Fan clutch

[DanD]

I believe the fan clutch on my 03 LTZ with 143000 finally went out. Worked fine one minute. Shut off and restarted 20 min later, now roaring constantly. Swapped relays between fan and headlights with no change. What brands are ok? I remember reading years ago Hayden was best aftermarket but no one has. Oreilly has Murray for about $200. Is it a good one? Had codes checked and it has high fan speed code stored but no light yet.
I replaced thermostat and t sensor a few years back so I think I can do this. Sbop wants $975 and I said no to that. Is it wise to do water pump too at this time it just wait? Thanks

 

[Mooseman]

Hayden is our go to here. Best price for quality. Dorman are junk. Most in-house parts store brands are junk as the supplier is unknown. Never heard of Murray.

Just check the condition of the pump. Usual suspect is the bearing. If it looks fine and not leaking, I'd leave it.

 

[Eric04]

I believe the fan clutch on my 03 LTZ with 143000 finally went out. Worked fine one minute. Shut off and restarted 20 min later, now roaring constantly. Swapped relays between fan and headlights with no change. What brands are ok? I remember reading years ago Hayden was best aftermarket but no one has. Oreilly has Murray for about $200. Is it a good one? Had codes checked and it has high fan speed code stored but no light yet.
I replaced thermostat and t sensor a few years back so I think I can do this. Sbop wants $975 and I said no to that. Is it wise to do water pump too at this time it just wait? Thanks

Murray/Everco/Four Seasons had all been around here in the Midwest for as long as I can remember. All used to be pretty good but I'm unsure as to consolidations over the years and what's in the box with those brands these days. I went with a Hayden off Amazon last year but I could afford to wait as mine was just dead, not roaring and killing MPG. If anyone has had a good experience with a brand other than Hayden they haven't volunteered the info here yet.

As to the pump, go with the Moose. If no evidence of leakage or slop in the shaft you don't need to replace it. It's just easy to do once the clutch is out.

*edit* One other thought. If you haven't already, buy a 1 7/16 open end wrench to bust that clutch nut loose. I rounded a spanner off and picked up the open end for less than 20 bucks. No muss, no fuss, no rage. Lol.

 

[DanD]

Well I got everything apart. A little harder than I thought but not too bad. All threaded connections came out easily but the shroud was attached to two rubber flaps way down on the bottom completely out of reach with two little tabs molded into the shroud. Finally just had to break those little tabs. Could never get them hooked back on anyway. A few fins in the radiator got bent a little from the clutch rolling around but doesn't look too bad.
There is no leaking from the water pump but there is definite play in the bearings. It will clunk as you no e the shaft back and forth. Will definitely change it at this point since its almost no further work to do. Anybody recommend any particular brand? Saw GM OEM pump online for way less than $100. Pumps are pretty cheap.

 

[Mooseman]

GM or ACDelco. Had bad experience with Gates. The ACDelco outlasted the truck for 5-6 years.

 

[cace68]

Hi I installed this on my truck Chevrolet Trailblazer LTZ 4.2 6L 4WD year 2003/ https://www.ebay.com/itm/Electric-R...Bravada-9-7X-/131026454433?hash=item1e81c907a. 1 One year ago no problem Too replaced the water pump acdelco and termostat acdelco the ETC sensor standard brand and flush the system.

 

[jhenry999]

Put a new fan clutch on my 03 Trailblazer. After taking the old one off I noticed that two wires in the harness had two places worn down to bare metal from rubbing against the plastic. Found out online that this has happened before. The arcing caused intermittant symptoms like roaring and not turning off until I hit a bump in the road, Check this out first and maybe save yourself some money.

 

[DanD]

I replaced the clutch this weekend with an AC Delco (Behr) unit and also replaced the water pump with a Delco. All back to normal now. The new clutch roared for about half a mile too. Probably just needed for the silicone to get pushed to the right place.
Let it sit running in the driveway and turned on the A.C. and the new clutch locked up. Released when started moving so like I said all seems good.

 

[Mooseman]

Yep, normal operation. Quite normal to roar for a minute or two until the silicone goes back into the reservoir.

 

[DanD]

Yep, normal operation. Quite normal to roar for a minute or two until the silicone goes back into the reservoir.

It only ran for a half mile like that the first time after the new installation. I thought I hadn' fixed the problem. Now is back to normal. Runs for a few seconds right at startup but is disengaged by the time you get backed out to the street. Hopefully stays fixed!

 

[Mektek]

Well I got everything apart. A little harder than I thought but not too bad. All threaded connections came out easily but the shroud was attached to two rubber flaps way down on the bottom completely out of reach with two little tabs molded into the shroud. Finally just had to break those little tabs. Could never get them hooked back on anyway. A few fins in the radiator got bent a little from the clutch rolling around but doesn't look too bad.
There is no leaking from the water pump but there is definite play in the bearings. It will clunk as you no e the shaft back and forth. Will definitely change it at this point since its almost no further work to do. Anybody recommend any particular brand? Saw GM OEM pump online for way less than $100. Pumps are pretty cheap.

There's something else you should check on the water pump. Of course, bearing play is obvious. Runout at the tip of the pump shaft can become a problem too. Watch the edge of the fan while the engine is idling - if you notice anything more than a tiny vibration then the pump should be replaced. Even if it isn't leaking.