Fan clutch replacement guidance and recommendations
1972 Dart with 318 and AC.
I am trying to track down an issue with excessive heat in the engine bay. It gets so hot in there you can't touch anything without being burned. Air cleaner, brake booster, hoses, all of it is extremely hot. The temp gauge runs right in the middle at city speeds but climbs quite a bit at sustained highway speeds. It never goes over or near the max reading on the gauge. After reading some older threads here I had a few things to check.
Radiator, Timing, AFR, fan clutch, fan shroud
Radiator - I had my OE re-cored at a local rad shop before I reassembled the car at the end of my restoration
Timing - good
AFR - Pulled a 4 of the spark plugs to make sure they looked fine and they do. I want to get an AFR gauge at some point to really see what my ratio is.
Fan clutch - I had my dad start the car up then shut it down. The fan continued to spin for 45 seconds to a minute before stopping. I read it should only spin 3-4 times then stop. Pretty sure this is at least part of the excessive under hood temp issue. Also, I'm noticing some slop in the shaft bearing. This is the original clutch. It has the coil on the face of it (assuming this means its a thermal unit?)
Fan shroud - OE fan shroud is installed. Over the years it seems to have gotten deformed a bit. where it attaches on the sides, is tight against the radiator but in the center on the top and bottom there is 1/2" to 3/4" gap. This might be playing a little bit to the issue and I'll re-evaluate after fan clutch replacement
Shopping for a replacement clutch but I don't know what I need. I see regular, medium and heavy duty units. I measured the factory clutch height at 2-7/8" and I did notice 1-1/2"+ clearance to the radiator. so I think if I stick to a clutch that's 3" or less, I'll be fine.
Searching on google, I see some at $35-65 then some at $225 from vendors like classic. Does anyone have a recommendation or guidance?
1972 Dart with 318 and AC.
I am trying to track down an issue with excessive heat in the engine bay. It gets so hot in there you can't touch anything without being burned. Air cleaner, brake booster, hoses, all of it is extremely hot. The temp gauge runs right in the middle at city speeds but climbs quite a bit at sustained highway speeds. It never goes over or near the max reading on the gauge. After reading some older threads here I had a few things to check.
Radiator, Timing, AFR, fan clutch, fan shroud
Radiator - I had my OE re-cored at a local rad shop before I reassembled the car at the end of my restoration
Timing - good
AFR - Pulled a 4 of the spark plugs to make sure they looked fine and they do. I want to get an AFR gauge at some point to really see what my ratio is.
Fan clutch - I had my dad start the car up then shut it down. The fan continued to spin for 45 seconds to a minute before stopping. I read it should only spin 3-4 times then stop. Pretty sure this is at least part of the excessive under hood temp issue. Also, I'm noticing some slop in the shaft bearing. This is the original clutch. It has the coil on the face of it (assuming this means its a thermal unit?)
Fan shroud - OE fan shroud is installed. Over the years it seems to have gotten deformed a bit. where it attaches on the sides, is tight against the radiator but in the center on the top and bottom there is 1/2" to 3/4" gap. This might be playing a little bit to the issue and I'll re-evaluate after fan clutch replacement
Shopping for a replacement clutch but I don't know what I need. I see regular, medium and heavy duty units. I measured the factory clutch height at 2-7/8" and I did notice 1-1/2"+ clearance to the radiator. so I think if I stick to a clutch that's 3" or less, I'll be fine.
Searching on google, I see some at $35-65 then some at $225 from vendors like classic. Does anyone have a recommendation or guidance?