Hey everyone,
I'm newish to the Ford world. I just bought a '96 F-150 4x4 with the 5.0L. 180k miles. I'm actually still trying to get it home.... 😕🤦‍♂️

So here's the deal. I'm am driving the truck from Nebraska to Florida. About 7hrs in to the trip I see smoke pouring out the back after stopping for gas. I pulled over and this is what I find :

So I get it towed to an Autozone where I replace the water pump, fan clutch and radiator. Made sure everything was good to go. Got air out of system. Whole 9 yards. I get back on the road and 30-45 min later the same thing happens. So I have it towed to a shop. We take a look the next morning and discover the smog pump is seized. So I removed the pulley from it. Got a slightly larger idler pulley and got a shorter belt. And of All is course replace damaged parts. All is good. I get back on the road and I drive for about 6-7 hrs (not really sure) and the same exact thing happens AGAIN!

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING!?
Please someone fill me with the answer I need to fix this. I'm literally sitting in the truck at a truck stop right now where I had it towed. I just want to get home.

 

Is it boiling the water/coolant out, radiator could be clogged up and not flowing, thermostat stuck shut

 

Is the belt tensioner moving freely? Have you noticed any vibrations?

I think there’s an issue with either the belt tension/alignment or the harmonic balancer. You can rule out the balancer by running it for a minute with the belt off - if the balancer appears to be wobbling, it needs replacement. If it’s a tension/alignment issue, you’re going to have to get everything put together again to be sure. Temporarily assemble it with only the WP pulley, leaving the fan clutch off, and run for a minute or two so you can get a clear view of the belt.

 

Well the issue has been resolved. The shop the "fixed it" in IL did not replace than fan, which had bent blades. Cause the water pump pulley to slowly walk off the saft. I discovered this after further investigation the next morning after some sleep.
Luckily Autozone warrantied the parts. I remove the fan and fan clutch. I installed an electric fan instead. Ran a lot better, got better gas mileage and I made it home to FL!

 

Good to see you made it, that was a lot of hassle for one trip. Glad you figured it out

 

I'm a little late to the party, but glad you got it figured out. That's a strange one. Thanks also for posting about it!