Severe duty fan clutch review.

[turboranger91]

I was always having problems with my truck running warm on nice hot days. It never actually overheated, but would get warm enough to make me uncomfortable, and the a/c wouldn't blow nearly as cold (it gets pretty hot here in central Florida). About a month ago, my water pump took a dump on me, so I had to replace that. It seemed to help a bit, but not quite enough. My next step was to replace the thermostat with a 180*. That made quite a bit of a difference, but it wasn't enough for rush hour traffic. I finally made the decision to replace the fan clutch with a severe duty unit. Upon removal of the existing one, I immediately knew my problems were over. My truck has the factory towing package, and should have a heavy duty fan clutch in it, but that's not at all what it was. It looked like a standard duty unit.

After a week of driving with this thing, I've noticed several things. Everything I've read says that you mileage will take a noticeable hit. I was averaging 19mpg with mixed driving prior to the swap. I'm now getting 19mpg. No change. The sound.... Yeah, it's like they say. It sounds like a jet... A quiet jet. You can barely hear it engage while driving, but it's pretty noticeable from a stop. Robbing horsepower. While I'm sure it takes a toll in this are, my driving habits make it unnoticeable. I don't have a heavy foot. Now the part that matters. Cooling. This thing is hands down the bet thing I've done to my truck. It takes about twice as long to reach operating temperature, but when it does, it stays very cool. At the N or O. It will idle indefinitely without going any warmer. We just drove from Orlando to Waynesville NC yesterday. 4 people, plus a loaded cargo area. Never once did it go up to the R. It tried during the steep uphill grades in the mountains, but the fan would engage, and keep it at the O. Even in stop and go traffic around Atlanta, it remained cool.

5 stars for the severe duty fan clutch!

 

[FR-425]

Getting rid of the 10 blade fan and replacing with the 9 blade helps too.

Less noise and better air flow.

More is not always better!

 

[Number4]

Is that the OE fan blade? Can't tell if those three lines are mold lines or cracks.

If it's OE, best replace it before it grenades while going down the road.

 

[turboranger91]

The fan does have a couple cracks in it. It will be getting replaced when we get home this weekend. Did some mild Trails while we were here in the mountains so far. Even with the A/C on, it stayed nice and cool. I love this clutch. Lol.

 

[mekelly]

My fan clutch was leaking like crazy when I purchased my 1994 last year. Replaced it with a severe duty fan clutch and it cools great. 95 degree day in Atlanta, stopped in traffic with the A/C blowing, the temp gauge is right in the middle.

I was a little worried about the hit on gas mileage using a severe duty clutch as opposed to a heavy duty clutch and asked Hayden (makers of fan clutches) about it, here's their response:

"The clutch will lock up roughly 10-15% more requiring that much more to drive the fan. The difference is nominal."