spendy fan clutch

Soundguy · Jul 11, 2011

is that rock auto actually selling an oem part or a 'like' oem part, as it sounds like the motorcraft 'crossed' umber that napa gave me.. same price too.

I've heard those clutches are more agressive, thus more overall fan noise from longer / faster lock up.. etc.

I also understand this is a centrifugal / hud style clutch.. or at least believe it is.

soundguy

schmism · Jul 12, 2011

so living in FL... you have to ask yourself... why replace the fan clutch?

Seems like the smart choice (for you FL enviroment) is to just go with a aftermarket hard mount fan. cost... $45-80

in short F the fan clutch....

Soundguy · Jul 12, 2011

that things pretty drn loud when it comes on! I don't want to hear it all the time.

Usually I can only get the fan to come on when towing.. just tooling around town isn't enough load.

soundguy

Highbeam · Jul 12, 2011

The 7.3 diesel has a very oversized cooling system. Most of the time, regardless of outside temp, you don't need the engine fan. International/Ford decided to equip this engine with a monster fan that will suck seagulls off of a landfill when it is engaged. These features lend themselves very well to a non full-time fan. You did right to replace the failed clutch.

I work around dumptrucks and those are also equipped with a fan clutch but it is electric and when that bugger engages it squeals the belt and makes a hurricane of wind. Very similar to the 7.3 diesel.

The idea of an HD fan clutch system is that the fan needs to be able to move enough air to cool that huge engine under full load while the truck isn't moving fast. If it moved that much air all the time it would be a problem in terms of noise and fuel consumption.

Soundguy · Jul 12, 2011

yep.. it is a monster fan.. and you are correct. when it comes on.. you can even hear it in the cab going down the interstate doing 72 mph.. and that is with the engine tach'd at 2750 as i have a 4.88 rear end.

again. only comes on when hitched to a trialer.. can't make it come on without towing.

it was spendy.. but my gut feeling was to replace it correctly with the oem reccomended part. i don't forsee being able to buy another dually for a looooong time with my job and the economy as it is.. so i can't afford to screw this one up by not repairing it well.

soundguy

ModMech · Jul 15, 2011

Soundguy said:
is that rock auto actually selling an oem part or a 'like' oem part, as it sounds like the motorcraft 'crossed' umber that napa gave me.. same price too.

I've heard those clutches are more agressive, thus more overall fan noise from longer / faster lock up.. etc.

I also understand this is a centrifugal / hud style clutch.. or at least believe it is.

soundguy

AFAIK RA is selling "real" Motorcraft parts and not off-shore knock-offs because they look exactly like the parts dealers install (appearance, weight, boxing etc) are all the same.

NAPA parts (the pro stuff like United & Belden) are often OEM parts w/o the OEM box or marketing (etching/embossment etc) on the part. In some cases, the OEM p/n is still visible!