Fan clutch noise

[FreshAir]

What would you do if you thought you were having excessive clutch fan noise or engagement? This is happening on a friends 2004 Dolphin on a W22 chassis. He is an experienced auto mech. but knows little about the W 22 or any WH products. He does not have a scan gauge for exact engine temps and thinks his air dam is in good shape.

Pat

[ron55]

make sure it is the fan. I am on my third air conditioner compressor because of the clutch which makes noise.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreshAir What would you do if you thought you were having excessive clutch fan noise or engagement? This is happening on a friends 2004 Dolphin on a W22 chassis. He is an experienced auto mech. but knows little about the W 22 or any WH products. He does not have a scan gauge for exact engine temps and thinks his air dam is in good shape.

Pat, How is the coolant level in his recovery tank? We have a feature here called How The Motorhome Coolant Overflow Reservoir Works

[Clay L]

This may be of some interest. It's from a 1995 service manual but it may provide an approach.
My last coach was a 1995 P30 with a 454 and the service manual had a procedure for checking the fan clutch. They said to measure the temp of the AIR coming out of the radiator. I used a metal meat thermometer. I had to drill a small hole in the plastic shroud around the fan so I could get the thermometer between the fan and the radiator.
They said to block the radiator with cardboard and run the engine at about 2000 RPM to get the engine to heat up.
The fan will spin before it's fully engaged, but it's obvious when it engages because of the noise.
It should engage at an air temp between 165'F and 195'F. If it doesn't it should be replaced.

[edgray]

Please clarify your first statement. Is the "problem" we are to address the frequency at which his fan clutch is engaging, or are we to address a noise coming from the clutch (seperate from the roar caused by the fan itself) ? Thanks, ED

[FreshAir]

Thanks for the responds. Fluid level is OK. Gary the owner is a good mechanic, the WH chassis is new to him and he is wondering if their all as noisy as his. His fan clutch does seem to engage more than mine does so the freguency it engages is the problem.
I have a scan gage so maybe we'll play around with Clay's idea of heating the thing up.
Thanks

[edgray]

If his air dam is not the cause of frequent clutch engagement, then you need to determine the temp at which it is engaging. These clutches are simple devices, but have been known to need replacment.

[Davel]

I have a Scanguage II and my clutch fan comes on consistently at 206 degrees coolant temperature and goes off at 200 degrees in less than 30 seconds. While the fan operation is not controlled by coolant temps, there is a correlation between the temp of the coolant and the air temps thru the radiator. I also had one of the electric condenser fans quit working and this increased the frequency of the clutch fan coming on when using the dash air. Hope this info helps.

Dave

[dezertcamper]

If the OP is asking if the fan clutch should be as loud as it is. I would have to say yes. When we first got our RV and we were bring it home, the fan clutch kicked in and sort of freaked me out. It sounded like a jet was flying over. My wife asked if the RV was ok? Having a friend who is an RV tech I asked him if the fan should be this loud and he said yep!

What I did and it helped a ton, was to line the whole engine compartment and even under the dash area which can be seen from under the front hood, with B-Quiet Ultimate sound deadening. B-Quiet is like Dynamat but much cheaper. Now when the fans kick on, you know its on, but it sounds more like my Chevy Silverado fan and not a jet engine. Also I have notice about a 25% drop in engine heat on the floor compared to before I added the B-Quiet.