This last fan clutch made it for 35,000 miles but is now caput! This makes #10

[GShail]

Here we are at #11

As of today fan clutch #10 gave up the ghost. Last fan clutch made it 35,00 miles, but this most recent fan clutch, that was properly broken in and torqued down, made it only 14,000 miles and lasted less than 2 months. Still this is an improvement over last summer when they were going out at a rate of every 4,000 to 5,000 miles. As of today, absolutely no A/C at idle (yes my A/C system has been evacuated & recharged) and was overheating engine with a light load on the trailer. So . . . . . here is what I am thinking of trying in addition to replacing the fan clutch.



Looks to me like there is enough space between the intercooler and the radiator to install some aftermarket "Rapid Cool Thinline" fans by Hayden. (haydenauto.com) They have kits to control the operating temperature of the fans. After taking some measurements it looks like I can possibly go with the dual 12 inch electric fan setup which free air flows 1,600 cfm. We may have to shim the intercooler to create enough space but I am thinking the dual 12" setup will work in there. Before I go ahead and jump into this idea, I would appreciate some feedback from you TDR brothers. Will this give me the extra cooling that I need, or will the fans themselves be obstructive? If obstruction is a concern, maybe I could go smaller than two 12 inch fans. Hmmm . . . . .



On a side note, now that others have piled up some miles on their trucks, it seems to me that posts regarding high coolant temperatures while towing are becoming more frequent. I think I can recount three other recent posts where others are experiencing similar symptoms towing on grades.



On another side note, even though I have replaced my thermostat twice just in case it was the thermostat, I always replaced it with whatever part# it originally had. Should I try running a lower temp thermostat as well?



And . . . yes my coolant is new & radiator is golden, yes the fins of the a/c, intercooler, and radiator are clean, free of bugs & road grime. Yes I have kept my EGT's under control. All of the previous helpful suggestions have been religiously followed.



I sure appreciate this forum, and all of the terrific help I have received and continue to receive. Can't wait to get some of your responses, thanks.

 

[MMeier]

Damn George, whats up with that thing !!?? As for the electric fan deal, a while back here were several discussions as to whether or not a electric fan set up could move enough air to keep everything cool. Do a search perhaps? IMO, a dual set up may impede airflow to the stock fan/sensor BS and cause the fan clutch to stay on all the time, taking into account what we do with these things. Once again, just my opinion.

 

[GShail]

I read some of those posts too regarding running electric fans, and how they wouldn't move enough air. I am thinking that I should replace the fan clutch and then add the two 12 inch Thinlines in between the intercooler and the radiator. That would give me the stock viscous fan & the Thinlines. I don't think the electric fans by themselves would work either, but how about together with the stock fan?

 

[MMeier]

IMO, a dual set up may impede airflow to the stock fan/sensor BS and cause the fan clutch to stay on all the time, taking into account what we do with these things. Once again, just my opinion.

Meaning running the electric ones with the stocker.

 

[Burner]

I have a buddy running the twin electric fans. We put them in the truck and he didn't think they worked all that well. The truck would get hot and the fan reaction took a while to counter the heat. Temp guage that would hit 200 before now hits about 210 before it cools off. And yes, the fans do seem to cool off everything pretty well. Long story short, we removed the twins and installed the OEM (ran for three weeks)... . temps appeared the same. So, on when the twins again. Weird thing, the fans will run after the truck is off and it's more quiet.



This is a Duramax..... he is pushing 400+ HP every day.

 

[sag2]

Napa makes a fan that fits between the grille and A/C condenser. We installed a few of them back in 03-04 before the flash was available to start the fan with the A/C on before the coolant temp got up to 140 degrees. If I recall, it is the economy universal fan. I would assume they have the thickness specs available. We wired them up with a relay off the A/C clutch circuit. For full time use you just wire them to ignition run circuit with a relay.

 

[nickleinonen]

there's been a discussion on the dtr about electric fans. . [not very popular there btw. . ]



i've had one fan clutch fail, and if the current one fails out of warrenty, i will be going electrics. in last months diesel progress, they had an article on this fan. my thinking is 4 of those. . 2 pullers behind the CAC, 2 more pullers behind the rad. . yeah, under full speed for all 4 your would be drawing massive amperage [40A x4] and maxing out the alternator, but for me, i will never get to that point. and if i do, drop a gear to get engine speed up, water pump spinning faster and alternator speed up...

 

[Burner]

My buddy claims more HP and better fuel economy. He says about 25 HP and (get this) about 3 MPG better. He has no reason to fudge..... but I still have a hard time believing.







Never less, I'm not a large fan of the electric fan. I kind'a look at'em like two 9mm pistols... . and the OEM is a 30-30. Two 9's should be better but don't have the kill power (heat reduction, ie air volume) of one 30-30.

 

[GShail]

Well I put the dual 12 inch "Rapid Cool Thinline" fans by Hayden on the truck yesterday, while also replacing the fan clutch for what is now the 11th time. Install went pretty smooth. I'll have to take some pictures to post when I get back from my trip to California. Taking 3 cars down tomorrow and 3 back on Friday. I suppose that the real test begins when we are towing three cars. Will post my results. Install went pretty smooth and I like how the dual fans kick on any time the AC is switched on. I also put in a 180 degree thermostat.



Today I did pull one car on the trailer, I would say that the extra fans seem to be working pretty sweet. Truck definitely seems to be running cooler water temperatures. When I did put the coals to her, she stayed quite a bit cooler than before, even with a properly functioning fan clutch. However, it wasn't super hot today in the SLC, UT area. I should find some hot air tomorrow when we get closer to Baker, CA. Last week it was 114 degrees when we ran through there.

 

[MMeier]

Well I put the dual 12 inch "Rapid Cool Thinline" fans by Hayden on the truck yesterday, while also replacing the fan clutch for what is now the 11th time. Install went pretty smooth. I'll have to take some pictures to post when I get back from my trip to California. Taking 3 cars down tomorrow and 3 back on Friday. I suppose that the real test begins when we are towing three cars. Will post my results. Install went pretty smooth and I like how the dual fans kick on any time the AC is switched on. I also put in a 180 degree thermostat.



Today I did pull one car on the trailer, I would say that the extra fans seem to be working pretty sweet. Truck definitely seems to be running cooler water temperatures. When I did put the coals to her, she stayed quite a bit cooler than before, even with a properly functioning fan clutch. However, it wasn't super hot today in the SLC, UT area. I should find some hot air tomorrow when we get closer to Baker, CA. Last week it was 114 degrees when we ran through there.

I'll keep an eye out for you George. taking a F150 down to L. A. tonight( leaving about 1 ish) then picking up a f250 to take up to Mesquite, darn furd products! only way to get from point A to point B, behind a Dodge! :-laf Will be using the single car hauler for this trip !

 

[Burner]

ok, what does the fanclutch bolt to? Something isn't right. It appears as if you're treating the symptom but not the diesease? I wonder if one of those Fluid-dampner things would help?

 

[Money Maker]

Updates????



I had to sign up cause no one else ever asked...



What are the symptoms you have when the clutch goes bad?



Also I stopped by the stealership today to see if the fan would freespool while engine is off because somewhere way back in this thread someone said it would not!!! As I figured they do spin. So what yall think about that?

 

[rbattelle]

What are the symptoms you have when the clutch goes bad?

The fan clutch may not "spin", per se, but should be rotatable by hand with the engine off. Mine is pretty stiff (I can't make it spin even 1 revolution unless I give it a really good spin).



Symptoms may include overheating (if the clutch fails in the "OFF" position), extremely loud fan noise (if the clutch fails in the "ON" position), and possibly a check engine light.



Ryan

 

[Money Maker]

Ok, I thought I was looking for it to not spin at all.



My symptoms are:



1 I have temps pushing redline temps (240'sh) according to my stock temp gauge, when pulling long hills whith heavy loads.



2 A code on the odo (can't remember the # but) basically translates into improper fan speed though I can still hear it working.



3 A screaming/nails across the chaulkboard type sound when pulling high rpm/heavy throttle hill pulls with a load. But it will cut out when the ac engauges.



4 The fan does operate but you cannot hear it loud until the temp is above 220* or when slowing down for a red light it will kick on real loud when temp is not even near high 200* sometimes lower.



I put a 180* t-stat in awhile back and I cannot tell a difference when pulling a load, unless going down for awhile.



So, do I need to change out my fan clutch or what????

 

[Money Maker]

Update



code is p0483 = Cooling Fan Speed

 

[Burner]

Why not get the electric fans? ..... save HP, money and time. You may run a little hotter but at least you'll be running.

 

[Money Maker]

Well I was hoping to hear from Gshail that the electric fans fixed his problem before I started buying parts that may not get r done.

 

[emmettcrocker]

How bout the horton electro magnetic

I have one on my 99 and it works great a little pricey though $1000 total.

 

[GShail]

So far so good with the additional thinline fans. Have about 30,000 miles on the current fan clutch. However, it isn't all that hot out these last couple of months, hope it will work well in the dead of summer. One of these days I will have to get around to posting some pics.

 

[sfr1047]

GShail



Did you have to shim anything to get room for the fans?