Bad Fan Clutch? Aftermarket or OEM

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Mar 17, 2011
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Florida
2 vehicles
98 Expedition 5.4 and 03 Suburban 1500 5.3
In another thread, I was discussing an intermittent AC issue on my Suburban. Could be a bad fan clutch.
The Suburban - when cold, fan will move by hand easily, will spin with little resistance about 3/4 turn. Get engine at idle up to operating temperature, shut off engine, spins the same, no change in resistance.
I tried to compare to Expedition - Same identical feel and spinning as Suburban at cold and at hot idle after shutdown, only difference is the Expedition has a tighter feel on the spin at 1 portion of the revolution, Suburban is consistent entire revolution.
I would think as the vehicles get up to operating temperatures, the fan clutches should get tighter?
Questions:
1) Any other way to troubleshoot and diagnose failing clutch fans?
2) Could both fans be bad? or maybe both fans are good? They both feel the same at cold and hot temperatures
3) If I need new clutches, any solid recommendations on aftermarket vs OEM?
 
A regular fan clutch should be tighter when cold, high RPMs cold generally make a fan roar for a few seconds at least until the clutch fluid starts warming up.
 
seeing your from florida your vehicles are probably pretty nice (not all rusted to nothing). I would get oem unless they are easy to change then i would get aftermarket.
 
Doubt both clutches are bad. If the Chevy has the electric/fluid clutch it is controlled by a computer and will need to be diagnosed. We used an aftermarket clutch on a Trailblazer and it did not cycle like the original but no other problems occurred and now it`s normal. If we ever need another we will use OEM.
 
When mine went bad, the engine temp would creep up hot in stop and go type driving and cool down when I started moving again. If yours doesn't have any wobble, doesn't have grease coming out or your engine isn't running hot, your fan clutch is not bad.
 
It takes a lot more air for good A/C performance than it does to keep the engine from overheating. When the engine starts to overheat, it's really done.

As someone else noted, a good one will have the fan spin full speed for a few seconds after a cold start.
 
As a teenager , I put a fiberglass fan on my 289 Comet . Is that an option & get rid of the fan clutch ?
 
Generally I use OEM for all hard parts: water pumps, cats, bearings, U-joints, mufflers, etc. This includes a fan clutch because the possible problems are pretty serious if it doesn't work right.
I will use OEM or aftermarket for soft parts: filters, hoses, belts, brake pads, headlight bulbs, etc. Depends on the brand name and price -- most of these soft parts are pretty equal across the board.
 
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