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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Trucks / November 2007Fan clutch 1, green mechanic 0
Hello all, I have a '96 F150 2WD, 4.9L which I bought used about a year ago. I bought a drive train warranty with it, so I make a point of getting documented oil changes. On the most recent visit, they verbally noted the coolant was "very low" and indicated "low pts" on their report. I am not sure it was all that bad. I filled it last, and might have missed some air. Anyway, a flush and new hoses seemed a good way to waste part of a weekend. Bottom line: I think the flush cleaned out the gunk that was doing what the water pump seals once did :) Prior to the flush, it did not actively leak that I could detect, but it does now. I have a new pump, and knowing this day would come, some time ago got the wrenches to remove the fan clutch. The fan shroud says "right hand thread on fan clutch." Anyone care to disagree? I ask because maybe it is not the original shroud??? What I think I should be doing is putting the spanner (54 mm) over the bolts on the water pump pulley, and the wrench over the nut on the fan clutch. With a right hand thread, I should be turning the nut CCW (pull the wrench from right to left, spanner from left to right), right? It's tight. It is also swimming in PB Blaster. The spanner is a little chewed up on the inside, and I will exchange it tomorrow (already talked to the guy at Autozone - he offered to exchange it w/o question). My sense is that just about the time the nut should move, the spanner slips. Is there a trick to it? Any other ideas? My experience for reference: I have done some small engine carburetor rebuilds, and I replaced the thermostat and shocks on this truck. My fluid systems tend to hold on the second try now<g>, and (thanks to you guys) I had almost no trouble with the shocks. On your advice, I put PB on the bolts a week ahead, and with a $20 breaker bar, the bolts were easy to remove. I didn't even have to elevate the rear of the truck, though I took it up just enough to get jack stands between me and the next world. Bill > Hello all, > [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > > Bill I have done a lot of work on my 3.0L 94 Ranger cooling system including replacing the water pump twice. The impeller bearings failed both times, with coolant leaking out of the weep hole at the bottom. The first one lasted about 4 years, then I installed another one in 2005 and it seems to be doing good so far. I got a better quality one the second time. Autozone loaned me a tool for removing the fan clutch which serves the same purpose as a spanner wrench but covers bolts on opposite sides, as opposed to next to each other, and it just makes the job easier overall because it's designed specifically for removing fan clutches. It fits onto a 1/2" socket wrench. It was a set which came with different sizes, and I think they were meant for different size clutches, i.e. different bolt distances. It's been a while since I did the work, and I wish I could remember exactly what I did. I seem to remember turning the fan nut to the right, or clockwise, to loosen it. It's just basically the reverse of what you would normally do - instead of lefty-loosey/righty-tighty, it's righty-loosey. And yes it's on there tight, but it sounds to me like you are turning the fan the wrong way, because it does eventually come off after much swearing. Hold the pulley with the tool or whatever you can find to keep it still, and turn the fan nut to the right. My fan shroud says the same thing yours does. Like I said, I wish I could be more certain but a lot of beer has been consumed since I last replaced it. And trust me it was quite a forgettable experience, because there's a bolt on the underside of the A/C compressor that took me hours to find. I realize it's not even the same vehicle but I hope this helps. I would also recommend replacing the thermostat and radiator cap while you're at it. Have fun. Adam your turning it the wrong way, turn the nut ie the part on the fan clutch to the right, clock wise. you want to turn it the opposite direction the fan spins. Whitelightning > your turning it the wrong way, turn the nut ie the part on the fan clutch to > the right, clock wise. > you want to turn it the opposite direction the fan spins. Ok, but how do I square that with the right-hand thread? Confession: I do not remember which way the fan spins, but to pull air from outside to inside the engine compartment, it would spin CCW as seen looking front to back, consistent with what you are saying. How do I square that with the right-hand thread? Is it maybe a shroud from a different engine? *If* it is a right hand thread, am I not doing the right thing? My confusion is fueled by Ford's statement that sometimes it turns one way, sometimes the other. Bill >> your turning it the wrong way, turn the nut ie the part on the fan >> clutch to the right, clock wise. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Bill I have a confession too. I just went to look at my Ranger. The shroud says "Left hand thread", not right hand as I previously thought. Which still means I'd have to turn my fan to the right, or CW, to remove it. If yours says right hand thread, then turn to the left, or CCW, to remove it. So it looks like you're doing the right thing. Maybe you just need more leverage on the pulley, which is made easier if you have that special fan pulley wrench. The pulley must not slip at all as you turn the nut. If I'm just confusing you more, please let me know. Left hand thread definition: http://www.motorera.com/dictionary/LE.HTM#Left-handThread Picture of fan clutch wrench set: http://shoptoolsshoptools.com/images/STC2778_sm.jpg Adam, > I have a confession too. I just went to look at my Ranger. The shroud > says "Left hand thread", not right hand as I previously thought. Which [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Picture of fan clutch wrench set: > http://shoptoolsshoptools.com/images/STC2778_sm.jpg No worries. I appreciate your replies. The short version is that I got it. Now for some detail: Since I am the idiot using breaker bars and wrenches on my engine, I am ultimately responsible for any damage. Hence, I took it easy. Having read that left hand threads are the more common in these situations, I gave lots of credit to the fan shroud. The thing that really sold it was checking out at Lowe's just 30 minutes ago. The guy in front of me had several bottles of PB and just looked like he had torn down an engine or two. He had :) I asked him the real question (how does one know which way to turn?) and the next thing I know he has his cell phone out, talking to one of his employees who apparently is a walking repair manual. Conclusive call: right hand thread. More leverage: you can say that again. More in a bit. The real kicker was having the right tool. Autozone (which I find to be a great source of parts, tools and advice) rented/sold me a kit with the right size wrench, but pretty clearly the wrong spanner. The exchange of the offending spanner started out looking not so good, but it became clear that with the $19 kit (wrong wrench, right spanner) and what I already had, I might be in business. The new spanner has tongs that are long enough to reach the far bolts and actually _holds_ the pulley. One of tools accepted a breaker bar, the other did not, so I cut a 12" piece of 2" Al square tubing (everybody has that next to their milling machine, right?<g>) as an extension. Still not being completely certain, I went easy, but started to notice what appeared to be a slight tendency to loosen like a right hand thread. I tried the other way every so often, just in case. Right hand started to show signs of life, and then it finally cut loose. The threads actually look very clean to have been that (expletive deleted) tight. Geeeezzzzzz. Hopefully this will help the next poor slob faced with this task. Now I am looking forward to the rest of the job. Thanks! Bill Adam, > I have a confession too. I just went to look at my Ranger. The shroud > says "Left hand thread", not right hand as I previously thought. Which [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > that special fan pulley wrench. The pulley must not slip at all as you > turn the nut. As you hopefully already know, all turned out fine. While it would have said _nothing_ about what was actually on the engine, one thing we should have thought to do was look at a new pump for the left/right nature of the threads. In fairness to me, I did not expect to replace the pump when I started, but Autozone is clearly willing to drag out sample parts on request. All appears well, though I will be watching for signs of leaks. Bill Bill Schwab <bschwab@anest.ufl.edu> wrote in news:fh33aq$dk1k$1 @usenet.osg.ufl.edu: > Adam, > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Bill Awesome. AZ is pretty handy sometimes. The one by my house has a couple goobers but the rest are very helpful, just like any other specialty store I suppose. And the best part is that I could conceivably walk there if needed. Anyway I'm glad to hear everything went well. Water pumps aren't too bad of a job on my Ranger, and I assume also on your F150.  SignatureQuick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand Adam, > Awesome. AZ is pretty handy sometimes. The one by my house has a couple > goobers but the rest are very helpful, just like any other specialty store [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Anyway I'm glad to hear everything went well. Water pumps aren't too bad > of a job on my Ranger, and I assume also on your F150. I had been looking forward to it, figuring it was within my capability but would be a bit of challenge - right on both counts =:0 I could have done w/o some of the extra driving because this or that store didn't have the parts I needed, but otherwise, I enjoyed it and learned a lot from doing it. To not mislead the complete newbie, it is probably not a good first job. Bill > Adam, > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Bill Would you believe it was my first job? Back in 2001, 22 years old, busted water pump, and could not afford to let Pep Boyz in the Hood (apologies to current employees, stockholders, patrons) or anyone else fix it. Picked up a $20 shop manual and a $20 water pump, along with the other stuff I needed, and I think it ended up costing me a weekend and around $80. And it lasted about 4 years, and probably would have lasted longer had I done a few more things. But I know what you mean. It certainly helps to have someone with more experience available, at least on speed dial. I did my front brakes myself, which seems like a trivial task, but I had help and I learned a lot, and I can most likely do them myself now. BTW your post subject can be reversed now :-) SignatureQuick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand |
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