[1dodson]

At around 6,000 miles I noticed an intermittent whining sound that got progressively worse resulting in overheating. The problem was a faulty fan clutch. Now at around 12,000 I had the very same problem and now getting the 2nd fan clutch replaced. Unbelievable. Has anyone else had problems with the Diesel's fan clutch? Any ideas on what could possibly cause two to fail in 12,000 miles? I don't do any towing or carry heavy loads.

 

[streak07]

I would guess something else is out of balance and shaking it to death.

 

[onebaddz]

I have seen it on a few on this forum, I don't know that I've seen two from one truck. I don't like the reliability of an electro-viscous fan clutch.

 

[ternaryteacher]

on the other trucks that you've seen with this issue, did you notice if they were lowered by chance? it may have something to do with the chin spoiler being so low to the ground. I know they're basically a billboard when you lift the truck, maybe its effecting the flow of air through the radiator since its sitting lower

 

[onebaddz]

on the other trucks that you've seen with this issue, did you notice if they were lowered by chance? it may have something to do with the chin spoiler being so low to the ground. I know they're basically a billboard when you lift the truck, maybe its effecting the flow of air through the radiator since its sitting lower

No, there aren't really may of us lowered, and I haven't had any issues. I can't imagine lowering or lifting would affect airflow in any relevant way in regards to cooling.

 

[Jacqson]

There's a slim chance your replacement fan clutch could have come from the same supplier as the original. This might be a situation where GM hasn't seen enough failures to check their fan clutch supplier to see if they are making an inferior product. JMHO

 

[COBRACON]

Mine was replaced around 40k after the motor was replaced. Worked fine but somehow after the motor was put back together it didn't work.

 

[lqdchkn]

I would guess something else is out of balance and shaking it to death.

This is an interesting idea.


I havent heard of any fan clutch issues like others but the above reminds me we have seen more than a few Alternator pulleys go bad which in theory could related to @streak07 comment.

How's your alternator pulley??

 

[Chuck_B]

Or high cogging and crankshaft harmonics perhaps. I doubt the OAD pulley and pendulum damper torque converter were added just to give us warm fuzzies. These items do add cost.

Will be interesting to watch and see if the A/C compressors hold up as well on the diesels. Water pumps don't carry much inertia. V6 has an electric fan, doesn't it?

This is an interesting idea.


I havent heard of any fan clutch issues like others but the above reminds me we have seen more than a few Alternator pulleys go bad which in theory could related to @streak07 comment.

How's your alternator pulley??

 

[streak07]

I've seen crank pulleys and other mass produced parts be slightly out of round. Usually it throws/shreds belts and can't really be noticed with the naked eye unless you look really hard and test it for being out of round. Chevy had a few with the early Camaros, it just takes it being dropped somewhere between manufacture and assembly. GM should have joined the 21st century and done a standard electric with ECM programming. On these trucks the low rpm would make diagnosis much harder since it won't break stuff as fast.