I'm trying to diagnose a loud noise that developed all of a sudden yesterday. I suspected the fan bearing had gone bad/dry and started making noise, so I took the fan off tonight to check it out. Without the fan on it, it spins freely and makes no noise. Everything else seems to spin freely w/o any noise as well.

Now I'm wondering if the fan clutch is the culprit? Are they known to make noise when they go bad?

When I was driving it home yesterday, the noise was bad at idle and low speeds, but almost seemed to go away at higher speeds. I didn't drive it long enough to really confirm that though. Just wanted to get it home and park it...

Pic of the front of the clutch is attached.

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Ty H.
'87 300E 135K Miles