'nother Blue Fan Clutch....drain and fill, no adjustment

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

I cant see the shearing ridges, but the thermostat holder is cast, so would have to say it is the good, early type! That is the only other one that I have seen, is it one from that offshore order? That is likely why it had more fluid, later types typically come with less.

Yeah, I got it from ranma21 who sourced these blue fan clutches from Malaysia but the fan is made in japan. It never gets cold in Malaysia that's probably the reason why it had more fluid.

 

[Michael Hanson]

This heat has to break we have had over 30 plus days of over 100. 113 yesterday. Luck has it all our clutches are holding up. Quite amazing since none of our clutches have been modified. Mike

 

[Tools R Us]

This heat has to break we have had over 30 plus days of over 100. 113 yesterday. Luck has it all our clutches are holding up. Quite amazing since none of our clutches have been modified. Mike

Changing the fluid has nothing to do with the clutch "holding up", well, other than a clutch that is on the way out can be restored.

 

[Michael Hanson]

All right let me put it another way, rigs running well into the normal range , ac s working great even when idling for hours. This has not always been the case. Mike

 

[Nay]

I always temp check

What ranges are you looking for?

 

[new2mud]

On the blue, I always temp check, but rarely adjust, almost all are in the "good to go" range. For TX and blue hub, I would step up more, 20K+?

Tools: what cst-rating do you recommend for the older Aisin/ Eaton (non-blue) clutches in the Texas heat?

Also, how many mL to fill the older clutches?

 

[Tools R Us]

What ranges are you looking for?

120-130F ish.

 

[Tools R Us]

Tools: what cst-rating do you recommend for the older Aisin/ Eaton (non-blue) clutches in the Texas heat?

Also, how many mL to fill the older clutches?

Early type Aisin 10-12.5K ish, they are strong, so have to be a bit careful about smoking the belts. Eaton can do 15K easy. ~45-50ml works on all of the clutches, the early units can take more, not sure if it is any advantage?

 

[lndcruz]

^do your belts really squeal with 10k in the clutch? Mine are fine with 10k in the eaton clutch, temps are great to. 190-197 in alabama heat/humidity.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Off Topic, but do you actually use T-IV ATF in your rig?

 

[Kernal]

Since I've owned my rig I've never once heard a roar on start-up from the Eaton clutch; what CST silicone did they come filled with?

 

[Tools R Us]

^do your belts really squeal with 10k in the clutch? Mine are fine with 10k in the eaton clutch, temps are great to. 190-197 in alabama heat/humidity.

Yep, it's the indicator that I use for "you have gone too far"!

The clutches have differing characteristics, some types stronger than others. I have setup the Eaton to ~17K and the new blue hub to ~25K and have never found the belt slip limit. The early blue and black type Aisin will slip the belts at 10K+, the most that I have run in them is ~13K, they are much more powerful, at lower fluid viscosity.

The only time it does this is, after a long idle heat soak, hot weather, A/C on, etc, then a quick rpm snap increase. If the rpm is increased normally, slower, the fan roars pretty good for a few seconds and settles down. I see it as a good thing, the idle/heat soak setting on them is very powerful, helping with vent temp, A/C high side pressure, at idle in hot weather.

 

[plutonius]

I have an original Eaton sitting on a shelf (which was definitely showing reduced effectiveness when I pulled it), and in the truck now is a new Shimahide fan clutch, which looks just like the early black Aisin clutch. The Shimahide seems like it could benefit from new, thicker fluid. Sorry to hijack - there is some excellent info here in this thread.

Does 10k cst sound right for a Shimahide clutch?

Shimahide clutch:

 

[Kernal]

Is there a source in the US for the "good" blue clutch? I know it's been covered before, but what years used the good black hub clutch, was it just hit or miss if you got a rig with one installed at the factory??

 

[Tools R Us]

Since I've owned my rig I've never once heard a roar on start-up from the Eaton clutch; what CST silicone did they come filled with?

The Eaton has an "antidrainback" prevision in the reservoir, making them more civilized, little/no start-up roar. Don't know what came in them stock.

Is there a source in the US for the "good" blue clutch?

Nope.

I know it's been covered before, but what years used the good black hub clutch, was it just hit or miss if you got a rig with one installed at the factory??

All that I have seen came in '93 & '94.

 

[Tools R Us]

I have an original Eaton sitting on a shelf (which was definitely showing reduced effectiveness when I pulled it), and in the truck now is a new Shimahide fan clutch, which looks just like the early black Aisin clutch. The Shimahide seems like it could benefit from new, thicker fluid. Does 10k cst sound right for a Shimahide clutch? Sorry to hijack - there is some excellent info here in this thread.

Shimahide clutch:

Yep they look good from the outside. Hate to break it to you but, all that I have seen have had average performance at best and short life. They have a small shearing area and what looks like thick fluid from the factory. No idea were to start on fluid, but likely isn't worth messing with. The Eaton is a good clutch that responds well to new fluid, if you want to play, that is where I would start.

 

[plutonius]

Yep they look good from the outside. Hate to break it to you but, all that I have seen have had average performance at best and short life. They have a small shearing area and what looks like thick fluid from the factory. No idea were to start on fluid, but likely isn't worth messing with. The Eaton is a good clutch that responds well to new fluid, if you want to play, that is where I would start.

Interesting.. Thanks for the advice. Ok, I think I'll open up the Eaton and refill with 10-15k and see how it responds. Sounds like it's not worth messing with the Shimahide, and I'd say it's performance right now is moderate at best - I'm seeing temps creep up just a bit at idle with the AC on - like from 190 driving to 193/5 once at idle. Nothing alarming, but I have a feeling it's the fan clutch.

 

[94SRUNNER]

plutonius...your temps are in a good range. While it won't hurt to swap the oil, unless you are getting much higher temps while driving...form the looks of things your fan clutch seem to be performing good.

 

[plutonius]

plutonius...your temps are in a good range. While it won't hurt to swap the oil, unless you are getting much higher temps while driving...form the looks of things your fan clutch seem to be performing good.

Yeah, my cooling system is in pretty good order, although I'm seeing slightly high temps now, due to: I snapped two fan belts a month ago, boiled over and lost half of my coolant. It was a roadside repair to replace the belts and a refill with distilled water, so my red coolant mix ratio is really low right now, probably 20/80 rather than 50/50. So next week I'm going thru the cooling system again - drain, refill, new t-stat, finally do the dang PHH and use the new hose that's been sitting in my garage for a year, and swap fan clutches. If I can revive my Eaton that seems like the way to go. I want everything performing at optimum, especially considering how hot the deserts can be around here.

 

[Tools R Us]

... I'm seeing slightly high temps now, due to: I snapped two fan belts a month ago, boiled over and lost half of my coolant. It was a roadside repair to replace the belts and a refill with distilled water, so my red coolant mix ratio is really low right now, probably 20/80 rather than 50/50. ...

Antifreeze is to prevent freezing and reduce corrosion. Pure water will cool better, a lean antifreeze mixture will cool better than 50/50. You need ~20% for corrosion protection, so that is what lots of desert dwellers use. Most antifreeze have a chart of mixture to freezing point, running richer than the lowest temp the rig will ever see does no good.