How do I know if my fan clutch is bad?
To confirm the diagnosis, start with this simple test: Spin the fan as hard as you can on an engine that has not been started that day. If the fan rotates more than five times, you can bet the clutch is bad. You should feel some resistance and the fan may spin up to three times, depending on the ambient temperature.
What does a bad fan clutch sound like?
Another common symptom of a faulty fan clutch is excessively loud cooling fans. This may result in an excessively loud engine from the fan blowing at full speed. The sound may be easily audible and present at all times when the engine is cold and hot.
Can you drive with a bad fan clutch?
A failing fan clutch can actually cause the engine fan to become loose and wobble. Sometimes this wobble can be heard while driving, especially at freeway speeds. You can turn on your car’s engine while the vehicle is in park or neutral, pop the hood, and see for yourself that the fan is wobbling as it spins.
How do you test a Chevy fan clutch?
Raise the hood, with the engine off and cold. Reach in and spin the fan blade by hand. If it continues to spin freely for more than five turns with no signs of drag, you have a bad fan clutch.
Will a bad fan clutch cause AC problems?
Registered. Yes, a bad fan clutch will cause A/C issues. The condenser needs air flow to cool hot refrigerant.
What happens when fan clutch goes out?
Overheating engine is the most common symptom of a bad or failing fan clutch. It controls the operation of the cooling fans. These cooling fans will disable/not work at maximum efficiency as the bad clutch will not engage properly. This result in overheating which may lead to serious issues if not timely attended.
What happens when your clutch fan goes out?
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.
Does a bad fan clutch affect AC?
Absolutely, a bad one can damage your air conditioning system, as it acts as a heat exchanger for the air conditioning unit. The engine fan keeps the condenser cool which helps to keep the convertible’s AC system running smoothly.
How do you test a fan clutch on a trailblazer?
Can a bad fan clutch cause vibration?
It could just be a coincidence that you are noticing this vibration just after the fan and clutch change. The symptoms go with a bad engine mount; vibration at idle that goes away at higher speed.
What are the symptoms of a fan clutch failure?
Engine overheating at low speed or when stopped is the most-common fan clutch failure symptom. When cruising, the vehicle moving through the air pushes air through the radiator, cooling the engine.
What kind of fan clutch does a Chevy Trailblazer have?
The 2002-2008 Chevy Trailblazer comes with an electric actuated fan clutch. When it goes bad, it creates a noise that may sound like a jet plane trying to take off. You may also come across a check engine light or clicking noises that come from the fan itself.
Can a fan clutch cause a car to overheat?
The second problem a fan clutch can have is the opposite problem. The clutch fails to engage no matter how hot the engine becomes. This condition will cause the engine to overheat because the fan fails to pull the necessary air through the radiator that cools the engine by the use of the systems coolant.
What causes a Chevy Trailblazer fan to stop working?
The resistor tends to go bad in the 1st gen Chevy Trailblazer, causing some of the fan speed settings to fail. You’ll mostly notice this when you turn your heat on and select the lower speeds on your AC. The problem could be caused by a blower motor that is sucking too much amperage and causing the resistor to burn internally.