Loud cooling fan

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I know the cooling fan(s) are variable speed and controlled by the ecm. While idling and the AC on the fan kicks on and is super loud. I'll be outside the truck near the front talking to my neighbor while it's idling and when that second fan comes on (or the fan kicks on high speed) we can't hear ourselves talking... Lol.
This is on my 1500 XL Denali

2001 Yukon SLT
2012 Yukon XL Denali
2011 Yukon Denali RIP 5/20/18

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drakon543

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could be a cracked fin causing it to be out of balance or just the fan bearings failing.
 

mikeyss

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2012 got the second design, the non rim fan blades. Both normal cooling and K5L have 5 blades, but the heavy duty ones (rpo K5L) have dual 700 watt motors which really move some air. I have '13 K5L fans in my 09 tahoe which used to have the first design 7/9 rimmed blades. The original ones were a bit quieter than the second design ones, but they cool my L9H much quicker and louder, haha .
 
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gooffeyguy
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It doesn't make any abnormal sounds, just loud. I need to look at it tomorrow with the engine off and manually spin it/them (I think there are 2, side by side) and see if I can detect any resistance or hear anything.

2001 Yukon SLT
2012 Yukon XL Denali
2011 Yukon Denali RIP 5/20/18

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Doubeleive

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I upgraded mine to the K5L out of a hummer, put in new 700w motors, it moves some air but doesn't seem excessively loud but if it's just idling and I am standing outside ya I can hear it kick up for sure
 

gpracer1

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As far as I know there are only 2 speeds. Check your glove box RPO codes, if you have K5L like mne, yes it’s loud because it’s cranking some air.
 
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gooffeyguy
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I don't have the K5L code. I looked at the fans and when they are both running on lower speed they aren't that noticeable. When they kick onto high speed they are loud, seems mostly due to noise from the air blowing. When off and spinning fans by hand, the passenger side fan makes a slight squeaking noise, hardly noticeable though.

2001 Yukon SLT
2012 Yukon XL Denali
2011 Yukon Denali RIP 5/20/18

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

SnowDrifter

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What are your coolant temps and refrigerant temps? Exterior temp? Whether it's appropriate for the fans to be kicking on high in your scenario really depends on this info. I'd advise getting digital readings for your coolant temp rather than relying on the gauge.

Cooling fans are loud, yes. They move a metric **** ton of air, on the order of 5000CFM with a fair bit of static pressure to boot. That's around the equivalent of emptying a room full of air every 15 seconds. And bladed fans are by nature, loud. They chop the air. They got some oomph to 'em, but they shouldn't be deafening by any means
 

drakon543

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a squeaky bearing is a failing bearing you could actually have one thats starting to go bad. but yes as snowdrifter said they wont ever be quiet. not sure how loud your actually are. even the clutch fan on my tahoe is loud as hell if i dont give it proper time to warm up in the morning. makes me sound like a bus driving up my street at 5am
 

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