Clutch Fan Delete

I have a 99 xj and the radiator went out this morning and looking at the ff dynamics radiator with triple fans. So my question is i want to get rid of the clutch fan completely, what is the best way to go about this i don't want anything related to the clutch fan to be in the engine bay. Any advice helps pros and cons also thanks all.

TheBlueXJ said:

I have a 99 xj and the radiator went out this morning and looking at the ff dynamics radiator with triple fans. So my question is i want to get rid of the clutch fan completely, what is the best way to go about this i don't want anything related to the clutch fan to be in the engine bay. Any advice helps pros and cons also thanks all.

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Run dual electrics, been done many times. Search for Ford Taurus fan swap

Just unbolt the fan/clutch and put the nuts back on or shorter stubs/bolts. Coming from somebody who had triple electric fans at one point, I swapped back to a stock setup.

In my experience, stock fan setup is the best.

many of us have done this successfully. Many more have failed and go back to the OEM clutch fan. Do your research carefully. Have the cooling system in proper working condition. Second, there are many on this forum that have gotten burnt by low price aluminum radiators, and third, the 4.0L is an excellent heat generator cooped up in that little box that we call an engine room. You cannot have too much air flow.

The fans on my XJ are not a drop in fit. It took a lot of custom work to get them to fit. They are also rated at 4,000 CFM. So far, I have not had a single problem. Matter of fact I like them very much. They do not run all the time but instead only when needed and never at highway speed. And I do have one of those DC fan controllers http://www.dccontrol.com/constant_temperature_controllers.htm on one fan. The cost for me is high but,...I enjoy my hobby of changing, replacing and adjusting for no real reason.

Get yourself another '97-01 stock 10-blade electric fan(2200-2300cfm each iirc). I did away with the belt fan pulley and pounded out the shaft. I now run a smaller belt that only 1/4 wraps the alternator, but it works. I put a stock rear defrost switch in the dash blank and can turn both fans on whenever. They'll also turn on at the 217* when the computer tells them to. My only disclaimer is that my '96 is an ax15, so the radiator doesn't cool tranny fluid.

How do you all feel about the ffdynamics triple fan setup? Is it worth my money I just don't want to keep my stock radiator

Wow those are expensive. I feel if they worked good I would have heard of them before

I went with a CSF 3-row and Dirtbound's e-fan kit. Their original fans were okay (some imported pushers) but didn't handle AC or extended uphill load very well and eventually all stopped working at some point for whatever reason (but worked fine after sitting for months and testing them again). They switched to SPAL pullers which do a great job, but also increased the cost of the kit significantly.

I bought the same fans for <$60 each off ebay and can now run AC full blast in the heat without going over 210 (idle is around 205 no matter the ambient temp). If you can do your own wiring, just get the shroud and maybe the temp sensor and source the fans yourself.

Find an AC/alternator bracket from a YJ. It had a single mech fan in the center that was driven by the water pump pulley, and no fan pulley on the alternator/AC bracket. Not only will it delete the fan pulley, but it will also raise your alternator by a few inches. There's a PDF write-up in the OEM sticky section

ehall said:

Find an AC/alternator bracket from a YJ. It had a single mech fan in the center that was driven by the water pump pulley, and no fan pulley on the alternator/AC bracket. Not only will it delete the fan pulley, but it will also raise your alternator by a few inches. There's a PDF write-up in the OEM sticky section

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Ah ha!

They are also on the 4 cylinder 2.5L XJ's. That vehicle was the donor for my mechanical fan delete and gained a higher mounted alternator at the same time.

Take this for what it is worth. I ran the FF Dynamics for a few months. It worked fine when the Jeep was in upstate NY, in the winter. It totally did not work once the XJ got to Death Valley. I see you're in Oregon, so it may not be as extreme as my case.

My current setup is still running the FF Dynamics radiator, but I have ditched the triple electric fans. I spent a significant amount of time with the engineers of FF Dynamics trying to resolve my issues. I even prototyped their shrouds as an attempt to keep the XJ cool. In fact, on their website there is now a disclaimer regarding extreme conditions, such as the Nevada (wrong state, but close) desert.

For fans, however, I am back to the stock mechanical fan, and stock 97+ electric fan. I do manage to keep from overheating today.

David Bricker / SYR

I have a zj 4.0 fan clutch in my 89. It loud as f*%k! But I hardly get over 200* on the hottest days.

I also^^ have been running the ZJ fan clutch. Super loud, but it is just so much more reliable than the dual, stock e-fan setup I was running. The amperage draw while winching, and 2 fans running was just too much. Got hot, and I kept blowing the circuit. It stays cooler now.

I run a regular xj fan clutch during cooler months. (I live in a coastal climate.)

In my Renix XJ, I am running a "stock replacement" parts store HO XJ rad. And the dirtbound triple fan kit. No issues. Even if you buy a CSF/other rad. and the DBO kit. Much cheaper than the FFD kit.
I use correct size/thread bolts in place of the stock studs on the mech. fan pulley.

I wanted to try out the dirtbound kit, but DBO told me that it wouldn't hold up to extreme use and that its not suggested for those of us who go full retard.

To date, I have tried maybe 15 electric fan combo's. I haven't had one last an hour without overheating yet. NONE OF THEM MOVE ENOUGH AIR.

We threw a meter on the stock setup, and through my radiator, we were getting 6500 CFM at 4000 RPM. Add the stock electric fan to that and that's close to 8000 CFM of air. I haven't been able to replicate that with an electric setup no matter how hard I try.

I know 3 or 4 people locally (Upstate NY) who tried the dirtbound kit and either had the fan motors fail, or had even worse overheating than before. On warm days, a stock geared Cherokee on 33s and a partially caked condenser is just going to make a lot of heat - and add in the AW4 salamander heater underneath and things get hot.

They finally tried my suggestion of just buying an OE 4.0L XJ fan clutch and switched back to factory setup and no longer had issues. When they are working they can move a massive amount of air.

I have (when the fan clutch is working) no problem maintaining 210/210 - which is ideal for a 4.0 - when the temperature is 85 out and I'm on a trail with the A/C on.

I ran the "ZJ" 272310 clutch from 2011 to 2014. Finally stuck on a Duralast fan clutch that is the XJ one. It died the other day. Never seen one fail like that. It was a bit warm over the weekend and running a bit warm. Overheated Tuesday. I stuck a pencil in it with the engine sitting at 230 and it stopped.

I called Napa and they said that the 272310 was for a 2.5L Wrangler and a 2.5L Cherokee along with 4.0L Wrangler up to 2001 or something. I picked it up yesterday and it is identical to the fan clutch that came off of a friend's 2.5L 1998 Cherokee.

I may end up picking up a 4 cylinder clutch from Rockauto and see what happens. This one isn't as dump-truck like as the 272310, but it's definitely always engaged a bit more.

Normally, I'd just take the defective part off and drive to the store in the car and swap them out, but trying to DD this as much as possible to work out the bugs before RC next month. So ... I now have a 203000 mile fan clutch from a 1998 2.5L Cherokee on my Jeep.