lasts longer, it only means it comes on at a lower temp.

You can roll up a magazine, stick it in the fan and have a friend start the engine, if the fan does not turn the clutch is good.
This is with the engine cool and not hot because if the fan clutch is engaged the fan will spin and rip the magazine out of your hand.

The fan clutch has no moving parts, so it will not make noise. If it is wobbly it is because the bearing it is bolted to is bad.
The fan clutch is the thing with the cooling fins on it, it bolts to a pulley.

https://www.amazon.com/Aisin-FCT-02...cruiser&keywords=2004+land+cruiser+fan+clutch

https://www.amazon.com/Aisin-FBT-00...cruiser&keywords=2004+land+cruiser+fan+clutch

That fan pulley bearing goes bad and needs to be replaced, tends to last about 200k.

 

[gray rider]

That makes sense. After isolating the noise a bit with stethoscope, it does sound like a bearing erratic noise.

I'm going to replace the fan pulley. Apologies to paflytier for semi-jacking his thread......
Thanks for the insight Spike.

 

[Spike555]

You can remove the belt off of one pulley and then spin the fan by hand, if it makes noise...
Also you can start the engine with the belt loose and see if there is any noise, that will tell you if it is engine related or pulley related.

If you cannot get to it right away remove the fan, that takes the load off of the pulley and the bearing will last longer until you can replace it.

 

[gray rider]

I'm going to try to take my "noise" / suspected fan pulley problems over to the following thread where they will be more appropriate without derailing paflytiers' thread:

Engine Noise - Help Identify

I hope that link works.....

 

[REL]

Did you remove all the other stuff on top of the shroud? I have a 2005 and it seems like there's a ton of stuff in the way (top radiator hose, two other thin hoses that run across the top, air intake ?, reservoir is attached to the shroud, etc)

Also (sorry, newbie question) did you drain the radiator to remove the top hose?

I have the four nuts off the fan clutch but cant get the fan out without taking what seems like a lot of other stuff out (see pic)

2005

• REL
• Aug 4, 2018

 

[REL]

Just to close my own loop here in case anyone else goes down this path. I got in way over my head. Was able to remove the 4 nuts on the fan clutch. Unbolted the fan shroud and pushed it back toward the engine. Still couldn't get the fan out. Disconnected the top radiator hose at the radiator end, lost a ton of coolant all over everything below it, still couldn't push the shroud back far enough to pull the fan out.

As I said, at that point I was in way over my head (took me hours to get to that point). Bringing it to a garage tomorrow. Good luck!

 

[KraziAzn]

Bump. So my fan stays on all the time. It seems like it is locked to the engine's RPM, faster I go, louder it gets, noticeable power loss. I ordered a new ASIN clutch, but for the life of me I can't break the 4 bolts off. I used two 12MM wrenches, one to hold it in place while the other tries to break it loose.

I even tried to use a cheater bar, seems like I'm starting to strip the nuts. How did you guys manage to break it loose?