Originally Posted by kerry

I had a fan blade come off a 68 Landcruiser at about 60mph. Sliced up thru the radiator, right thru the thick steel hood and up into the stratosphere somewhere. Scared the **** out of me. The sound was deafening and the vibration so bad I thought I'd thrown a rod. Ever since then I've been hesitant to stand in line with an engine fan blade. Was your fan blade metal or plastic? Mine was metal and from looking at the remaining stub I concluded it had been cracked for a while before it let go. I don't remember that vehicle having a fan clutch. It was direct drive I think.

But, back to your problem. I would just replace the existing fan clutch. I think the clutch and the water pump wear independently so unless there's evidence of a bad pump, I would leave it in place. I'd also try to figure out what happened to the existing fan clutch. Don't they typically have a bi-metal spring which opens and closes a hole to let fluid move from one chamber to another? Is that system working?