danthemanx07

I have been fighting a perceived over heating issue since July when my 4runner (3.4l) over heated while I was pulling a trailer.

I have since flushed the cooling system and replaced the coolant, this helped a little, but not enough to satisfy, so I replaced the radiator too.

I was then concerned about the fan clutch. It was replaced a few years ago and passed the rolled up newspaper test, but it did not "roar" when I started the truck up. After reading all the threads on here I could find, the $120 gamble was worth the risk of replacing a functioning part with an Aisin part from partsgeek.com.

BUT - I popped it in (not before having to find nuts and washers to fin the studs on the Aisin part, the one I took off used 10mm bolts and and nuts on the other side) and the temperature remained the same - may have even gone up a little, temp varying 202-207 now. I have a Scan Gauge, and I have always run at about 202 degrees for the few years that I have had the gauge. In addition, I am getting a louder -than-normal whirring from under the hood. It is associated with RPMs because it varies with them.

Is my new fan clutch a dud? The only other things of note are that I had to drive through some water, 1-2ft deep, during Hurricane Isaac. Not sure if that makes a difference, but I have never been in water before with this truck. And - when I pulled the old fan clutch off, the pulley that it attaches too got knocked out of position a little. It went back into place easily though, and the fan clutch went on just fine. Belts still feel tight.

My return period with partsgeek is about up (15th) so I thought I would ask before it is too late.

Thanks,
Daniel

UPDATE - VIDEOS

In the first video, you can best hear the high pitched whirring at the end when I place the camera in the wheel well. The noise I am talking about is the high pitch whirring that is a little difficult to make out on the video.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t=DSCF0001.mp4

The noise is much more apparent here standing outside the driver's side door when I rev the engine in this second video. The noticeable high pitched whirring started after the installation of the new fan clutch.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t=DSCF0002.mp4

rworegon

Seems the sound you describe would be normal for a well functioning fan clutch.
Are you sure you have no mud lodged in the radaitor fins?
What shape is your water pump in?

danthemanx07

I'll get a video up of it in the morning, but I have never heard this level of whirring from the 4runner before. Even the original when it went bad didnt make any such noise.

No mud in the radiator fins. I live in New Orleans, and unfortunately, the 4runner rarely sees anything more than pavement.

danthemanx07

Would the pulley slipping out of position cause any problem if it went back in place with ease?

J2F42C

What year is your 4runner?

Make sure your belts are tight enough, but not too tight.

Your fan bracket bearing may be going south.

Did you tighten the clutch to 67 in/lbs torque? Don't overtorque it.

As RWO stated, how is/old is your water pump?

danthemanx07

When you say tighten the clutch, do you mean, clutch to fan or clutch to pulley? My torque wrench would not fit between the fan clutch and the pulley, so I tightened the nuts that hold the clutch to the pulley without the aid of the torque wrench. I just backed them off and re-tightened to a hand snug and started. No change. Noise still there.

If I did over tighten them is the damage done?

Fan bracket bearing? I'll look that up in the FSM.

Water pump was replaced 50-60k miles ago. It isnt leaking. Is there any other barometer for condition that I should look for??

So, no one thinks I should return the fan clutch though right??

J2F42C

No, the fan clutch to the fan itself. The torque should be 67 in/lbs. Then the clutch and fan to the fan bracket is 48 in/lbs. PITA to torque, so you tightened it OK it seems.

Did you take off the drive belts or even loosen them?

Go to Harbor Freight or Northern Tools and pick up a mechanic's stethoscope for $5. It is handy in diagnosing sounds. Trying to armchair sounds repairs over the WWW is hard.

If you got the Aisin fan clutch, you are probably good to go, so no, I would not return it.

danthemanx07

Ok, yeah I did torque the fan to the clutch at 67in/lbs. I may have over torqued the clutch to the pulley though.

I did not take the drive belts off or loosen them at all. The pulleys moved a little when I pulled the clutch off, but I was able to reposition them easily without loosening anything.

Thanks for the suggestion on the stethoscope. I will pick one up asap.

The clutch is an aisin, so I will keep it.

So, any way to tell the condition of the water pump other than miles or leaking?

runnermedic

i see that your truck has some rust,po snowy state or near the beach?
remember that in front of the engine you have a lot of bearings and with salty conditions those bearings will fail quickly, to me is a bearing
ac comp bearing
alternator bearing
ps pump bearing
idler,tensioner and fan bracket bearings
take the belts out and sort it one by one,for the timing belt related ones sorry but you have to remove the front cover.
another thing to consider is that the water pump propel is made of steel,so water alone in the radiator will kill it and start to rust very easy rusted water pumps sounds like a bearing it happened to mine.

danthemanx07

PO was in Boston. I guess the strange thing about the noise was its development following so closely on the heels of the fan clutch replacement. I am going to try the mechanic's stethoscope before I start taking ff belts to identify the problem, but the belts will certainly be the next step.

I have not ruled out the water pump either. The over heating issue has certainly raised my eye brow to that. I'll report back ont he stethoscope or belt removal.

runnermedic

well you answer yourself,if the po was in boston= salty roads in winter and for sure the truck was the winter ride and maybe the luxury car stays in the garage all winter long i used to do that when living in NY,so the bearings are going south earlier ,for your peace of mind do the timing belt service,all bearings(japan made),water pump OEM or GMB and fill the radiator with toyota red coolant do not use greener ones also do the alternator bearings if the job is cheap. and before doing all the services clean the engine to get rid of any salt deposits.

danthemanx07

I'll start with the other bearings first. The water pump and timing belt were done about 50k ago.

What is GMB?

runnermedic

GMB is the brand name they are japan made, good replacement parts but if you have the money to buy oem go for it.