What happens when you have a bad fan clutch?
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.
How does a torque limiting fan clutch work?
A torque-limiting fan clutch reacts to engine speed. A centrifugal valve opens to allow the flow of heavy silicone fluid, locking the fan blades to the pulley. At idle and low engine speeds, this fan clutch is fully engaged, gradually disengaging as engine speed increases.
What is an electric fan clutch?
The fan clutch is a cooling system component that controls the operation of the engine cooling fans. While many newer vehicles now use electric cooling fans to keep the engine cool, many older vehicles used a mechanical fan clutch to control the fans.
When to know if your car fan clutch is binding?
Activity that’s louder than normal may indicate binding. A binding fan clutch will typically be accompanied with warm air flow from the A/C, since the fan isn’t turning the way it should be. Start your vehicle and listen for the fan to engage. Give the engine a little time to warm up. After 4-5 minutes, the fan clutch should come to life.
What should I do if my fan clutch is going bad?
Silicone fluid leaking from the fan clutch would cause this problem. When the engine is off, there are a few things you can do to check the fan clutch: Spin the fan. Electronic types might freewheel, but most fan clutches should spin with a little effort.
How does a mechanical fan clutch work on a car?
While many newer vehicles now use electric cooling fans to keep the engine cool, many older vehicles used a mechanical fan clutch to control the fans. The fan clutch is a thermostatic device, which means it operates based off temperature, and is usually mounted on the water pump, or another belt driven pulley.
A torque-limiting fan clutch reacts to engine speed. A centrifugal valve opens to allow the flow of heavy silicone fluid, locking the fan blades to the pulley. At idle and low engine speeds, this fan clutch is fully engaged, gradually disengaging as engine speed increases.
How can you tell when a fan clutch is engaged?
You should be able to audibly detect when the fan clutch engages, with an accompanying rush of air. At idle, as engine temperature increases, a thermal fan clutch will engage at a certain temperature. Torque-limiting fan clutches will disengage at a certain engine speed. Alternatively, an optical tachometer can be used to measure fan speed.
What makes a fan spin with a cluthc?
With a fan cluthc your fan will rotate constantly regardless. The clutch engages and locks the blade to it so that it spins faster than normal the hotter that it gets. The only time that your fan will not spin is when the motor is off. It is a common misconception that the fan will only spin when the clutch engages. Click to expand…
Why does my engine fan keep coming on when the a / C is off?
You could have a bad high press switch on the A/C. Thats the swtich that will turn the fan on when the A/C is on and say your not moving to get air flow. Unplug the swtich and put a jumper wire on it and if the fan stops you found your porblem. They can go bad and make the fan stay on even with the A/C off.
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.
With a fan cluthc your fan will rotate constantly regardless. The clutch engages and locks the blade to it so that it spins faster than normal the hotter that it gets. The only time that your fan will not spin is when the motor is off. It is a common misconception that the fan will only spin when the clutch engages. Click to expand…
Why does the engine fan keep coming on and off?
The engine fan will only stay on for a few reasons. Mosf of the time the fan clutch solenoid is bad. It is an electric solenoid that turns the fan on and off. You can find it by following the air line that comes from the fan clutch hub. In you case, it may be the A/C high or low pressure switch since you are getting an A/C trouble code.
Why does the AC blow warm at idle?
Since the AC compressor is driven by the engine, it doesn’t pump as much refrigerant when you’re at a stop or driving slowly. If the system is low on refrigerant, it will show up as AC blows warm at idle and blows colder when the engine is running at higher RPMs. Get your system refrigerant level checked.
How does a thermal fan clutch work on a car?
Thermal Fan Clutches. The thermal fan clutch operates in response to underhood temperatures. As hot air blows across the radiator, it heats a thermal spring mounted at the front of the clutch. As the spring is heated, it turns and allows valve ports to open within the clutch.
How can you tell when a fan clutch is going bad?
You should be able to audibly detect when the fan clutch engages, with an accompanying rush of air. At idle, as engine temperature increases, a thermal fan clutch will engage at a certain temperature. Torque-limiting fan clutches will disengage at a certain engine speed.
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.
What happens if the clutch on the AC fails?
No cooling at all In more severe cases, where the switch has completely failed, your AC system will completely cease to blow cold air. Without the cycling switch to activate the compressor’s clutch, the AC system will not be pressurized correctly, and the system will be unable to produce any cold air as a result.
What to do if your Mercedes Benz fan is stuck?
Not hard to do, just drop the blower motor and replace the regulator. The hardest part is positioning your self under the dash and looking upwards to locate the mounting screws. Hi Paul, just wondering if you found a solution to your stuck fan.
How does a water pump fan clutch work?
The fan clutch is a thermostatic device, which means it operates based off temperature, and is usually mounted on the water pump, or another belt driven pulley. The fan clutch will spin loosely until the temperature reaches a certain level, at which point the fan clutch will fully engage…
You could have a bad high press switch on the A/C. Thats the swtich that will turn the fan on when the A/C is on and say your not moving to get air flow. Unplug the swtich and put a jumper wire on it and if the fan stops you found your porblem. They can go bad and make the fan stay on even with the A/C off.