CRD 04 Viscous Fan Clutch?

[GeeTee]

Hi Guys and Girls - i`ve done some reading and it seems as though my viscous fan clutch or the fan drive has given up. No matter when the vehicle is driven the FAN blows constantly whether it starts for the first time in the am or been driving all day, the thermostat and water pump should be fine as my temperature gauge stays the same as it always is.

Any ideas? How do i troubleshoot the root cause of this? Should i not see any engine codes?

 

[Billwill]

Hi Guys and Girls - i`ve done some reading and it seems as though my viscous fan clutch or the fan drive has given up. No matter when the vehicle is driven the FAN blows constantly whether it starts for the first time in the am or been driving all day, the thermostat and water pump should be fine as my temperature gauge stays the same as it always is.

Any ideas? How do i troubleshoot the root cause of this? Should i not see any engine codes?

The viscous fan on the CRD will turn even when cold due to internal friction.
With a cold motor, start the Jeep and carefully place a rolled up newspaper into the fan.....it should come to a stop.
If you repeat this procedure with a very warm motor...the fan will not stop but will chew the newspaper up.....this is how a viscous clutch works...it only engages firmly when heated up....engages very loosly when cool.
You do not seem to have any problem with the fan....if it stops working you will get overheating.:disgust:

 

[GeeTee]

Thanks Bill - that makes sense - now - what i need to know is, the fan blows really loudly, louder if the revvs increase and is something that has just presented itself since Sunday - the car also has less power, especially when revving higher, as it seems the fan is connected to one of the pulleys, working off of the engine.

As mentioned this never usually happens, only when towing a boat etc.

 

[Billwill]

Thanks Bill - that makes sense - now - what i need to know is, the fan blows really loudly, louder if the revvs increase and is something that has just presented itself since Sunday - the car also has less power, especially when revving higher, as it seems the fan is connected to one of the pulleys, working off of the engine.

As mentioned this never usually happens, only when towing a boat etc.

It is possible that your viscous clutch has seized so it is engaged all the time but usually if these viscous clutches pack up they stop grabbing properly so you tend to get overheating.
Do the test I posted above....you can also check that with engine OFF you can spin the fan on a cold engine rather easily while with a very hot engine turned OFF...the blade is very stiff to move.
The fan is connected to the one pulley so it will run at engine revs when the motor is hot.
Some CRD owners have fitted a flexable metal fan that spins more freely while if you go back a few posts here on the CRD section you will see that some people have fitted the 11 blade plastic fan from the v6 gasser to their CRDs...sometimes with a more robust Hayden viscous clutch....but that is to improve the cooling of the system.
If you have low power...check your Turbo hoses for splits first...and this may be the extra noise you are hearing!

 

[GeeTee]

OK, so i drove home yesterday, 10km`s, got home, opened the bonnet took a rolled up piece of newspaper, pushed it into the side of the fan. The fan chopped the newspaper like a samurai - so this tells me the clutch is fully engaged. I did the same this morning, started the vehicle and shoved a newspaper in there, shredded to pieces and, this is when she was ice cold, been standing overnight.

Does this mean that the fan is engaged all the time and, does this mean that the fan clutch is faulty? Or not?

The temp stays way cold when commuting, it seldom goes higher than the below.

 

[GeeTee]

Hi Bill - i`ll give the hoses a look and see if they`re ok too.

 

[Billwill]

OK, so i drove home yesterday, 10km`s, got home, opened the bonnet took a rolled up piece of newspaper, pushed it into the side of the fan. The fan chopped the newspaper like a samurai - so this tells me the clutch is fully engaged. I did the same this morning, started the vehicle and shoved a newspaper in there, shredded to pieces and, this is when she was ice cold, been standing overnight.

Does this mean that the fan is engaged all the time and, does this mean that the fan clutch is faulty? Or not?

The temp stays way cold when commuting, it seldom goes higher than the below.

The KJ CRD service manual that I have for the 2002 2.5/2.8 CRD does not mention the newspaper test but states "When the engine is cold, the fan should spin freely by hand". If yours does not do this then it would seem the viscous clutch is faulty. I do not know what the chances of getting the recommended Hayden clutch in SA are...might be worth your while looking for one overseas.
Read up on this forum about problems other CRD owners have been having with their viscous clutches and also the difficulty of removing the clutch to replace it...then make your decision.:freak3: My 2002 CRD has 152,000 kms and so far I have had no problems with the viscous clutch.
www.lostjeeps.com has a very active CRD section...do a search there as well for viscous clutch issues.

 

[GeeTee]

Thanks for the advice, i`ve been checking threads on other sites like lost continuously and have posted same query on there. Hopefully i`ll find a solution soon.

 

[GeeTee]

PS : I ended up replacing the viscous fan clutch - problem solved!