I used that phrase from the perspective of my coach, yours may vary...
For our coach, the roar goes like this: When you've driven around in town
and the engine is at operating temperature, the engine fan will not be
moving a lot of air. When you hit the ramp to get on the interstate, the
extra heat generated from leaning into the throttle will cause the engine
fan to fully engage.
It's done that almost every time since I put on the new fan clutch we have
now. We also get the roar when going up a long grade. Again, I've changed
the temp sender to one that puts the pointer in the middle of the gauge.
(See Eugene Fisher's web site for more info.) If I don't hear the engine fan
startup when the pointer's on the middle mark of the gauge, I get nervous.
Also, we travel only in the spring, summer and fall, and as I've been told,
we're 'flat landers'. When I say grade, I mean 2-6%, 3/4 throttle, not into
the secondaries on the Q-jet and sometimes in 2nd gear.
Now this is an old wives tale, so I probably shouldn't be repeating it here,
but... (heck maybe I'll know for sure now )
The story goes like this:
"If you lay a GM fan clutch down flat, it doesn't work right any more." This
doesn't apply to new ones, but one that's been in service. They have to be
stored vertically when off the coach for maintenance, etc.
Is this true or false? Someone who knows should tell us.
As far as testing one, I'm not sure there's a way to do it, but if you have
the right temp sender unit (again see Gene's site at
http://www.california.com/~eagle/engine.html for more info)
you should hear the fan engage fully by 215 degrees of engine temperature.
Like anything else, all of these coaches are the same but different. If you
have the original sender, you can be fooled into thinking the engine isn't
hot when it may be at 230-250 degrees
(temp gauge pointer at the half mark with the original sender)
You'll know when your fan is engaged, the air control tower will come over
the radio and clear you for take-off (just kidding).
If you've never heard it, then you might well consider a new fan clutch.
They're not that expensive, considering the cost of a new engine / tranny /
etc. Now, I'll set back, and wait to hear if there's truth to the 'fact'
that you can ruin a fan clutch by laying it down flat.
Mark Grady
PS - Thanks for the response to the 'checklist'. It was suggested that I
submit it to GMC MHM as an article. I'll try to clean it up a little bit and
do that. For those who wrote, I'm glad that you found it useful. We don't
all have to do everything the hard way every time.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-gmcmotorhome
> [mailto
wner-gmcmotorhome]On Behalf Of
> DRedd65761
> Sent: Monday, March 15, 1999 3:36 PM
> To: gmcmotorhome
> Subject: GMC: (no subject)
>
>
> I just finished reading the check list by Mark Grady and he mentioned
> replacing the fan clutch.........saying "hear the roar on the ramp" or you
> could overheat. Could someone clarify that a little more? For
> those of you
> who went to the Fall Meet last year in Marion,NC and traveled
> interstate 40
> going west, you probably remember that really long uphill stretch
> right out of
> Marion. Well, I was towing my Cherokee and according to my gauge
> and what I
> had heard about reading the gauge (seminar), my Palm Beach should
> have been
> roaring. Does that mean my fan clutch is not working If I didn't
> hear it?
> Also, David Greenberg suggested getting an appraisal for
> insurance purposes
> and have the GMC insured for the stated value. Who does the
> appraisal? I'm
> planning on going to the the meet in Iowa this fall, but I have
> the feeling I
> should try getting that taken care of now. I am currently
> insured with State
> Farm Ins.
> Thanks...........Don R
>
For our coach, the roar goes like this: When you've driven around in town
and the engine is at operating temperature, the engine fan will not be
moving a lot of air. When you hit the ramp to get on the interstate, the
extra heat generated from leaning into the throttle will cause the engine
fan to fully engage.
It's done that almost every time since I put on the new fan clutch we have
now. We also get the roar when going up a long grade. Again, I've changed
the temp sender to one that puts the pointer in the middle of the gauge.
(See Eugene Fisher's web site for more info.) If I don't hear the engine fan
startup when the pointer's on the middle mark of the gauge, I get nervous.
Also, we travel only in the spring, summer and fall, and as I've been told,
we're 'flat landers'. When I say grade, I mean 2-6%, 3/4 throttle, not into
the secondaries on the Q-jet and sometimes in 2nd gear.
Now this is an old wives tale, so I probably shouldn't be repeating it here,
but... (heck maybe I'll know for sure now )
The story goes like this:
"If you lay a GM fan clutch down flat, it doesn't work right any more." This
doesn't apply to new ones, but one that's been in service. They have to be
stored vertically when off the coach for maintenance, etc.
Is this true or false? Someone who knows should tell us.
As far as testing one, I'm not sure there's a way to do it, but if you have
the right temp sender unit (again see Gene's site at
http://www.california.com/~eagle/engine.html for more info)
you should hear the fan engage fully by 215 degrees of engine temperature.
Like anything else, all of these coaches are the same but different. If you
have the original sender, you can be fooled into thinking the engine isn't
hot when it may be at 230-250 degrees
(temp gauge pointer at the half mark with the original sender)
You'll know when your fan is engaged, the air control tower will come over
the radio and clear you for take-off (just kidding).
If you've never heard it, then you might well consider a new fan clutch.
They're not that expensive, considering the cost of a new engine / tranny /
etc. Now, I'll set back, and wait to hear if there's truth to the 'fact'
that you can ruin a fan clutch by laying it down flat.
Mark Grady
PS - Thanks for the response to the 'checklist'. It was suggested that I
submit it to GMC MHM as an article. I'll try to clean it up a little bit and
do that. For those who wrote, I'm glad that you found it useful. We don't
all have to do everything the hard way every time.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-gmcmotorhome
> [mailto
wner-gmcmotorhome]On Behalf Of> DRedd65761
> Sent: Monday, March 15, 1999 3:36 PM
> To: gmcmotorhome
> Subject: GMC: (no subject)
>
>
> I just finished reading the check list by Mark Grady and he mentioned
> replacing the fan clutch.........saying "hear the roar on the ramp" or you
> could overheat. Could someone clarify that a little more? For
> those of you
> who went to the Fall Meet last year in Marion,NC and traveled
> interstate 40
> going west, you probably remember that really long uphill stretch
> right out of
> Marion. Well, I was towing my Cherokee and according to my gauge
> and what I
> had heard about reading the gauge (seminar), my Palm Beach should
> have been
> roaring. Does that mean my fan clutch is not working If I didn't
> hear it?
> Also, David Greenberg suggested getting an appraisal for
> insurance purposes
> and have the GMC insured for the stated value. Who does the
> appraisal? I'm
> planning on going to the the meet in Iowa this fall, but I have
> the feeling I
> should try getting that taken care of now. I am currently
> insured with State
> Farm Ins.
> Thanks...........Don R
>
