Is it normal for the fan to kick in when u leave a traffic light and sound like theres an air boat under the hood and loose about 30horse when it does. Is my fan clutch bad or is there a problem with the cooling system making it kick in that hard.


2000 3.0L 4x4

 

Most likely the fan clutch is bad, with the engine dead, turn the fan with your fingers, if it spins freely, it should be ok, if it turns hard, its bad.

 

No it's not normal your fan clutch is done.. replace it.

 

I like f5fordgirl's fan clutch test idea, As your noise & engine power loss suggests & as Conanski has supposed, it sounds like the fan clutch belongs high up on your suspect list. Has it been acting out, or showing signs of leaking fluid????

 

I'll try the test when i get home tonight, it doesnt leak and the temp always stay in the normal range

 

so the fan spins not like someone power houseing the wheel on the price is right but it does move more of like a constant resestance

 

Replace the clutch or go with an electric one.

 

OK, so no signs of fluid leaks, engine temp remains in normal range, blades spin with some resistance, now check All of the blades to make sure none are damaged, or have cracks, especially around the base where they attach to the hub. When the fan blade spins by hand, is its movement smooth????

Again, did this loud noise come about slowly over time, or suddenly after some event, like after a high rpm wind out?????

If the fan blades check out ok, look behind the grill & between the radiator & ac condenser for debris, like plastic bag, cardboard, paper, ect, that critters like a pack rat would like to stuff in there to make a nest, thats flapping around at rpm & making a noise.

If no joy there, with the hood raised & using the cab accelerator pedal, slowly raise the rpm to confirm the noise is from the fan, but don't stand beside the engine to do this by moving the under hood throttle body connection, in case a blade is damaged & lets go, it won't get you!!!! Let us know what you find.

 

The blades look fine spins smoothly didnt see and trash when I was under there but I didnt look to see if the radiator is clogged up. The trucks new to me and has made this noise sence ive had it not sure when it started but its deffinetly the fan. it just kicks in so hard. im going to wash out the radiator make sure its flowin good air. I might replace the clutch its only 60$ see what happens start by process of elemination. with a 100k its probably original so its more than likely worn out.

 

If no trash between the ac condenser & radiator, no signs of fan fluid leaks, the blades look ok but the noise is definately from the fan, then I agree the fan clutch assy belongs on your suspect list, even though it seems to be turning smoothly with some resistance, as it should. Let us know what you find.

 

so in the time procrastinating on changing the fan clutch I got a crack in the radiator tank right under the upper hose. so I changed the radiator and it was pretty nasty inside. I opened the drain valve and just a slow drip of brown water came out so it was probably full of mud.

The clutch looked like it was pretty new and the fan side of the radiator had some dings in it telling me someones been messing around in there so I didnt replace the clutch.


After flushing and installing a new radiator it seemed to not kick the fan in at every light and seems to run alittle cooler the gauge hangs out under the water temp symbol when it was more above it before the swap.

 

Is the loud noise & engine power slump off the line when you go at throttle up, now gone????

If the vehicle is new to you as you've posted & you don't have any scheduled maintenance history, seeing as how the previous owner didn't change the coolant as they should have, I'd wonder about the vehicles tranny, differential & brake fluids, radiator & heater hoses, thermostat, radiator cap, serp belt, fuel, air & tranny filters, pcv valve, plugs & wires, O2 sensors too. So maybe consider replacing all of them to get All of the vehicle past & present due scheduled maintenance of filters, parts & fluids up to date, so you know what you have.
If you have a Motorcraft distributor close by, you can likely get quality parts & fluids at a reasonable price. If not, then look online for discount codes at your favorite autoparts store. I often find 30-40% off codes for Advance Auto & order online with in store pick up to save on shipping, that have saved me mucho bucks over the years!!!

 

the fan deffinetly puts a load on the motor when it kicks in. ive just learned to accept it it must just be how it is i might put some electric fans on it. i did my F1 and F2 and i cant complain a bit about the swap

yea the trans looked fluid looked good. i did the breaks and bled some fluid. im goin to do both diffs soon. i did the plugs wires cam sensor hoses and cap. i still have a random miss when i really get in the throttle that im still tryin to track down but other than that its running pretty good.

 

Lets think about this some more. Something still doesn't sound right. The fan shouldn't suddenly "kick in". Its a vicious silicone fluid driven arrangment that should come on slow enough that we can't "feel' it. So in spite of your inspecting its innards, I'm still not convinced all is ok with it, so don't remove that puppy from your suspect list just yet imo.

Probably a good idea to have replaced the plugs & wires. How did the old plugs read for gap & deposits????

Did you opt for the newer specified Motorcraft or top line Autolite, finewire iridium enhanced center electrode, with platinum pad sidewire plugs & wires, which are designed to take the Double work load our waste spark ignition system puts on them????

The miss sounds like a spark problem. Maybe spark blow out, from too wide a spark gap, or maybe dirty or damaged insulator, or maybe a plug wire problem, like insulation or boot break down, flash over, or an end to end wire resistance problem??? You did carefully inspect the new plugs internal & external insulators for damage or marks on the ceramics & Carefully gap the plugs with a Wire gauge & perform an end to end resistance check on the wires before using them.....right????

If your having a miss fire when you go at throttle up, maybe your mistaking that, for thinking its the fan kicking in & making a noise & sapping power. The fan is noisy on these engines, but it doesn't suddenly "kick in"!!!!
From you feedback, I suspect you may have an under load misfire problem thats making the engine wimpy & lay down, when you go at throttle up & the miss is happening about the same time the fan noise is becoming noticeable!!!!

An under load miss is usually, but Not always, spark related. Do you have a flashing CEL when its missing at throttle up???? If so, scan the computer for trouble codes as they can offer up clues on which cyl is misfiring, then go there & check the plug, plug wires all the way to the coilpack, the coil pack, fuel injector & its wiring, maybe cyl compression too.
More thoughts for consideration, let us know what you find.

 

The fan is deffinetly noticable. you'll be drivin along all normal and quiet and its like some one flips a switch and u can hear the fan speed up and i joke that its kickin in to help pull the truck along like an airplane. its deffinetly noticeable

Alrighty then so th old plugs were autolites platnuims i think were way out of gap and just worn out. i thought they looked to white but I figured its this newer leaner motor.

I replaced them with a NGK (thats just my go to plug) i dont think they were any thing fancy tho the wires are new and tied up out of the way and are autolites ( i wanted the ngk ones but they didnt have them instock)

I did not perform any test on the new wires never thought about havin a bad one.

My miss is when im really in the throttle if u drive it good an nice it runs great but when i put the hammer down and i get somewere around 4k it misses once and thats it. im kinda chalkin that up to being the coils goin week and cant keep up

the CEL is on it hasnt flashed but i have a high EVAP leak that i cant find need to take it in for a smoke test