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'96 XJ 4.0 Fan Clutch

mattb

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Las Vegas, NV
I need to replace the fan clutch on my '96 Cherokee I6 4.0. I went over to
Autozone and picked one up for $38. Unfortuantly it's a 1/4" too long to
fit between the radiator and mounting studs. Someone said that Car Quest
sells one that fits, but they turned out to carry the same one as Autozone
just in a different box (personally I prefered Autozone's yellow over
Carquest's gray) and for $20 more. According to the guy at Carquest these
are all made by a company called Hayward(?) I decided to give in and go to
the dealer, they wanted $120 for an OEM, I just laughed at the guy; $120???

Two questions:

Where can I get an aftermarket that's the same size as the oem?

On the aftermarket that's a 1/4" too long, there are four 1/2" "nubbits"
(protrutions) sticking out of the face, around the circumfrence. Can I
grind/turn these down a bit, or will this effect some balance/thermal
characteristic which is just right?

Thanks,

Matt

BTW:
I don't have the OEM Radiator or Mounting Studs. This could be the scource
of my troubles, but I can still get the shorter OEM clutch in and out fine.
 
While that's a nice sentiment. I would bet the OEM fan clutch is not acutally made by Chrysler and as such some one out there has to sell it.

I heard someone mention AC/DELCO does anyone have any info on this unit?

Thanks,

Matt
 
I ended up going with the Imperial thermal unit on my rig, $35.00 at Auto Zone. I have an '88 and I using a GDI 3row radiator which is thicker than the stock unit. Yes, it's tight I only have about 3/8" between the center of the fan clutch and the radiator but, so far I haven't had any problems. I also run aftermarket (Rusty's neoprene style) motor mounts to keep things in check. If I remember correctly the stock unit is approx. 1/4" narrower than the Imperial, and from what I found when I did mine is none of the aftermarket units are as narrow as JEEPS, with the Imperial unit being the closest. Good Luck
Woody
 
I just took my fan clutch off last nignt and threw it in the pile with the rest of the stuff I have taken off. I ordered an electric fan from Summit Racing. I did alot of reserch and decided that was the way to go. I will let everyone know how it works out when it comes later this week.
 
Funny, I just took off the electric fan and through it in the junk pile. Now I'm putting the mechanical back in, that's why I need the fan clutch.

The electric was OK (flex-a-lite 110), but I was getting better cooling results with the Mechanical. The final straw was this weekend when the electric fan made contact with the radiator housing while doing some serious offroad hill climbing in 95 degree temps. Two blades cracked and jammed up the fan.

Luckily my brand new 3-core radiator, flow-kool water pump, and robert-bradshaw thermostat were able to keep the engine cool enough with only the aux fan (set to run at 195.) Made it up the passl without topping 220 and then the 100mi home.

Matt
 
The OEM on my 92 was made by Delco Div. of GM. (It was so marked in the casting.)

The replacement from AutoZone (some not so famous brand) was about 1/4 in too long to fit over the studs. To solve this, I unbolted the top radiator support, and tipped the rad forward a bit. It gave the clearance needed to mount the clutch.

The clutch proper is dimensionally correct for the XJ. (The fan blades mount the same distance from the rad as the OEM unit.) What makes it a tight squeeze is the hub with the thermostatic spring actually fits a bit closer to the rad, and thus makes an already tight squeeze too tight.

I would NOT go hacking on the new clutch. You may upset it's balance, and cause the fan to go flying. NOT COOL.
 
I went the same route as mattb this summer. I broke a couple blades on my Flex-A-Crap 110 because the fan hangs down below the crossmember, and acts as a prop on a boat when you get into water. I got my mechanical fan clutch from Car Quest, and the shroud and fan were Mopar replacement parts. Seems to work MUCH better this way than with the electric fan, but YMMV. Bryan
 
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