Anyone else running a "heavy duty" fan clutch?

jeep_boss

jeep_boss

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Just overhauled my entire cooling system. I was concerned about my fan not spinning enough and my Jeep has always run a little on the warm side. I chose to get an HD fan clutch to see if it would put some life into my fan - I had done the same in other vehicles that i have owned with good results.

The only down side is the noise, but I don't mind my Jeep aounding like an 18 wheeler running through their low gears - whichbis how my Jeep sounds now when the clutch oil is cold.
 
Last time I looked I couldn't find an HD clutch any more.

I did an explorer 10 blade fan and extreme duty clutch swap and it's worked well. It's not particularly loud and it seems to help with cooling. It completely changes the way the jeep sounds at idle to, it now has that slight cherp that the Ford E series vans. It also seems to suck more power than the stock setup.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
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jeep_boss said:
Just overhauled my entire cooling system. I was concerned about my fan not spinning enough and my Jeep has always run a little on the warm side. ....

....
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What do you mean by warm side?

2003 Rubicon
 
For a while when I had my XJ I looked into it, but when I discovered how loud they were (and that I didn’t actually need one), I decided against it. My buddy has one on his and it’s obnoxiously loud.
 
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Drizit said:
Last time I looked I couldn't find an HD clutch any more.

I did an explorer 10 blade fan and extreme duty clutch swap and it's worked well. It's not particularly loud and it seems to help with cooling. It completely changes the way the jeep sounds at idle to, it now has that slight cherp that the Ford E series vans. It also seems to suck more power than the stock setup.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
Click to expand...

Interesting. When you mention the power suck, are you talking HP?
 
Chris said:
For a while when I had my XJ I looked into it, but when I discovered how loud they were (and that I didn’t actually need one), I decided against it. My buddy has one on his and it’s obnoxiously loud.
Click to expand...

I actually dig the loudness. It adds a militarized component to my Jeep that I enjoy. It seems to scare Prius drivers too, so it is a win for me.
 
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jeep_boss said:
Interesting. When you mention the power suck, are you talking HP?
Click to expand...
Yep, I noticed having to put the pedal down harder after when accelerateing from a stop or going up hill.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
TomTJ said:
Fans can pull a lot of HP. Long video, and about engines that turn higher rpms than the 4.0, but still interesting to watch when eating breakfast.

Click to expand...

Wow, never realized they could cause that much parasitic drag. The S65 4.0L motor in my M3 redlines at 8600... never heard anyone talk about optimizing the fan, but I'm going to look into it!

Thanks for sharing that!
 
jeep_boss said:
Wow, never realized they could cause that much parasitic drag. The S65 4.0L motor in my M3 redlines at 8600... never heard anyone talk about optimizing the fan, but I'm going to look into it!

Thanks for sharing that!
Click to expand...

No prob. I’d assume your M3 engine has an electric fan like almost all modern motors. Jeeps are somewhat different as they may need maximum cooling at a low rpm with very little vehicle speed.
 
jeep_boss said:
Wow, never realized they could cause that much parasitic drag. The S65 4.0L motor in my M3 redlines at 8600... never heard anyone talk about optimizing the fan, but I'm going to look into it!

Thanks for sharing that!
Click to expand...

Well, I had an E46 M4 with the S54, and one of the things on the M3 forums was people upgrading to electric fans. There was a long and conclusive thread (with dyno graphs) that basically came to the conclusion that while there may be some horsepower to be gained from switching to an electric fan, it was a very, very negligible amount, and it was at such high RPMs that it didn't even matter. We're talking 2-3hp MAX, and those small of numbers aren't enough to even prove anything, as a back-to-back dyno can have slightly varying numbers just based off variables such as engine temperature, oil temperature, dyno inconsistencies, etc.

Granted we're talking about a high horsepower engine here like the S54, but nonetheless.
 
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