drivetrain
12-07-2006, 10:43 AM
I don't have a TB but a friend does so I'm trying to help her out with her truck. It's an 04 TB with the I6. After listening for the noise she was hearing I discovered the fan was slightly loose. I can wiggle it back and forth just a bit, makes kind of a warbling sound. When the engine is running it makes the low pitched sound constantly. I found this forum thru a Google search, registered, and then began to search for info about these fans. Seems there are problems with the clutch design? The threads I was reading talked about it causing AC problems and/or power loss. I don't know if she's having trouble with that, but the fan is in fact loose. Is this indicitave of a worn clutch? Her truck has just under 70K miles. Thanks for your help.
rbarrios
12-07-2006, 12:03 PM
The issue with the fan clutch is that they fail.
They will either fail in full ON and thats when they sound like a semi because of all the air its pulling- and thus the apparent power loss...
or they fail and dont pull any air.....I had my fan clutch fail AND my water pump fail.
Both replaced at 2 diff times.
Now- if you can grab the fan from the sides- and it moves slightly from side to side- and you can tell its moving from the water pumps shaft- REPLACE IT!.
the bearings in the pump have started to fail. Just a mater of time before it really fails.
I went cross country once. LA to florida.
on the return trip in Fl. I heard a little sound. as we drove back cross country the sound increased. eventually I noticed at a rest stop the fan had some play in it.
as we got closer to Texas- it got louder and now i had a vibration.
as we neared Phoenix- I get off highway and the TB is shaking ALOT at the red light. I see a Chevy dealer and pull in.
turns out that by now- the shaft and the fan attached to it had so much play in it- it was causing the engine to shake.
At this point it has started to leak a bit of coolant as you could smell it.
And the serpentine belt was getting worn on the sides as it moved enough from the fans wobble.
took about 3 hrs to replace. we were then on our way....
BUT from reading online- Ive only heard of the pump failing this way 2 times. possibly 3.
the clutch - thats not a will it fail- but WHEN.
the newer TB are ok.
But I recommend that you do a search here and find the latest part #.
Go on ebay and buy one of the newest and GM part-....
then take the vehicle into the dealer and have them replace the clutch and water pump at the same time to save you money.
Ebay- I think theyre about $150. Dealer- a good $300 or more.
When I had mine done- I think it was a $500-$600 job. im sure the part then was 400