My 2004 4 litre does not have a mechanical fan. It has the standard 2 speed electric fan but no viscous fan.
My question....was this normal in 2004? I have no cooling problems even when towing but just curious b/c my FSM is showing a mechanical fan along with the electric one..

 

This is the Cherokee forum.....last year for a Cherokee was 2001. 2004 would be referencing to a Grand Cherokee.....they r different.

 

I know it is the wrong forum ( it is also posted on the GC forum) but since all 4.0s have the same cooling system I was wondering if anyone was getting by without a mechanical fan. I purchased a fan from a pull & pick but am reluctant to put it on if it ain't really needed.

 

This one is convoluted ..... Anyone who can sort it out might want to think about heading to DC to help the Feds.

 

smart azz

 

"reluctant to put it on if it ain't really needed"

Kinda answered your own question. If it ain't broke........................

 

I was questioning the reliability of using the electric fan without a mechanical backup. Any stories?

 

LOL Off topic indeed but off topic comments run rampant in this Forum. Just trying to fit in...

If I understand correctly, you are driving a 4.0 GC that has a cooling system precisely the same as a 4.0 XJ. (Of course it really isn't precisely the same because you say the GC has a two speed E-fan.) You have no mech fan and no problems including while towing. Question then is why would you even consider adding a mech fan? Masses of XJ owners have spent untold hours and dollars trying to think of ways to eliminate their mechanical fans and you have done it on a vehicle with the (almost) exact same system w/o even adding an E-fan.

No one has invited me to DC so I will leave this to others to sort.

 

Thanks for your input. Yes I am happy not to have that 5 lb. mass hanging off my water pump. I just wanted some reliability/failure statistics of the factory e-fan. If there are few failure issues with the OEM e-fan them I'm ok with it. Also this might be good testimonial to cherokee owners who may want to eliminate that beastly fan.

 

I do know that I have seen write-ups (not sure what forums but probably mod tech - you could Google) involving using two stock E-fans for cooling with some success and I don't recall mention of fan failures as a factor.

I live in A/C country, at least some use 10 months out of the year most years and my A/C never cycles for whatever reason. The E-fan runs every minute the A/C is on plus any end of run cool down and it now has ~8 years on it. A lot of hours.

My experience is of course statistically meaningless but speaking generally, there don't seem to be all that many reports of E-fan failure. All in the FWIW category.

 

Fyi, even gc's with a mechanical fan are different from xj's with mechanical fans...