I read confusing things on this, and would like to use your know-how.
The fan clutch on the XJ (97 in my case):

Should it have (significant) resistance when cold or hot?

Some say resistance when cold and less when hot (which it does in my case, no overheating issues when standing or freeway, btw)
But I also read the other way round.

I know it contains a viscous material, and I guess that when this heats up it should become more ' flowy', therefore less resistance when hot!?

Would greatly appreciate your insight on this, since I would like stay ahead of overheating issues in the future by diagnosing problems with the fan clutch early.

Thanks in advance!

 

easy when cold-harder when hot

 

Agreed.^ Mine is odd but seems to work, even coming up my hill. Cold, cold, first thing AM it's somewhat stiff, then after a little runnin, warming it loosens up to moderate, then just stays there. That puzzled me so I checked it a few times. It's smooth, Jeep stays too cool if anything, it's been there forever and never leaked. Just doesn't get noticeably stiffer warm. I'm in no hurry to fix it since it seems to work....

 

grand cherokee fan clutch great up grade ever seen it?

 

Never heard of that... Maybe I'll be returning the new fan clutch I just bought.

 

So does mine and therefore I thought to pose the question on this.
Stiff when cold, loosens somewhat when warm (but def no ' spinning').

So, replace this or not!? No overheating currently.
If it aint broken (read: working), dont fix it?

 

give me a minute ill find the link my fan clutch is/was new also it made no difference hot or cold and it bugged me thats why i up graded big difference little noisy but with my ground hawgs i dont hear it cruising

 

part numbers here i was at u pull yard other day found a grand with all new cooling parts and grabbed it for 6 bucks http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/b...h-fan-1070876/

 

Thanks. How much of a difference did it make? Run cooler? Less power robbed from the engine?

 

heres it compaired to the xj which is on right

 

runs same temp just pulls more air at idle like doing the aux fan upgrade from old style 5 blade to newer style 9 blade im more worried about slow speed cooling than hp down here in the sweat belt

 

Oh, that wouldn't work for me. I replaced my radiator and added a trans cooler, now my fan shroud doesn't fit into the notches so it sticks out a little farther on the bottom, the mech fan has been helping me to trim it when I accelerate.

 

that aint no good sounds like you need a puller fan on inside mounted to radiator did you use factory cooler?

 

Picked up a universal trans cooler. It's really not that bad, the fan just barely scrapes the shroud when I accelerate fast, probably a sign of a bad motor mount. One more thing added to the list.

 

hmm, I have a feeling my thread is being hijacked atm....
Could we go back please?