Its a 1997 2.8 c5 a4. The fan seems to be always engaged. The higher the rpm, the faster the fan seems to be rotating. I took it to a friend of mine to have him take a quick look at it, he said that it was probably the fan clutch. He said that if it were him, he'd wait till after summer to worry about it, and that actually, the car would end up running a bit cooler because of this.

He's not exactly an audi tech though, so I'd trust you all's judgement more than his. Anybody have any experience with this? How major of a job is it to replace the fan clutch?

 

Unless your engine is running hot, I dont think it is something to worry about. Mine has been running alot lately because of the hotter weather. It's just trying to keep your engine cool.

 

Not sure about your car, but if you have the secondary electric fan also, I would check to make sure that it is working as these often burn out.

 

So a constant whirling sound of your motor isn't a problem? No exhuast sound, nothing, is audible beyond the sound of this "woosh" sound the fans make when the engine makes higher rpm.

I dunno, Maybe after driving an m3 for so long, I'm used to I dunno...exhaust sounds or something. I certainly dont feel like I'm some sort of priviledged driver piloting some high performance vehicle when the only thing I'm able to hear or feel is the whooshing sound of a radiator fan when the radiator fan speeds up lol. It sounds funny, but seriously, thats the problem. Based on the reputation a4's have for being decent tuner cars, there has GOT to be more to this car than what I've seen. Not trying to be mean, I'm just saying... With the 2.8, this is easily one of the most underwhelming cars I've ever owned. My 2000 pontiac grand prix would easily walk the a4 that I have....

 

If you wanted to tune your A4, you bought the wrong one!

As far as the sounds goes....well, your description doesn't send up any red flags...maybe a clip would help.

 

well, case in point, I also (in the same week) bought a 98 c4 a6 wagon with a 2.8 quattro. That car is quiet as can be. No whirling of the fan or anything. When the engine revs, there isnt really an audible exhaust note per say, but certainly, you can hear the actual engine. Not just the sound of the cooling fan revving up. in the A4, you can basically only hear the cooling fan rev up.

 

how difficult is it to replace the fan clutch? anybody have any experience with this?

 

It's not very difficult, but it is kind of a pain. You have to remove the timing belt cover, lock the pulley (I used an Allen wrench, stuck it through the holes of the pulley and then turned the pulley so that the wrench acted as a wedge so that the fan nut wouldn't just spin with the pulley. It took me several tries to get it to stay in there AND lock the pulley.), and then loosen the nut holding the fan onto the pulley...I used an adjustable, open wrench. Also, on this fan's nut, it's lefty-tighty, righty-loosey.

Are you running your A/C in the A4 while you're listening for these sounds? Because nothing you described sounds like a malfunction, but our A/C fans are unbelievably loud. I can hardly hear the engine over mine (sounds like a jet or something). And anyway, that fan is designed to spin with the engine speed.