1969 polara noisy engine fan

[polarnj]

nornally the fan basically freewheels when cold and shouldn't make any noise... once it gets hot enough air blowing through the radiator onto it, (180 or so depending on the clutches specs) it will then engage and you'll hear the fan...when there is enough air blowing through the radiator due to the speed of the car, the temp of the water in the radiator will be cool enough for the clutch to disengage and the fan will quiet down...if the engine's running really hot for whatever reason the clutch will remain engaged...so to repeat myself, it should be quiet on cold startup and shouldn't make noise till well after the thermostat opens....issues with the one on my camper showed that Hayden, Murray and 4 Seasons were all the exact same clutches (casting numbers,part #'s, engraved numbers) in different boxes and all came out of the same chinese factory....the third one finally worked

Mine is noisy right from when it's first started. I have no choke so I have to Rev it up a bit when cold, the fan is roaring away right from the start. I did take it for a 20 minute ride and it seemed to go away for a short time, maybe above a certain speed? But then quickly comes back again

 

[Just Carbs]

It can be hot enough under the hood on a hot day for the fan to be engaged for a short time when the engine is started cold before it clears out the hot air and the clutch releases.

 

[polarnj]

It can be hot enough under the hood on a hot day for the fan to be engaged for a short time when the engine is started cold before it clears out the hot air and the clutch releases.

It was in the lower 50s outside, but it is in a garage under a bunch of apartments, so some heat comes out of the pipes in the ceiling I guess.

One other thing, the PO said the radiator has no thermostat at the current time, not sure if that has any effect when it's cold though. I'm working on getting one put in

 

[Just Carbs]

It was in the lower 50s outside, but it is in a garage under a bunch of apartments, so some heat comes out of the pipes in the ceiling I guess.

One other thing, the PO said the radiator has no thermostat at the current time, not sure if that has any effect when it's cold though. I'm working on getting one put in

I've not had one engage on a cold start that wasn't in direct sunlight and more than 80 degrees outside. It Can take more than a minute to cool the clutch thermostat and release.


The exception is a few that need to distribute the heavy fluid that has settled to the bottom of the clutch. Maybe 30 seconds or less to release? I don't see that happen often or with many clutches. Maybe it's just the purely centrifugal clutches that do that?

 

[volksworld]

I'd suspect that the lack of thermostat and the current fan clutch might be band aids for some other overheating problem

 

[polarnj]

I'd suspect that the lack of thermostat and the current fan clutch might be band aids for some other overheating problem

I was thinking the same thing. It doesn't have any overheating issues now, but then again with no stat and that crazy fan it doesn't go up very much at all

 

[polarnj]

I went and had the fan clutch replaced with a standard one from NAPA. Much better, no more noise, only issue is that the fan ended up a bit farther forward than before. Not hitting the rad though

 

[polarnj]

About that thermostat, the PO said it doesn't have one. What issues can this cause, other than less heat?

I do get some heat, my mechanic said it must have one in there or there would be no heat coming from the heater (?)

 

[Gerald Morris]

Maybe it's just me, but I noticed that the cars at the show with no clutch at all don't seem to have that noisy a fan, at least not as much as mine. Maybe they are not 7-bladers

You NEED that 7 blade salad chopper in the summer. I run totally without a mech fan from November through May, but only because I engineered a very effective cooling system. From late May through October, I run with the 18 inch, 7 blade food proc bolted to my coolant pump and like it. Sounds like a 383 which will be running the day after I run it on I-10 first on open road, then in rush hour..... Lovely music that is!

 

[polarnj]

Replaced the fan clutch with a standard one from NAPA, much better

The mechanic showed me the old clutch, he could barely spin it while holding the spindle, said the new one is much looser. I don't know if it was broken or just because it's HD vs standard, but nice to just hear the engine/exhaust and not sound like a school bus.