Loud engine noise... Help Please

[ILikeMy240sx]

Recently, I hear this loud "whirring" (sort of sounds like really loud fan noise) noise that gets loud as RPM rises and goes away after RPM drops. My engine sounds like a truck engine of some sort. It's so loud. This did not happen before... only about a month ago it started happening.

What could be the problem?

[xekushnr]

it sounds like the clutch mechanism on the fan might be bad. if thats the case, get it out of there as soon as possible. if that fan gets loose you could have a lot of problems

[mss5413]

Sounds like the fan clutch is locked. Try turning the fan clutch (engine cooling fan) by hand with the engine off. If it does not rotate with ease then the fan clutch needs to be replaced.

[ILikeMy240sx]

I rotated the fan while the engine was off... It does not require excessive amount of force to rotate it but I think the noise got louder after I rotated the fan with the engine shut off (???)

[ILikeMy240sx]

I think its the fan clutch...

Has anyone replaced the fan flutch before? What are the procedures involved with this? I looked at the FSM but its not very clear..

[leper421]

All you need is a 10mm open end wrench and maybe a 10mm socket. Remove the four bolt holding the clutch to the water pump pulley. Then remove the four bolts holding the fan to the clutch. You can optionally remove the fan first and then the clutch. Installation is the reverse of the removal. If you have any mechanical ability its very simple. If you have some electrical abilities you can leave the fan and clutch off, and rewire the electric fan to always be on.

[ILikeMy240sx]

Thanx for the info.

Can I just unbolt the bolts that hold the clutch/fan assembly to the pulley and pull out the whole assembly w/o removing the shroud?

[D-UNIT]

I don't think so. When my clutch broke I got super horrible gas mileage. I went from 360 mptank to a staggering 215 mpt. Did you notice a difference. It took me a month to figure it out. Stupid three 10'' subs lol.

[Mishka]

Yes you can, but you will have to force it through. I would recomend replacing you mechanical fan with electric one. Get a fan from an Altima, some wires, switch and a relay.