Clutch Fan Was Locked - Need Input

[vas85]

Hi Guys,

Yesterday was driving around past a few mates places before going to a party and I noticed about halfway through that my clutchfan was not turning off with temperatures reading 4bars out of 10 (when I normally see 5 bars).

It was rather windy... and later on that night when going to start the car I had first checked whether there was any play with the clutch fan, and it was rock solid.. could only move about 2-3mm after decently trying...

I then managed to free it up by turning it clockwise (facing the front of the car) and then anti clockwise and I managed to get it loosened up so that it didn't feel locked.

I started the car this morning and after idling it for a few minutes, gave it a few revs to 2500-3000rpm and the clutch fan disengaged.

My question is, where to from here? Is the clutch fan on its way out?

Thanks all for your help in advance.

(P.S. I did a search, maybe not good enough and found some guy wanting to lock his... not what I was wanting to find out)

 

[GrimJack]

I've only heard of the opposite - the fan *refusing* to lock.

A new clutch would more than likely fix the problem, I guess. I'd take the one that's on there apart first though, maybe it's something simple.

 

[vas85]

I've only heard of the opposite - the fan *refusing* to lock.

A new clutch would more than likely fix the problem, I guess. I'd take the one that's on there apart first though, maybe it's something simple.

Yeah, I'll give that a try. I know there are 4 bolts that hold it together, would I need to take the radiator out to get it all the way out or is it simpler than that?

It's also locked at the moment, depending how big of a job might give it a go tonight.

 

[johnathan1]

This happened to my fan clutch. It was a cheap AZ replacement...The shaft seal had been leaking and allowed all of the fluid to leak out, and the clutch seized. I just replaced it with a good used clutch from Driftmotion.

 

[deabionni]

...
would I need to take the radiator out to get it all the way out or is it simpler than that?

The radiator can stay in the car. Just unbolt what you need to, to be able to take the fan and the fan shroud out together.

 

[WhtMa71]

Also if the stock clutch isn't fubar, it can be rebuilt.

 

[forcefedsupra]

Mine locked up a few years ago, replaced it with a good one and it was fixed. It's easy to do, I did it in a parking lot in the snow.

 

[suprarich]

It could be that the litttle ball bearings inside the fluid resivoir came loose and lodged itself. That would make it lock up. Happened to a few of mine. Repalce the clutch portion of the fan.

 

[IJ.]

Vas: If you end up replacing it make sure you use a GTE Clutch as the GE one will slip it brains out with a 10 blade fan installed. (gte's have an orange/brown hub ge's are blue)

 

[dulobast25]

<shaeff edit>

However in some cases, it is possible to re=pack the grease/fluid within the fan clutch. <shaeff edit>

Hi Guys,

Yesterday was driving around past a few mates places before going to a party and I noticed about halfway through that my clutchfan was not turning off with temperatures reading 4bars out of 10 (when I normally see 5 bars).

It was rather windy... and later on that night when going to start the car I had first checked whether there was any play with the clutch fan, and it was rock solid.. could only move about 2-3mm after decently trying...

I then managed to free it up by turning it clockwise (facing the front of the car) and then anti clockwise and I managed to get it loosened up so that it didn't feel locked.

I started the car this morning and after idling it for a few minutes, gave it a few revs to 2500-3000rpm and the clutch fan disengaged.

My question is, where to from here? Is the clutch fan on its way out?

Thanks all for your help in advance.

(P.S. I did a search, maybe not good enough and found some guy wanting to lock his... not what I was wanting to find out)

 

[vas85]

The radiator can stay in the car. Just unbolt what you need to, to be able to take the fan and the fan shroud out together.

Thanks for that I'll take a look tonight.

Also if the stock clutch isn't fubar, it can be rebuilt.

That's great to know!

Mine locked up a few years ago, replaced it with a good one and it was fixed. It's easy to do, I did it in a parking lot in the snow.

Hmm so if I order a replacement clutch unit for the fan it should be the way to go?

It could be that the litttle ball bearings inside the fluid resivoir came loose and lodged itself. That would make it lock up. Happened to a few of mine. Repalce the clutch portion of the fan.

Yeah I'll find out tonight, as it's locked up again, I was able to loosen it up when initially posting this thread but now it's locked up again so the car is running very cool but also noise because of the fan.

Vas: If you end up replacing it make sure you use a GTE Clutch as the GE one will slip it brains out with a 10 blade fan installed. (gte's have an orange/brown hub ge's are blue)

Thanks for that tip IJ as always the brain behind the MK3! Appreciate it. :icon_bigg

<shaeff edit>

However in some cases, it is possible to re=pack the grease/fluid within the fan clutch. <shaeff edit>

Will do, i'll need to weigh it out because i'm all the way over in the land down under.

Thanks all for the replies I'll see how I go.

 

[vas85]

Ian,

I looked in some of the spare parts I got with the car over 2 years ago, and look what I found.... I have a photo taken of it in my hands and then the one currently in the car.

This looks like it's a turbo one, and I'm going to definitely give it a go, the one in the car I can't tell whether it's dark blue... looks black.




Is there anything I should check for with this current one in my hands, for play etc? (So far it feels smooth in the rotation and no wobble..)

 

[IJ.]

Score #1 Vas

Sounds like it's a good one if it doesn't have any shaft wobble, can't remember what I paid for mine but it wasn't cheap!

 

[vas85]

Score #1 Vas

Sounds like it's a good one if it doesn't have any shaft wobble, can't remember what I paid for mine but it wasn't cheap!

Yeah I remembered I had something lying around that looked kinda like the existing clutch... came in handy!

All finished with putting in the proper 7MGTE Clutch Fan, don't know why I had the 7MGE clutch installed in its place... guess for 2 yrs never noticed... and now I have once the 7mge clutch totally gave out.

Pics of astonishment at the differences in the clutch...


Running pic


I also didn't need to remove the shroud as I gently fed her through the bottom as I don't have that cover plate underneath on my car... so it worked out nicely and took roughly 30minutes.

Out of curiousity, what differences am I to expect with this proper clutch? (As I noticed the coil is twice as thick and the whole unit is about 2.5x thicker... because I used to think my car was overheating when I'd always hear the fan on pretty constantly through first two gears... but it may be because that little clutch wasn't meant for my motor)

Oh and thanks everyone for your help! really appreciate it...

 

[dulobast25]

The unit you remove is an aftermarket unit, not an aisin or toyota unit. The oe GE units look MUCH mor elike the unit that you just installed. Thats prob why it failed so quick.. sotck fan clutchs can normally last 2 per the life of the vehicle, soemtimes one...this would likely be the 3rd on ur car.
Looks like it worked out well!

 

[vas85]

The unit you remove is an aftermarket unit, not an aisin or toyota unit. The oe GE units look MUCH mor elike the unit that you just installed. Thats prob why it failed so quick.. sotck fan clutchs can normally last 2 per the life of the vehicle, soemtimes one...this would likely be the 3rd on ur car.
Looks like it worked out well!

Yeah it didn't look like the GE unit (from what Ian informed me of), and definitely didn't look right when compared next to the GTE unit I had lying around.

Car is running much better now too, she was that locked up after I took off the old clutch unit with your hand you can't even move it around it's that tight. The coil is also about 2-2.5x thicker on this GTE clutch which must have a higher threshold or rather.

 

[IJ.]

The GE Blue one from Toyota is the "lite" version of the Brown GTE one you're using now it's just smaller and girly

 

[vas85]

The GE Blue one from Toyota is the "lite" version of the Brown GTE one you're using now it's just smaller and girly

I've noticed too my car seems to idle better now too with the GTE clutch, is that just my imagination, because it feels a lot smoother on idle?

 

[Poodles]

Yep, you took off the aftermarket one.

One of the reasons I don't use most of their parts as when I ordered one they said it was the same for both... told them it wasn't then when I had them both side by side I called the dealer and ordered a real one.

First one lasted over 150,000 miles, new OEM one should be worry free for the next 20 years...

 

[IJ.]

I've noticed too my car seems to idle better now too with the GTE clutch, is that just my imagination, because it feels a lot smoother on idle?

Probably imagineitis Vas

The fan "may" be slightly out of balance and when it was coupled directly to the engine it might have affected the idle but I doubt it.