5.9 Fan Clutch Conversion

[russsh]

Got a 97 BB FE with a 5.9 Cummins. The S belt went by-by, and my electrical/mechanical fan stopped working. It was last fall so cool weather to travel, so just added a couple of electrical fans in front of the rad for safe measure. Warming up and in travel mode, diving in to fix this.

Did a test on the fan clutch with a 12v jumper wire, cant get the solenoid to move, i can see shreds of fan belt behind the pully, thinking it took out the wires behind the clutch.

Fan Clutch. that year of engine, I can get the replacement clutch, $$$$. All kinds of "mechanical Viscous type clutch" out there for the 5.9.

Can I convert to a Viscous clutch? Better/Worse? Same fan-blades?

Why am i thinking of changing? Cost, simple system, avaibility. fan belt shouldnt hurt it if the belt goes out again, (my bad on that, should have changed the belt sooner)

So, Viscous type clutch fan.....yes no.....hell no?

Thanks
Russ

[cadillackid]

personally i cant stand viscous fans but they do cost less and if you buy a kit-masters fan clutch you can adjust the temperature down a bit.. my biggest beef is the yare slow to react, i lowered the temperature on the one in my DEV bus and it never runs hot.. my red bus i ever got the viscous clutch to engage when i needed it so I swapped it to the electrical type and never looked back..



in your case if you dont want to replace the electric clutch then convert to viscous with an adjustable therm on it (kit-masters) and then set it down a little..



1997 bus is still a 12 valve correct? no computer to throw a code wit hthe missing electric clutch?

[russsh]

Yep 12v, I think the last generation of 12v 5.9s

[russsh]

Have had the bus for about 6 years now, we are full-time now for 4 years. Never heard the fan kick on until we hit traffic in Pecos TX, scared the **** out of us. They certainly run cool most of the time.

Would love to do the ford Taurus electric fan, probably have room for 2. Dont think that would be enough cooling fast enough.

[cadillackid]

I never did a Taurus Fan.. did Mark VIII fans on some pretty serious hotrods (500+ horsepower with A/C).. the taurus fans use the same motor and ill bet 2 of them very well might cool a bus depending on the capacity of the radiator on flat land but climbing a hill with turbo spooled, might be tougher..



id love to know what the CFM of. the belt fan.. I know on both of my Navistar busses they have 24" fans with ya pretty agressive curve to the blades.. however the navistars have piss poor radiators with only half the grill area as radiator and the other as Turbo intercooler.. at least your bus has full width and height radiator..



the Taurus and Mark VIII fans both have huge inrush currents on startup.. I ran mine on a Dccontrols Variable speed controller designed for the huge current they pulled..



98 degree day car show parades on 500 HP engines were no match for that fan.. I could idle through the parade with my A/C blasting, windows down and temp stayed as cool as i wanted it to

[russsh]

We are traveling across North TX right now. Have some down time in a couple of days, gonna get serious with something. Got 3 weeks to get it something reliable, and forgettable lol.

Moving is never an issue, its the getting stuck in traffic watching the temp gauge go up is creepy.

[cadillackid]

open the windows and turn all the bus heaters on high.. you can move quite a bit of heat idling this way

[russsh]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

open the windows and turn all the bus heaters on high.. you can move quite a bit of heat idling this way

Yep! very old sckool way to keep from overheating!!