Is your cooling fan loud?

I have a 2.7 but the 3.5 uses the same type of fan clutch.

Cooling fan is loud. Is this normal for Tacomas? Everybody who’s sat in my truck says it’s loud. Every acceleration video I’ve seen doesn’t have this noise. I just replaced the fan clutch with a new aftermarket today with only minimal improvement. Not sure to keep trying to trace this issue or to give up and ride it as is.

video is my tacoma accelerating. Above 3k you hear a distinct howling. Noise never goes away. Can be 5 minutes of driving or an hour of driving.
https://youtube.com/shorts/eugP8xBxEI0?feature=share

 

I have a 2.7L and never noticed that noise, all I hear is the sweet roar of the engine. Are you sure it’s the fan? Maybe look for a warped fan blade or an imbalance? I wouldn’t think the clutch would make that whirring noise, and you’ve eliminated that as a cause.

 

I thought the fan clutch was seized(bi-metallic was very rusty and didn’t move) and forced the fan to constantly be engaged. Turns out it’s not the case.

The only other thing I can think of is a bad idler pulley, but I’ve only heard of a whine not a howling noise like it’s sucking air in. At this point i rather trade it in then throw more parts at it lol.

 

How many miles?

 

21k miles

 

Do you have the stock intake?

 

yes fully stock. Haven’t touched any of it. Exactly how it comes from the factory.

 

Just looking at your video, that seems fairly normal to me. You are quite high in RPM and even with the fan clutch not fully engaging the fan will spin. This will create noise as engine RPM increases. Now if that same noise was being made at lower RPM then I would be looking at the clutch.

It is also normal to have that noise at start up until the clutch disengages. These clutches are pretty good at doing the job needed to cool your engine and from my experience, do not fail often.

 

I figured it was normal so I didn’t ever look into it until people started mentioning it. Uphill at 65mph the motor is spinning at 5000rpm. The fan is so loud you can’t hear anything in the cab. Plus I used to get 14-15 mpg city. Been doing a lot of highway driving and has jumped up to 19 consistently, which I’m not complaining but I also see people getting 20-22+ around here.

 

New aftermarket Hayden fan clutch has been in for a week. Truck is much quieter now. Just needed to be broken in. The OEM bi-metallic switch was indeed seized.

The old clutch would never disengage at 5000rpm, the new clutch does. There is still a faint fan roar but I can say it’s anywhere from 30% to 70% less noise now. And engine is more responsive/shifts smoother. I guess the fan was putting noticeable load on the motor

 

I believe I have the same problem with my 2001 SR5 2WD 2.4. I ordered a ASIN replacement part and I am going to try to replace it myself tomorrow. This truck has 194K on it but it is new to me. Seems like a lot of fan noise plus AC not cooling properly plus rough idle. So fan clutch comes up in the forums a bunch. For $100 I can check it off the list of items I have thrown at it. Snake oil is next.

 

damn a 2001 and the only issue is a fan clutch! Toyota reliability there.

 

Oh did I say that was the only thing wrong with the truck? Overall she is in pretty good shape but I am giving her a full tune up from fluids to parts and pieces until she smooths out and purrs like a kitten

 

Did you delete the video? I actually like the sound of the fan clutch. Makes the trucks sound stronger.

 

So I got my fan replaced and here is a comment or two. The four 12mm fan bolts were correctly torqued by the manufacturer and came off easily even with a small ratcheting wrench that I used. I removed them from up top and used a long flat head screw driver on the pully against a nut to stop the pully from turning while I loosened the nuts. The best tip I can give the next guy is when reinstalling to install the nuts from under the truck. In the videos it shows two people using finger tips from up top and dropping hardware etc. I was able to easily reach up from underneath and screw the nuts on. The trickiest part was trying to torque the nuts while the pully was turning. I continued to use a long screwdriver to try to hold the pully but it was tricky. I hope they are tight enough I think the fan spins those nuts in the " on " direction so I should be good right ? Keep in mind my truck is the 2.4 2WD so its probably the easiest to work on.