What is a heavy duty thermal fan clutch?
Heavy-Duty Thermal Fan Clutch: This fan style turns the fan at 70-90 percent of the shaft speed when engaged for increased cooling. When disengaged, it turns the fan at 25-35 percent. It’s used with deeper-pitch fans (2 1/2″ of pitch), and works well with higher operating rpm.
What is the difference between a heavy duty and severe duty fan clutch?
A Standard Duty fan clutch will lock up 60 to 70 percent when engaged. A Heavy Duty fan clutch will lock up 70 to 80 percent when engaged. A Severe Duty fan clutch will lock up 80 to 90 percent when engaged. Nearly all electronic fan clutches are considered to be Severe Duty.
How do I know if my thermal fan clutch is bad?
To confirm the diagnosis, start with this simple test: Spin the fan as hard as you can on an engine that has not been started that day. If the fan rotates more than five times, you can bet the clutch is bad. You should feel some resistance and the fan may spin up to three times, depending on the ambient temperature.
Is a clutch fan better than a flex fan?
The biggest advantage to flex fans is their ability to pull more air through the radiator at an idle than a clutch-operated fan. The flex fan aids in idle or slow speed operation, however, they rob more horsepower than any other style of a fan at high RPMs. They are also particularly noisy at low RPM.
Can you drive with a bad fan clutch?
A failing fan clutch can actually cause the engine fan to become loose and wobble. Sometimes this wobble can be heard while driving, especially at freeway speeds. You can turn on your car’s engine while the vehicle is in park or neutral, pop the hood, and see for yourself that the fan is wobbling as it spins.
Should you be able to stop a fan clutch?
A surefire way to tell if it’s shot is to stick a screwdriver in the fan when it’s hot. If the fan stops, the clutch is bad. If the fan throws the screwdriver back at you, then the clutch is good.
When should a fan clutch engage?
Answer: Most fan clutches engage at about 170°F air temperature (about 180-190°F engine temperature). They reduce the temperature about 20°F before disengaging.
What can a bad fan clutch cause?
A stuck fan clutch will cause excessive, unnecessary drag on the engine, which can cause a drop in power, acceleration, and fuel efficiency, sometimes to a quite noticeable degree. As the fan clutch is one of the main cooling system components, it is very important to the proper operation of the engine.
What happens when a fan clutch goes bad?
A bad fan clutch may not engage properly or at all, and as a result, will disable the fans or prevent them from working at maximum efficiency. This may result in the engine overheating, which will lead to more serious issues if left unattended.
How long does a fan clutch last?
The average failure rate of the radiator clutch fan shows that the fan clutch failure that needs replacement is most typical around an average of 140,00 miles. This is no guarantee, but the repair data has shown that around 140,000 miles are the average rate for failure and the average time of fan clutch replacement.
Do you need a fan clutch?
This coupler is called the Fan Clutch. Flex Fans do not need a clutch. At high rpm, the blades “flatten out.” This achieves the same function as disengaging the fan.
How much does it cost to replace a fan clutch?
A fan clutch replacement cost will range anywhere from $75 to $200 for just the part, without the labor costs. When labor is accounted for in the overall fan clutch replacement cost, the total price can range between $285 to $500 to replace the fan clutch only.
When to use a heavy duty thermal fan clutch?
Heavy-Duty Thermal Fan Clutch: This fan style turns the fan at 70-90 percent of the shaft speed when engaged for increased cooling. When disengaged, it turns the fan at 25-35 percent. It’s used with deeper-pitch fans (2 1/2″ of pitch), and works well with higher operating rpm.
Which is better a thermal or non thermal clutch?
A non-thermal clutch provides a steady flow of cooling air but is always engaged, so it offers lower fuel savings than a thermal-style fan clutch. However, non-thermal clutches are a lower-cost option than thermal-style clutches.
Why do I need a deeper pitch fan clutch?
It’s used with deeper pitch fans and has a larger working surface to provide cooler running and longer life expectancy. This style of fan clutch operates like a thermal clutch, but the ECM/PCM signal controls the level of engagement of the EV clutch.
What happens if you use the wrong fan clutch?
Use of the incorrect fan clutch may result in poor cooling, excessive noise, reduced fuel economy or fan clutch failure.