Engine Another cooling system thread

Small update for now.

Took off the current clutch and spun it by hand with the fan removed. It would spin firmly about half way, then it had almost no resistance, then it would firm up again. Yup, that one is junk.

Got the new clutch installed and started the car. Wow, the new one makes the fan move at LEAST twice as much air. It even sounds like a small semi revving it up when it's cold. When it released some, it still moved a lot more air. Have high hopes this was the problem the whole time. We'll find out after tomorrow.

Does it even pay to go through the hassle with Rock Auto to warranty the old one just to get another piece of junk? They won't do a defective return for a warranty item.
The one from Rock Auto was $33
The one from Car Quest was $70
I'm completely fine paying more if it works as expected.

And for the conclusion, new fan clutch works great!

Went to a car show yesterday (2 hour drive). When I pulled in, the temp was at 202 degrees. Had a little bit of a line for registration so kept a close eye on the temp while idling. The temperature actually dropped sitting there. By the time I pulled away to park, it had dropped to 198. That was a relief to see, and when I pulled away, I could hear the clutch kicked in more than it was when I pulled in.

So, for now, I'm going to call this one resolved. May still pull the radiator this winter and have it cleaned .

Oh, and took first place in my class.

Thanks all for your help with this one.

KRUISR said:

I have a thought on the differences you noted. Factory rad is a 2 row of cooling tubes. I have a factory style rad with 3 rows of cooling tubes. The fan shroud mounts to the core, not the tanks. The difference you saw online could be 2 row and 3 row rads.

Click to expand...

Now that is an interesting thought. Could it be that cars that had the three row have two row radiators now? It would make sense to the depth differences.

Photo op time...even though it's really a GT350....