Fan Clutch malfunctioning?

Hi: ... '91 Jeep Cherokee, 4.0L HO motor.

It's about ten degrees outside, and when I start the motor cold, the fan spins like its bolted straight on. Faster engine speed = faster fan speed. The air coming off the fan blows my hand back.

With the motor off and cold, I can turn the fan, but there is plenty of resistance, it's *definitely* not spinning freely.

Is there any way to "fix" a fan clutch? Maybe it just needs cleaning or something? Anybody messed with this before dropping $70 on a new clutch?

Is there a good kit for conversion to electric fan? What are the pros/cons of electric fan vs. mechanical clutch?

Thanks.

I had a similar problem with my '98 XJ... the clutch was bad and I replaced it with a HD aftermarket one... the clutch was engaged all the time. Regardless of temp and how long the engine was running.

Turned out to just be a bad clutch, even though it was fresh out the box. A replacement one went in and now its fine. It will run for the first minute or two then operate normally.

The original was dead, wouldn't engaged period and I could tell in traffic as the temp would rise a little faster until the electric fan kicked in. Never overheated though, even in 113 heat out in Palm Springs...

-- Taylor

'03 Audi S6 Avant '05 Mazda6 Wagon GT '98 Jeep Cherokee Sport

Sounds like it's fine.

Spdloader

"Robert" wrote in message news:osqdnXXlDqlHDgHenZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@bresnan.com...

That sounds like a good one to me. They get really stiff when hot and turn a bit heavy when cold.

Mike