Quote:
Originally Posted by Fullback66
Why is this fan clutch better? Is it because it spins faster?
I do not have A/C. This has been a huge help. Thanks to all the guys who replied.
Cross my fingers.
Thanks
FB66
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No the fan does not spin faster. I am going to say it works better because it is due in part that the factory fan that is used with the clutch has more blades and the pitch is more aggressive so it pulls more air at lower speeds.
As the RPM's increase that is when the clutch mechanism comes into play. The clutch has fluid inside it that allows the fan to slip once it reaches a certain RPM where the movement of the car through the air forces enough air through the radiator to do its job. Thus, you do not lose HP needed to continue to rotate the fan blades as engine RPM goes up as you would with a solid non-clutched fan.
This is the same principal as a flex fan. More blades at a greater pitch, but they flatten out as the RPM's increase and no longer rob power needed to rotate the fan if they did not flatten out. Once your engine gets down into the lower RPM's/slow driving, the flex fan returns to its greater pitch angle just as the clutch fan mechanism begins to "grab" the fan at lower RPM's and does not slip as it had at the higher RPM's - think of the clutch fan just like a torque converter, except in reverse, the torque converter slips until enough RPM's cause the fluid to move the stator fins that engage/lock up the transmission and the car moves forward. The clutch fan engages/operates the minute the engine is fired up and then the internal fluid slips when the engine RPM's get higher. Then fan is still rotating, but it no longer continues to speed up with higher engine RPM's.