Fan clutch stuck?

[servion]

I'm trying to decide if my fan clutch is bad on my auto 2002 7.3. (I've been battling potentially slightly poor fuel fuel economy, but a lot of it is really short trips~5-10 miles in a really hilly area.)

Anyway, I don't think I've ever heard the "woosh" when really lugging/loading the engine from the fan "kicking up/on". When I try to turn the fan by hand, I can spin it, but it definitely has resistance, i.e. I can't push it and have it spin on its own, and I have to push it pretty good to get it moving. It feels like its "always on". It also take a long time to warm up, so I'm wondering if the fan clutch is going bad...

My question is, how do you tell without doing the test which requires measuting fan rpm versus engine rpm at different temps (I don't have a tool to measure fan rpm). When its fully warmed up and idling versus fully cold, should the van ever be not spinning? I..e can I warm it up fully and then pop the hood at idle and see if the fan is stopped/moving very slowly? It always seems like its moving a decent amount of air.

[NoRalPh]

They're not like a Big Truck, where you really hear the fan kick-on & off. Never going to "free spin" and will turn with a fair amount of resistance when cold.

That being said, I'm not really sure what the Test Procedure is for locking/unlocking,,,,

You know there's a Bunch of guys out there running NO FAN at all! I donno, I wouldn't do it..

[servion]

I read multiple threads where guys are talking about the fan "kicking on" when pulling on a hot day uphill, is that not true?

I found the alldata instructions on how to check the fan, and it requires some tach-rpm sensing tools I can't get ahold of. The first part says that when cold, it should spin with resistance, but not excessive resistance. My problem is, I can't figure out if this is "excessive resistance"

[NoRalPh]

I don't know that I've ever really heard the fan com ON (not like a Freightliner ) maybe it's subtle and I've got the radio on....

An RPM strobe would work, you could compare hot to cold. I guess it would require some specialized tool. And I know what you mean, how are you supposed to know "excessive" from normal?? Maybe compare it to anybody else you can find with the same one.

[highrpm]

I don't know about where you are, but here in OKlahoma, during the upper 90's and triple digits, I can hear my fan kicking in and out..but since it's dropped to the 70's, haven't heard it since. I hear these motors are pretty efficient at cooling, and the fan will prob only kick in during very warm weather.

[servion]

See my concern is that my fan is on too much - I've never noticed "hearing it kick on", and it is definitely always moving air. I know its supposed to move all the time, but it does feel stiff when I spin it. I think I'll warm the truck up, kill it, pop the hood and see how resistant the fan is to moving. I just don't want to drop 200 bucks in a fan clutch plus the trouble of swapping it out if its not bad.