Originally Posted by compu_85

My 91 Jetta was well broken in then. The motor required replacement at 400k because the brushes wore out and it was not serviceable. I had to repair the wiring when I got the car at 370k because a PO let the battery explode and the acid ate the wiring. I actually drove the car for 2,000 miles with no fan at all. No problems because my drive then was all country and I was always moving.

Seems the visco clutch on my benz was dead by 200k. What a POS The dual electric fans, and their electronic controller, all work fine on my TDI at 240k. And in the summer I use the AC all the time, so they never shut off.

IMHO a well designed electric fan is a good substitute for a broken visco fan. Of course some cheep piece of crap won't last, but a quality piece should work fine. I'll be doing this conversion on my pickup soon. I kept (well replaced... damn that oem one is $$$!!!) the visco fan on my SDL because I want the car to be as original as possible.

-Jason