XJ fan clutch fitiment question

So my radiator cracked today. I picked up a new one along with a fan clutch, both hoses and a new cap.

When I put the new fan clutch on the blades hit against the ac compressor. Did I get the wrong one?

I picked it up from autozone and I don't want to make the trip back till I know why it doesn't fit.

I put the old one back on for now but it needs to be replaced.

Thanks.

tharlanjr said:

So my radiator cracked today. I picked up a new one along with a fan clutch, both hoses and a new cap.

When I put the new fan clutch on the blades hit against the ac compressor. Did I get the wrong one?

Click to expand...

The fan could be on the clutch the wrong way, I believe it's offset. It's way too late to go outside to check.

Two things: 1) make sure the front of the fan is facing the right way, it is offset. 2) When you tighten the fan and clutch onto the pulley, make sure that the pulley is not cocked. I ran into this issue when I replaced mine last week, the pulley was cocked because I left the belt on tight. Once I started tightening the bolts, it pulled itself straight everything was fine.

It's not on backwards, I checked that. I didn't tighten it all the way because when I slid it on it was already touching. With the original on it has almost 1/2" clearance from the compressor.

Can you get a picture?

Is it possible the pulley slid out under the tension of the belt?

If you have the old clutch, put them both side by side and compare the two.

I'm at work so no pictures right now. New one is much larger than the stick size. Just the shaft must be shorter by a little bit. Is it safe to add washers to space it off?

tharlanjr said:

It's not on backwards, I checked that. I didn't tighten it all the way because when I slid it on it was already touching. With the original on it has almost 1/2" clearance from the compressor.

Click to expand...

This is likely the same issue I mentioned above if you left the belt on while you did this. The belt pushes down on the pulley which cocks it so that the fan hits the AC compressor. Once you start to tighten the lower bolts it pushes the pulley back into alignment. Or if you had the serpentine belt on when you tried to replace the fan, take the belt off and see if the issue goes away.

Edit: here's a sweet pic. Because the pulley is loose, the belt cocks it when you remove the nuts. Remove the belt or tighten the bottom bolts first and it snaps back into place.

the_weirdo said:

This is likely the same issue I mentioned above if you left the belt on while you did this. The belt pushes down on the pulley which cocks it so that the fan hits the AC compressor. Once you start to tighten the lower bolts it pushes the pulley back into alignment. Or if you had the serpentine belt on when you tried to replace the fan, take the belt off and see if the issue goes away.

Edit: here's a sweet pic. Because the pulley is loose, the belt cocks it when you remove the nuts. Remove the belt or tighten the bottom bolts first and it snaps back into place.

Click to expand...

Ahh, that makes complete sense. I returned the fan I had and picked up the ZJ fan since I do a lot of low speed stuff and towing. I will be installing it tomorrow and will make sure to tighten it up properly and see how it fits.

Thanks for pointing that out, I would have never guessed that.