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Clutch fan - why can't i get 1 that fits?

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2003 9:54 pm
by marin
Hiyas,

I've got a may '88 shorty TB42 with a stuffed fan clutch. The 1 that Repco has listed doesn't fit, so he gave me the 1 for the 3 litre which looked like it would fit, and it did fit over the studs on the water pump, but missed sitting flush on it by about 1 to 2mm and the fan didn't fit.
I rang nissan, and the guy there said try bursons, rang them and they said that it was the 1 from the mk to early gq??.
Does any1 know what the go with this fan clutch is?

Thanks

marin

Re: Clutch fan - why can't i get 1 that fits?

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2003 10:12 pm
by bogged
marin wrote:Hiyas,

I've got a may '88 shorty TB42 with a stuffed fan clutch. The 1 that Repco has listed doesn't fit, so he gave me the 1 for the 3 litre which looked like it would fit, and it did fit over the studs on the water pump, but missed sitting flush on it by about 1 to 2mm and the fan didn't fit.
I rang nissan, and the guy there said try bursons, rang them and they said that it was the 1 from the mk to early gq??.
Does any1 know what the go with this fan clutch is?

Thanks

marin



Goto Nissan they sell them, and they work.. I have one, fitted first time, and should last another 280,000klms..

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2003 10:51 pm
by marin
i'd love to just go to nissan and get it, but for just under 500, i cant afford it, whereas the repco 1's at the most were about 200, and i get over 25% discount on that

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2003 10:53 pm
by marin
i'd love to just go to nissan and get it, but for just under 500, i cant afford it, whereas the repco 1's at the most were about 200, and i get over 25% discount on that

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2003 10:57 pm
by bogged
marin wrote:i'd love to just go to nissan and get it, but for just under 500, i cant afford it, whereas the repco 1's at the most were about 200, and i get over 25% discount on that


Heard mixed things on Repco ones.

Mate had one on his TD42, and it didnt last 2 yrs. Which is ok I suppose, but the OEM ones last for 10ish yrs...

good luck dude, I know the being broke feeling.

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 6:55 am
by Area54
When you say stuffed - is the hub still rotating or totally seized? You can rebuild these viscous hubs - I have rebuilt them in the past with success. You go to Toyota and get 2 ampules of silicone fluid (this fluid is for viscous fan hubs), disassemble the fan hub, drain out as much of the old fluid as you can from both halves (use a hairdryer to heat the hub - the fluid will flow out easier), add the silicone fluid and reassemble. All up cost was about 22 bucks plus your time. Provided the seal is intact (the seal is actually just the bearing outer seal) you won't have any problems with leakage.

You may be able to source the fluid from nissan, but I didn't bother - Toyota had it on the shelf.

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 7:49 am
by V8Patrol
There's a few ways around your problem and they depend on $$$$

quick fix... drive a tek screw through the alloy part of the clutchfan, works a treat if ya desperate to get it home.

make it a "solid fan", by this I mean replace the clutch with a piece of 3mm plate. Most steel shops can cut a circle and all you do then is drill the holes to bolt on the plastic fan and a second set for the waterpump studs. Last one I did is still going strong and with zero side effects.

Get a 2nd hand unit from the wreckers, problem here is you dont know what you are buying and the unit you get may be worse than the one you all ready have.... at least you can take it back tho !!

As area54 said... rebuild it, again there's a few probs here, have you the tools to do a rebuild and is it rebuildable?, a large percentage of clutchfans are NOT rebuildable, sure you can replace the fluid in most but the bearings in some units are fitted in such a way that they cant be removed without damaging the unit and therefore making it useless.

with the "repco" replacement .... redrill the holes and add a spacer plate

go with the genuine part, sure its expensive but you know it fits, no other work involved, will last another 250,000+, comes with a warranty !!!

I've converted Diesels and petrol clutchfans to V8 holdens aswell as chevs along with car setups to 4wd conversions... they all take time and are a good alternative to the expensive genuine part... like i said its all $$$

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 8:35 am
by Red Rover
The TB42 ones don't come apart - i used a 60 series one but had to make up some ferrules to make a tight fit around the fitting bolts. These fans draw heaps of air thru them (just have a look at the pitch of the blade). I used a factory twin thermo (wish it was twin turbo) setup in the end from a nissan import car (sylvia i think) and had a stainless shroud made up to mount it to. A tight fit but it does go - i think i had to move one fan slightly forward. Man it makes the motor rev now without the viscous clutch and draws relatively low amps

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 9:03 am
by Area54
Didn't know the petrol ones weren't rebuildable - bugger - that removes one cheap option from the list. The diesel ones are easy as - 10mm socket for the bolts and light tap with a brass/timber drift will open them up.

Genuine price doesn't sound right, do you have the measurements of the water pump spigot? I can compare it to a diesel water pump. They may be the same as a diesel, in which case, get one from the wreckers and rebuild it.

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 9:24 am
by bogged
Area54 wrote:Genuine price doesn't sound right,


they are around $450-500!

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 1:18 pm
by Red Rover
diesel ones don't fit either -been there done that -bugger-it's because of the water pump - the rebate is to big where it mounts

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 2:02 pm
by chimpboy
Red Rover wrote:The TB42 ones don't come apart


I've no idea whether this is feasible in this case but it might be worth a try. We had a guy on a jag list I was on drill a small hole in the outer part of the viscous coupling and fill it with oil, then seal the hole. Sounds bodgy but it worked nicely. I can't recall what oil he used (i have a feeling it was engine oil but I could be wrong.)

If you're looking at $500 to replace it, it might be worth the experiment. Doing it ultra carefully might take an hour.

If someone wants to give it a go I'll search for the jag post and paste in the details.

Jason

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 2:03 pm
by Area54
Damn the options are running out fast. How's this then, can anyone tell me if the TD42 uses the same head casting as the TB42, if so, you may be able to use the diesel water pump - price around $120 - and use the above idea for the fan. Sounds like a long way around the problem, but you'll be ahead in the cash...especially faced with a $500 bill for a pissy fan hub...

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 3:50 pm
by marin
Thanks for all the ideas ppl, but i'm not much of a make it urself-er, although i can take it off and put it on myself. At repco, 5 clutches later, still no good, looks like no offroading for me this weekend
bugger

marin

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 4:03 pm
by Wendle
fuk it off and put a $150 pair of EL falcon thermo's on it..
even if it is only till you find what you are after...

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 4:54 pm
by MKPatrolGuy
Wendle wrote:fuk it off and put a $150 pair of EL falcon thermo's on it..
even if it is only till you find what you are after...


EL/Au thermos are around $220 these days

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 5:00 pm
by Area54
Plus the wiring and rootin around, and as he said, not much of a DIY dude. I take it thats a no on the diesel water pump fitting the petrol head?

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 6:57 pm
by Red Rover
If u drill it out buy the silcone oil from toyota around 10 - 15 bucks for a small bottle. Cheap fix shove a tek screw in it as they said cause it wouldn't stop me goin out! Only thing is the fan wont like it long term (they fly to bits)

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 6:59 pm
by V8Patrol
pics of "converted units"

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 7:03 pm
by V8Patrol
pics of "converted unit"


easy stuff really !!!!

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 7:06 pm
by Area54
Red Rover wrote:If u drill it out buy the silcone oil from toyota around 10 - 15 bucks for a small bottle. [color=yellow]Cheap fix shove a tek screw in it as they said cause it wouldn't stop me goin out! Only thing is the fan wont like it long term (they fly to bits)[/color]


Prolly would not work as internally there are close tolerance rotating plates that are splined to 'roll' the fluid to create drag - driving a tek screw in there would bind it up and fuse the plates together.

Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2003 6:59 pm
by marin
hey guys, good news, went back to repco today and he had finally found me a fan clutch that fitted, it is off a VL turbo. It is a bit bigger (longer) but still seems top clear with heaps of room.

Next question.... can't get the damn thing back together because the alternator belts are too long, well not too long, but ive moved something and the alternator is too close to the main pully... what havbe i done wrong, any ideas? ive tried all the adjustment i can, no luck....

thanks

marin

fan

Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2003 8:51 pm
by davejb
Try 4x4 wreckers frankston dandy road Dandenong. I bought the fan blade for my mav from them $95 non genuine much better than $300+ from nissan
They have at least 2 different blades, it would be worth a phone call to see if they stock the viscous hubs, sorry but I dont have their phone no handy

Dave

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2003 10:12 am
by Area54
marin wrote:hey guys, good news, went back to repco today and he had finally found me a fan clutch that fitted, it is off a VL turbo. It is a bit bigger (longer) but still seems top clear with heaps of room.

Next question.... can't get the damn thing back together because the alternator belts are too long, well not too long, but ive moved something and the alternator is too close to the main pully... what havbe i done wrong, any ideas? ive tried all the adjustment i can, no luck....

thanks

marin


On the front of the motor there is a flat faced idler pulley (not grooved), the back of the belt is meant to ride over this idler pulley, not the vee section.

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2003 1:08 pm
by marin
stupid me, i missed the fan belt pully when putting the fan clutch back on, iut was sitting there staring me in the face, but a just plain forgot it, it all works now.

marin

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2003 1:42 pm
by hottiemonster
yeah thats pretty funny Ben as you told me on the phone. oh well, i might be heading to Gembrook way on tuesday if your interested.