I needed a new fan clutch so I went to a local salvage yard and got a very new looking fan clutch from a 2002 I have a 2003 many said to switch to the 2002 and older style. So I swap them out and notice that the new one sounds a lot louder but not bad loud , reminds me of 80-90’s Toyota trucks maybe it was a heavy duty clutch. Well as I’m driving it just explodes 2 miles down the road , fan clutch stlll tightly bolted in but the entire fan just shredded and took out a lot of stuff. What happened here. Plus there is a small metal line that looks to be bent in what is that p

 

My top coolant hose was off and leaked coolant everywhere after, did it rip off and hit the fan causing it to explode? Or was it the fan the blew up breaking all the plastic and popping the hose off

 

that fan design is known to grenade-there have been at least 5 other cases of the '98-02 design fan blowing up on here-there is a lot of stress on the heavy ring at high RPM,and the slanted blades cannot support the ring if it cracks..

 

Would you suggest buying the new plastic blade off like amazon or dod the fan clutch itself somehow cause this and I should go back to the 03 design . I need this thing running this week so buying oem parts can’t happen

 

just put the '03 fan back-it is good until the clutch goes bad or the fan is damaged-then replace with one of the substitutes known on here.The clutch on the grenade fan is probably still good.

 

So you think the clutch had to play into why the fan exploded and it’s safe to throw a new fan in

 

What is that bent part I posted a pic of

 

Looks like power steering line got crimped.Fan clutch should be ok to use as long as it is not locked up.The Dorman fan known as a suitable substitute for original fan is a Ford design.'96-03 Chevy s-10 4.3 fan can be trimmed down to fit also.

 

Is it safe to drive with the crimped line? I need to use this thing this coming week , somehow need to rig something up to replace the plastic that will hold the top coolant line up from the fan just wondering if I can just put a new fan on the clutch and be good to go, but can anyone explain why the fan was so loud ? . I actually have a video of it running and the exact moment of it breaking if you’d like that

 

Grab the Dorman 620-112 fan blade. The OEM 99-02 fan blades are fine new, but age has caught up to them. I'd only recommend buying a new fan blade these days.