Trying to take the fan clutch off so I can get to the water pump, plan is to change them both. Bought a 1990 F-250 4x4 5 spd this past week, on the drive home the radiator blew up on me (only reason I wasn't PO'd was because I only paid 2300 for it and the seller did tell me it had been sitting on the farm for awhile).

So once I got it towed home and realized there was a hole in the radiator, I decided to play preventative maintenance and replace the cooling system (i.e. radiator, thermostat, fan clutch, and water pump).

I went to AutoZone to get a kit to do the fan clutch, and I read in a thread on here that the kit should somehow fit around the fan bolts. I tried all of them, but they don't seem to fit. I don't suppose anybody has a video of this, or detailed pictures they could post up to help me out? Or if there is anyone in the area who could help me out, that'd be awesome too

 

1 7/16" wrench on the hex neck of the fan clutch, a flat prybar between the shaft and one of the pulley bolts, and give the wrench a smack towards the passenger side of the truck, it should pop free. Since you already have a bad radiator you don't have to be as cautious, but when that fan reaches the end of the threads it will practically jump into the radiator.

 

Missed the year, assumed serpentine drive for the above description.
If you have vee belts, there's nothing to use the fan clutch tool on, just undo the four bolts in front of the pulley on the water pump and the fan clutch will come right out.

 

I have a v-belt, and I don't remember the four bolts being a technique for removing the fan clutch. I think they were to hold on to the fan itself. You still needed the Autozoo kit to get the clutch off, since it bolts right to the shaft.

If you have the right kit from Autozoo (it should say 7.3/6.9IDI on the back of the box), then you just put the open-ended wrench on the 2 bolt heads of the shaft pulley (to hold it in place) and then use the other wrench in the kit to turn the fan clutch. Something tells me that it was reverse threaded (but it's been so long, i cant remember).

 

It was nagging me (not remembering), so I looked it up for you:



www.nickpisca.com/hypermax


"CAUTION: LH Thread."

 

I'be pulled the fan clutch off of three vee-belt rigs so far. I just used a large crescent wrench on the fan-clutch nut, a bit of pressure against a couple of vee-belts to put more friction on the pully... and the truck in 5th with the E-brake on. This prevents the engine from turning over, which /will/ happen if it's in neutral and the clutch is on very tightly.(i.e. you can increase the friction on your belt, but /everything/ will turn if the engine isn't prevented from spinning).

 

Thank you sir! That was just what the doctor ordered! Now I'm just having a helluva time finding where the belt tensioner is on this thing...I've changed belts on every truck I've had but I can't find the tensioner on this thing.

Finally said the hell with it and went to take off the pulley just infront of the water pump, but unfortunately I got 3 bolts out and am having a helluva time finding a way to hold the pulley in place to take the 4th bolt out now that I don't have anymore bolts to hold onto.

I feel like a da

 

A 1990 is a v-belt setup, so there is no belt tensioner. You have to loosen each of the belt-driven accessories in order to rotate them and get enough slack in the belt to slip it off. It's a little bit of a nuisance because it seems like every dang bolt you need to loosen has a different socket size than the last. IIRC, you'll need a 1/2", 9/16", 5/8" and even a 10mm.

I just did this job a couple of weeks ago. My steps:

1. Drain coolant. Just draining the radiator won't be enough to get the water level down below the water pump, so either pull the block plugs as well, or be prepared for a coolant bath once you pull the pump.

2. Slip a piece of cardboard between the backside of the radiator and the shroud to protect the fins of the radiator from any damage. Just be sure to remove this before firing the truck up. Ask me how I know.

3. Remove the fan clutch. I rented this set from O'Reilly: Performance Tool W89400 - Wrench Set | O'Reilly Auto Parts. The wrench that 'fit' was a little loose on the nut, so I wrapped the forks in duct tape. You'll also need to rent this guy: GearWrench 3472 - Fan Clutch Wrench Set | O'Reilly Auto Parts. That's the best pic I could find. The tool you need there is the long, skinny one pictured up top with the red handles. Use this to keep the fan clutch from spinning while tightening/loosening the clutch. It grabs around 2 of the four bolts on the pulley that bolts to the WP. NOTE: If you leave the belts on and keep the truck in gear, this tool MAY not be necessary, but I always end up using it. The clutch will require some force to get loose. I use a piece of pipe over the wrench end, and a couple smacks with a rubber mallet. This is where a 3rd hand would come in handy, but I always manage. Also, it should be noted that the spacing between two blades of your fan is slightly bigger than the other spaces to help allow all the tools to fit in. Spin it around and find the opening. Makes life easier. And remember, LH threads. Once the clutch is loose, I was always able to worm it out from underneath (no need to remove the fan shroud). Automatic trucks with transmission cooler lines may not be as lucky. Transfer the fan to the new clutch.

4. Loosen (but do not remove) the four bolts holding the pulley to the pump. Again, having the belts on and the truck in gear for this can help. I also ended up using some power tools to help loosen/tighten these to help overcome the spinning of the pump while trying to get at these. They're not on super-tight, though, so don't over-do it.

5. Remove belts. Remove pulley.

6. Remove all bracketry from the WP, making sure to take note of how it all fit together and which bolts went where. Also, you'll need to remove the alternator. To SAFELY do this, you MUST disconnect the batteries before detaching the big power cable from the alternator.

7. Remove the heater hose from the WP.

8. Remove WP. Take special note of which bolts went where. I found it handy to put the bolts into the holes on the new WP while removing them, then I transferred them to the old pump once it was off. Easy-peezy.

9. Clean, clean CLEAN the gasket surface. Some also recommend cleaning/chasing the threads for the bolts on the block. I didn't do this, but not a bad idea.

10. Transfer the heater pipe hose adapter to the new pump. Use thread sealant. Some would also recommend pulling the other plug and adding some thread sealant on it just in case the folks who put it in there either forgot or didn't put enough, but mine looked good enough so I left it.

11. Install the new pump using your gasket material of choice (I used Permataex Aviation Form-a-Gasket). Note that a handful of bolts need some sort of thread sealant when re-installing because they go through some oil passages. I believe it's the top two and the bottom two, but a quick inspection of the bolts will make it pretty obvious which ones need it. Torque is only 14 ft-lbs or so, so go easy. Cross pattern probably isn't a terrible idea, either.

Everything else is the reverse of removal, with the exception that you might want to add a bit of blue Loctite to the threads of the clutch. Make sure it's tight! I also painted the new WP. Not necessary, but can't hurt. I did this before I installed it using engine enamel. Overkill from a heat perspective, but whatever.

As for parts, most would recommend Motorcraft pieces. I bought the WP on Amazon for $55.00 or so. I think the PN is PW-454, but don't quote me. I was able to find a New Old Stock (NOS) Ford fan clutch on eBay for about $100. To be honest, I'm not sure if my old one was actually bad. I replaced it because it seemed like the thing hardly ever kicked in unless the AC was on, but the new one does the same thing. I've been told they don't kick in until really high temps. This would also be a good time to replace the thermostat. Again, use a Motorcraft part. Make sure whatever you do for coolant has some sort of provision for cavitation. I use Fleetcharge, which comes with SCAs already added (mixed 50/50 with distilled water).

Also, when it comes to filling/burping/bleeding the cooling system, I found this new handy tool: . This guy is awesome! Makes filling the system a breeze, and bleeding even simpler. Just hook it up, fill the system until the funnel has a bit of coolant in it, fire the truck up, let it idle, and keep up the level in the funnel. It'll let the system burp the air without making a mess, and comes with a neat little plunger to close off the funnel when it comes time to remove it. Super clean, super simple.

Mike