They also noticed the fan blade wobbled on shaft, and replaced the fan clutch... Wonder what that is - how it works; must be a mechanical rotation limiter ? Also - how do you reach & replace that, as is doesn't look like the protection shroud was removed ?
Dirty/corroded contacts is probably the first place, especially on older vehicles, but the cost of the new sender is cheap enough and one that old is a likely candidate to leak amyway.
The clutch is a fluid type. Basically, the little coil on the outside is a temperature sensor that controls the flow of the oil inside so that the hotter the sensor gets the less oil is allowed to bypass which puts more to turning the fan. If you watch as the engine is turned off, you should see the fan continue to rotate for a few seconds.
The fan is mounted by 4 small nuts on studs. PITA to get to, hard as heck to keep the whole thing from rotating as you try to loosen them but ANY side-play or wobble is reason to change. I've seen a few where the owner ignored a loose one only to have the fan eat the radiator...
Depending on the exact vehicle, you may get it on/off with the shroud in place but to me it takes less time to just remove it to change the clutch.
I saw the 4 bolts - and that's what prompted me to ask - how the heck do you get in there :) Ours looks like a round heat sink, with the small fins all the way around. Our local dealer now charges $126/hr - so.... it was well worth it to me to have them change it out -
With the 100 degree weather here in Chicago - all cars have been to the doctor.... our 2001 Jeep - new battery and new fan clutch kid's 2004 Impala - new windshied today - had a large crack wife's 2001 car - new radiator - top filler hose area actually cracked off
Develop double jointed hands ;-)
I used one of those racheting box-end wrenches to get on the nut. Believe it or not, the straight design of the wrench actually works here - about the only real use I have for the darned things. Tho keep the flange from rotating, I just jam a large screwdriver between one of the other nuts or studs to hold the flange while tightening or loosening the nuts.
Have a couple of beers standing by as it can be a tediuos process until you get the hang of it - but it beats the heck out of $126/hr!
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