Fan clutch bearing bracket - for what its worth
 

In the process of chasing down a clicking from the tensioner/pulley and fixing the problem by tightening the pulley nut, I was talking to Phil on Fast Lane and he mentioned that my problem could be the fan clutch bearing bracket. He added that they sell a lot of those. Incidently Phil got me all the engine/transmission, color, and interior codes for my vehicle - very helpful.

I haven't had to change the fan clutch bearing bracket yet, but do remember a lot of comments on this forum concerning the replacement of this item.

For what its worth, I would be very surprised if one could not remove that bearing bracket and take it to a local bearing supplier, from yellow pages, and purchase a replacement bearing and have it pressed out and in or do it yourself. I have done this on simpler items such as idler pulleys where the replacement pulley was $30 and the bearing was $5. This bearing bracket is over $100.

Hilton Smith

funny you mention this...
 

because mine just went out this past week. It gave me 224,000 so I'm satisfied with that. Replacement was pretty straightforward.

It started out as a light ticking noise, and just got worse from there. When I pulled it off, the back of the pulley bearing had just given out, exposing the ball bearings which were bone dry. It had collapsed to the point that it was rubbing against the harmonic balanacer.

:eek:

These things last about 200k. I feel that anything under $500.00 to replace at that mileage that fell off earned that right.




Joe

pmizel:

Did you replace the bracket your self? Could you let me know: (a) Does it require removal of belt (b) what type of tools required

Thanks

Do a search on 103 cylinder head, tensioner or fan clutch. You should find some pics. The belt, fan and fan shroud have to come off. Pretty straightforward job.