How can I tell if my fan clutch is working properly?

[JoshuaHufford]

07, V8, 160k Miles.

Getting ready to pull our camper on a trip in a few days, I wanted to make sure my OBD reader and tablet were working properly so I put them in the vehicle today for a short trip we were taking. I like to monitor coolant and trans temp when towing for obvious reason.

First stop today was the chiropractor's office, my wife and I had back to back (no pun intended appointments. So we don't have to bring our son inside we usually stay in the vehicle with him while the other goes inside, it was pretty warm today so we left the vehicle running with the AC on, we were there probably 20-30 minutes. By the time we left there the coolant was up to about 205F and the transmission was up to about 190F. Drove about 1/2 mile then hit a drive through for lunch, it was quite crowded. We were in the drive through maybe 15 minutes before we left, by that time the coolant and trans temp were both at about 220F. With those kind of temps I was expecting to hear a huge roar from the fan when I hit the gas but all I heard was a little bit of fan noise, it was more than what you hear in normal driving but not much more, just enough to notice if you really paid attention.

The outside temp was 88 according to the dash thermostat.

Once we started driving the temps slowly worked their way back down, I never saw the in dash temp gauge go any higher than it's normal place in the middle.

Are these kind of temps in this situation normal? Do you think my fan clutch is working as it should? I guess it is possible I could have a thermostat failing or radiator getting clogged.

Thoughts?

 

[Auditechnician]

Mine roars pretty good when hot. If I was pulling a camper (or even going on a long trip) I would replace it. Fairly reasonable cost and easy enough for the shade tree mechanic to do.

Cost of the parts should be cheaper than a tow....definitely cheaper than a transmission or engine.

 

[JoshuaHufford]

Got one coming from O'reilly's, will put it on Saturday.

 

[Whiskey & Wrenches]

I would advise you to save your old fan clutch and not throw it away. I went through 2 Oreilly's fan clutches, was still having the problem of overheating in traffic when it gets in the 90's or hotter (that happens a lot where I live). After much research I stumbled on this video which explains how to add silicone oil to the Toyota clutch (YouTube ) and so far it seems to have worked. I added two bottles like he said and think the fan noise is a bit louder, but I'll trade that for overheating any day.

 

[JoshuaHufford]

Thanks for the tip.

Did the clutches you got from Oreilly's work at first and then fail or just didn't work out of the box?

 

[Whiskey & Wrenches]

They worked until summer arrived, once the outside temp was above 90 I started having issues.

 

[atalarico]

I was wondering about this too lately since it's hotter than heck out now. My fan is pretty loud and active these days, but my engine never overheats. I remember I replaced my clutch in my 3rd gen no problem, but this one looks a bit more...involved. Maybe it's not even warranted though if it's just loud-ish?

 

[thennen]

I’m curious - did you compare OEM price to O’Reilly?

 

[JoshuaHufford]

No my local dealers service and parts department was shut down for the holiday today and tomorrow is my only time to install it before our trip. I'm going to let it idle for a while after I install it and keep an eye on the temps to test it out.

I have a Haynes manual and it doesn't sound too difficult to replace, basically remove the upper fan shroud and unbolt it.

 

[Whiskey & Wrenches]

I thought removal wasn't terribly difficult. This is the process I followed:
1. Remove the coolant reservoir
2. Remove 3 of the bolts holding on the fan and loosen the 4th. Be careful not to drop them or they'll fall on top of your skid plate and you'll have to drop the skid plate to find the bolt. Ask me how I know........A ratcheting box wrench helps.
3. Take out the bolts for the fan shroud.
4. Remove the 4th bolt for the fan, then take out the fan and fan shroud at the same time.

 

[AuSeeker]

I would advise you to save your old fan clutch and not throw it away. I went through 2 Oreilly's fan clutches, was still having the problem of overheating in traffic when it gets in the 90's or hotter (that happens a lot where I live). After much research I stumbled on this video which explains how to add silicone oil to the Toyota clutch (YouTube ) and so far it seems to have worked. I added two bottles like he said and think the fan noise is a bit louder, but I'll trade that for overheating any day.

I was wondering about this too lately since it's hotter than heck out now. My fan is pretty loud and active these days, but my engine never overheats. I remember I replaced my clutch in my 3rd gen no problem, but this one looks a bit more...involved. Maybe it's not even warranted though if it's just loud-ish?

No my local dealers service and parts department was shut down for the holiday today and tomorrow is my only time to install it before our trip. I'm going to let it idle for a while after I install it and keep an eye on the temps to test it out.

I have a Haynes manual and it doesn't sound too difficult to replace, basically remove the upper fan shroud and unbolt it.

Just an FYI, there are 3 different viscosity of the Toyota silicon oil, they all are the same price, I'm not sure which viscosity is the correct one for our T4Rs, here's the link to where I discovered this and it has all 3 part numbers but they don't know either because they couldn't get the answer from even Toyota but there is some other good info on the fan clutches at this link, but from my searching I see that Toyota does still sells all 3 viscosities, I would think the thicker oil would be for a heavy duty fan clutch.

Here are the instructions:

 

[Whiskey & Wrenches]

The video that I saw gave a part number for the oil, when I ordered it from the dealership they asked me for my vin # to verify that it was the correct one. I have a 2004 and the part I ordered was Oil Silicon - Toyota (08816-03001). I didn't know they had 3 different types of oil, will have to trust the dealer on this one.

 

[AuSeeker]

The video that I saw gave a part number for the oil, when I ordered it from the dealership they asked me for my vin # to verify that it was the correct one. I have a 2004 and the part I ordered was Oil Silicon - Toyota (08816-03001). I didn't know they had 3 different types of oil, will have to trust the dealer on this one.

That's good to know but I see you have the V6....Hmmm I wonder if my 2004 V8 fan clutch uses the same viscosity, I guess I will have to trust what the dealer recommends.

If anyone finds the answer on the V8 please post it for anyone needing to know.

 

[JoshuaHufford]

Well I got it replaced today. The only challenge was removing the nuts that hold the clutch onto the water pump. The belt orientation doesn't provide much resistance to rotation when trying to loosen the nuts, the water pump would spin free from the belt before the nuts would break loose. I had to use a long bar wedged between two of the studs that hold the clutch on to keep it from spinning to get the nuts to break loose. It was a challenge to do this without messing up the threads on the studs but I managed to do it.

As soon as I started the engine and went to the front of the vehicle I could tell a difference right away, there was a LOT more air moving from the fan at idle, even when cold. I drove around a bit then let it idle for a good 20 minutes and didn't see temps that kept climbing like I did the other day so this certainly seems to have improved things. Glad I caught this before we left with the camper tomorrow morning!

 

[AuSeeker]

Well I got it replaced today. The only challenge was removing the nuts that hold the clutch onto the water pump. The belt orientation doesn't provide much resistance to rotation when trying to loosen the nuts, the water pump would spin free from the belt before the nuts would break loose. I had to use a long bar wedged between two of the studs that hold the clutch on to keep it from spinning to get the nuts to break loose. It was a challenge to do this without messing up the threads on the studs but I managed to do it.

As soon as I started the engine and went to the front of the vehicle I could tell a difference right away, there was a LOT more air moving from the fan at idle, even when cold. I drove around a bit then let it idle for a good 20 minutes and didn't see temps that kept climbing like I did the other day so this certainly seems to have improved things. Glad I caught this before we left with the camper tomorrow morning!

Just a tip for others when trying to loosen/tighten those bolts or nuts on fan clutches, use another wrench the size of the bolts on one of the other bolts and against the shaft to apply counter resistance to loosen/tighten the other bolts/nuts, this way you don't risk damaging threads or the heads of the bolts/nuts as you can when using a pry bar.

 

[JoshuaHufford]

Good tip! Why didn't I think of that.

 

[SurferUK]

I am just doing research on everything to do with 4Runners before my import arrives. I had never heard of this type of fan before, but it makes sense.

Do Toyota give a definite refill value, or are there markings etc to show what the level needs to be?



Edit: I just saw this on an eBay ad of all places, but I don't know how accurate it is.



I checked if the O ring is available separately and it is not

Water pump for Toyota Hilux Surf GRN215W - Genuine parts