asking for fan clutch reviews

im about to buy a fan clutch and have sorted it down to only two choices

Hayden 2671 Thermal Fan Clutch for $55

or

$89 AISIN FCT-013 Engine Cooling Fan Clutch - Compatible with Select Toyota 4Runner, T100, Tacoma, Tundra

AISIN FCT-013 Thermal Fan Clutch for $90

I was leaning towards the hayden since it seamed to be the go-to favorite alternative to the AISIN to save money. but then I read one review where the guy was saying it fit but it was physically lighter and much smaller physical size then the original oem clutch, plus he felt it stayed on far too long and wasn't slipping enough making his truck always sound too loud so granted its just one not so great review, but after reading that, I am having some reservations about the Hayden if it will work "good enough" rather then as it should as well as its possible longevity in favor of the exact oem replacement at nearly double the cost.

my questions to you guys who have replaced your fan clutches already are:

1 did you use the hayden?

2 how did it fit and do you like the look and feel of it?

3 do you feel like it slips at the correct rate (moves air) as it should?

 

I put the Hayden on my son's 4Runner. I wish I could give you the specifics you are looking for, but I just don't know.

It looked very similar in size and weight to the one I took off the truck. It attached a little different, but seems solid enough. It's not my daily driver, so I don't know how long it stays on. For that matter, I don't know how long it stays on for my truck, either, and it is my daily driver. I don't notice his truck sounding louder than it did before.

It's only been on there a month, so I can't speak to longevity, either.

I really wasn't much help here other than to say, "I bought one. Installed it." *shrug*

Sorry, man.

 

hey every bit of advice is helpful, thanks

like I said, I don't know "what" to make of the one "odd" review, since maybe the guy just didn't know how they should work and his was never working right or not.

another hard thing to pin down is with or without towing package because unless I am mistaken ALL the replacements are designed as "for towing" or say nothing about it at all from what I can gather.

the

$89 AISIN FCT-013 Engine Cooling Fan Clutch - Compatible with Select Toyota 4Runner, T100, Tacoma, Tundra

AISIN FCT-013 is said to be for towing package and the hayden 2671 is an exact replacement so I must assume its also the towing clutch but you know what happens when we assume things.

by attached a little different I "assume" you mean the fan blade connects with bolts rather then the studs and nuts on the oem one correct?

 

Keakar i bought the hayden a while back chasing a heating problem. That thing definitely stayed on too long, it really seemed to bog down the motor because of it and it sounded like a jet taking off when you got up to 30mph or so. It was like it was fighting the air coming in from driving cause it was still spining way fast, it just wasn't good. Does that make sence? Hard to explain... But ditched it for the aisin and it went back to how it was supposed to feel.


Dont know which hayden i bought though....

 

thanks bryan, that confirms what that guys review said (was that your review maybe?) so I will go asin then.

I just wanted some feedback to reassure me it was worth spending double to get the asin over the hayden

the one I have now does not free spin but takes little to no effort to spin when cold and I recall the one on my 99 used to dent my finger before turning but the one on my 04 barely presses in on my finger to turn it.

can you confirm that that does sound too weak?

 

Not my review...

Both my old clutch and the new aisin dont really have much resistance when manually pushing it with your finger. They certainly dont free spin but id say they do a quarter to third of a rotation when trying to give it a good spin by hand.

My heating problem ended up not being the fan clutch.....

 

R u having a heating issue or just keeping up on maintenance?

 

well I read that fan clutches are recommended to be changed at the same intervals as timing belts are so im going by that plus when I start the truck cold I hear the fan for about 3 seconds then it goes quiet which im thinking is too fast.

I have no overheat issues I can speak of, yet with the stupid "guess how hot it really is" temp gauge we have, its so freakin hard to tell but it goes from cold to fully warmed up in about 2 minutes which seams rather fast and my 99 took a solid 5-7 minutes to fully warm up but then the 99 was a 4 cylinder and now i have a 6 so i expect "some" comparisons to be different. the temp gauge does read just above half way and my 99 always read right at the half way mark.

so basically its a lot of unknowns and maybes involved so I figure it might be good to replace it if there is even a chance its not right but if yours is not tight then I guess mine is ok then.

if I put my finger on it and give the blade a moderate flip, it turns about 1/2 turn and stops, my 99 would only turn 1/4 turn doing the same.

so to answer the question, im thinking of changing it because I "think" it "might" be slipping more then it should but I don't have anything telling me it is definitely bad.

I wish there was some guide that says how to test them so you know for certain if its working right or not but I haven't seen one anywhere other then the oil fill mod and im not confident I want to split one open and dig around inside it.

 

That's correct.

 

My fan roars for about 2 minutes on cold start up, then settles down much more quiet. As things heat up (radiator) you should feel the fan blade
has more resistance to turn by hand, right?

 

I was chasing an overheating problem and was told to stick to AISIN, and AISIN only unless I went OEM.

I did eyeball the Hayden and the NAPA one, but I was told by the 3rd gen 4runner community AISIN was the way to go.

Why?

I didn't ask. lol sorry

 

well mine roars only for a couple seconds so by the time I close the door and click on the seat belt its already quiet

the reason is that "AISIN was the way to go" is that AISIN makes the oem parts for Toyota so it is the exact oem part just without the extra markup you get buying in in the pretty Toyota box.

this is true for almost everything on our trucks that if you want exact oem parts at better price then dealers you buy AISIN brand.

 

ahhh I see.

I didn't know that.

I heard 555 makes oem toyota parts also.. true?

 

well that a whole other can of worms because not all 555 parts are 555 parts and some non 555 parts are said to have 555 stamped on them and so its very confusing.

all I know for certain what is best is to NEVER use moog stuff on our trucks and its best to just go with dealer parts only for front end stuff

 

whats hard to know is if I don't need one, I certainly cant afford to spend $100 on something I don't need, but at the same time, there is enough "circumstantial" evidence to suggest that my clutch isn't working as it should, but its tough to know when there is no "real" test to determine that.

 

especially for ball joints and what not lol..
ive heard bad stories about moog..