Sounds like a city bus...

[HijackTheLeft]

On the way back to Virginia from a road trip to Florida, I noticed my engine sounded funny pulling out of a rest stop. It sounded like a lot of airflow... like maybe my intake was sucking in way too much air, but there was no noticeable difference in performance or gas mileage or anything.

It was after a few miles of high speed driving (95-110 mph). I didn't notice it until I was pulling out of the rest area though, so I'm not sure if that's what caused the problem. I popped the hood and started the car, and it seems like the sound is coming from the fan, like it's spinning really fast. I don't really hear it until about 2000rpms, and it gets louder with rpms. After 3rd gear, the road noise is loud enough to drown it out.

I checked my intake and there's no leaks or anything. The filter is clean. And I'm pretty sure if the intake was the culprit, I'd notice a change in performance.

Everything else seems to be working just fine. Is there any reason that the fan would be doing that? Or might it be something else?

Thanks in advance!

[HijackTheLeft]

By the way... the only modifications under the hood are an Injen cold air intake and headers.

[modulation]

Double check that no hoses came off intake.

Perhaps your clutch fan has gone bad.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

You have two headers?

[ScrapMetal]

Perhaps your clutch fan has gone bad.

[SirSilvia]

Does the fan have a hole or cracked at all? Remember those Nerf footballs, the faster they spin the louder it gets, too fast and it can't get any louder. The clutch fan spins as fast as the engine RPMs.If it's an electric fan, that should only be going as fast as you set it or its own set speed, not varying that much in RPMs with voltage fluctuation.IDK what else it could be

[jb xiii]

It's most likely your fan clutch. If it goes out while you are driving be prepared for plastic shrapnel from the fan to possibly tear up some wires and such.

I speak from experience after I bought mine and drove it home, my fan clutch went out with plastic pieces of the fan denting my hood, cutting my maf sensor, messing up my ignition coil. It was gnarly. Luckily I bought it for the shells condition with intentions of doing an engine swap anyways. Just wish it didn't get me stuck in Needles, CA while I was trying to get back home to Las Vegas.

Be sure to check that out and nip it in the butt before further damage occurs.

[burntricer]

fan clutch...lemmie guess your gas mileage SUCKS

[SirSilvia]

fan clutch...lemmie guess your gas mileage SUCKS

how would that be a problem, other than a little less cooling?

[burntricer]

if the clutch is broken, then the fan will spin at the same rpm as the water pump...thats what happened to me and it happened on my yota truck too

[SirSilvia]

ah I see, I thought the point of the clutch fan is so the fan doesn't jerk too fast when starting and what not. If that is what it mean to have a broken clutch fan, mine is probably toast, has been for years. I will have to try and find a way to measure the fan's speed through the RPM range to me sure. anyone know how i could do that?

[HijackTheLeft]

I burnt an extra quarter tank of gas on the return trip from florida, but I just attributed that to the fact that I was going about 20mph faster for a good portion of the trip. I drove overnight on the way there and was the only car on the road for most of the trip. On the way back, especially through South Carolina, traffic was going at about 100mph. I'm assuming radar detectors are legal there.

Anyway, I saw this when I Wiki'd fan clutch: "Another potential symptom of fan clutch failure (always drawing air at a high rate) in a cold weather climate is that the heating system blows lukewarm air never delivering sufficient hot air."

I didn't notice the heat blowing lukewarm, but the fan is definitely constantly drawing air at a higher rate. I popped the hood and revved the engine a couple times, and the fan blew hard enough that it blew my brother's hair back while he was standing about 6 or 7 feet away from the car at 1500rpms. I haven't noticed any temperature issues either.

Would this be a pretty easy replacement? Also, is this something that NEEDS to be fixed asap, or is it just an audible irritation?

Thanks again!

[HijackTheLeft]

ah I see, I thought the point of the clutch fan is so the fan doesn't jerk too fast when starting and what not. If that is what it mean to have a broken clutch fan, mine is probably toast, has been for years. I will have to try and find a way to measure the fan's speed through the RPM range to me sure. anyone know how i could do that?

A photo tachometer would do the trick. http://www.amazon.com/Digital-...UT9ZS

[modulation]

I'm not sure how much they cost but if worse comes to worse you can get one at a junk yard..

It's really easy to fix, like 4 bolts, maybe more to get to those 4, but shouldn't take you longer the 1/2 hour to replace..

You need to DO it NOW or as the dude says the fan will fail and send pieces flying everywhere cutting belts/wires etc..

If you don't drive in alot of stop/go traffic and it's cool where you live you can take it off for now if you have to.

[SullivanRacing06]

and your car wsounds like your clutch for the clutch fan locked up or is going bad, if so then upgrade to a electric fan set up, this will gtive you extra pwr and better fuel economy

and your car will stop sounding like a city bus lol