Does your fan clutch make noise when you first start up?

I have a '96 XJ 4.0 AW4 with AC. A few thousand miles ago I replaced the factory fan clutch, hoping it would fix the problem of my jeep getting hot at idle. I replaced it with a fan clutch from Napa. Well as I suspected, it didn't make a difference, and my factory one was probably fine.

Now days my jeep doesn't get driven every day, sometimes it'll be 3, 4, 5 days, or even a week before I'll need to use it. Sometimes when you first start it after it's been sitting a while, the fan clutch makes a strange squeel/whine type noise the first couple of cycles. Then it'll disappear and function normally.

Am I correct in thinking since my jeep sits for a few days at a time, the fluid in the fan clutch drains down low, leaving most of it unlubricated. I suspect the noise happens until the clutch fluid can be redistributed, which is why it takes a couple of cycles to quit the strange noise.

Is this nothing to worry about? I never had this problem with my factory fan clutch, which is why I'm posting. Or do I have a deeper problem?

Not a problem.My wifes,98 does the same thing.
Wayne

sounds normal. does the napa one work well? i bought an autozone one and it never disengages so i need to replace it.

Interesting. My 96 does the same thing. I always thought it was a pulley, maybe the idler pulley.....?

Runnin'OnEmpty said:

Interesting. My 96 does the same thing. I always thought it was a pulley, maybe the idler pulley.....?

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure my idler pulley is new also. It's definately the fan clutch, if your standing outside your jeep it'll be come apparent when the clutch cycles.

The fan clutch seems to work fine, I honestly dont notice a difference between the Napa one and the factory one, other than the squeel noise every so often. And it was only $40 something