Crittergitter and motorcraftsman,
it shows the difference between someone who works on vehicles for a living and a hobbyist,tools used.Channel locks are only a good way of ripping your knuckles open,by the way,they are called water pump pliers.Also,how do you keep the pulley from turning?Using a socket and breaker bar on another pulley,doesn't work very well,most of the time.Also,bear in mind that if someone uses your advice and rips their knuckles,they are going to be really pissed at you.That all being said,I have to agree with Paul.If you disconnect the fan belt,you will probably find that the bearing in the fan and the bimetal on the hub are pretty well shot.The fan hub is a common cause of high temps on Fords.

 

I am intrigued by all of the fan clutch talk; and, it is the last reasonable explanation there is. The truck gets hot on the highway with the A/C on. Around town, forget it. If I let the truck sit at idle and maybe turn on the A/C, what should I look for to see if the fan engages? After all, it is already turning with the engine. Will it just increase in speed? How long should this take? You all have been most helpful; thank you.

 

Will ,
As the heat from the radiator is drawn back against the bimetal spring it slowly coils up and allows a viscous fluid inside the hub of the clutch to increase its resistance so it slowly matches the speed of the engine . You can place your hand above the fan at idle when the engine is hot and try to gauge whether or not its spinning fast enough , But what I have always done is just listen for it . You will notice with a hot engine , a/c on when the fan has engaged ...the fan noise is signifgantly louder than if its not engaged . Another thing too is look at the front of the hub . If you notice its oily and leaking chances are the fan is not engaging . Like I said before , mine died last summer , I bought a Hayden brand one from Pep Boys for $40 . I dont think my temp gauge has gone over 200 deg since in any whether w/ the A/c on or not .
Paul

 

Look here Opatience, when I remove my fan, I have no "water pump pliers", I can get my fan off without them, and My advice goes out to people who dont have "water pump pliers" either.

If your implying that Crittergetter and I are hobbists, and you work on cars for a living, well keep up the good work, maybe Jiffy Lube will promote you from the shop sweeper to oil changer.

As for people tearing up their knuckles, that comes with working on cars, Whats the matter?
Do you cry when you hurt you hands?

 

You proved my point about being a hobbyist.
WATER PUMP PLIERS ARE channel locks,you moron.
If you knew anything about tools and cars you would know that.I suppose you put a pair of vice grips on the pulley to keep it from turning,huh?
It is morons like you giving advice and telling people how to do things wrong that make extra problems for them.The tools for the hub and pulley are not that expensive and make the job a whole lot easier.You're probaly the shop rat for Midas.

 

Well I better put an end to all of this. The truck is repaired and has a new fan clutch, sure enough. I took it to the local Ford dealer; I do not have the time to work on it right now, since I am working full time and going to school. It seems to be ok, though. Thank you all very much for your opinions and knowledge. This forum is a great resource to all of the Ford owners of the world.

Thanks again,
Will

 

Hmm. Ive been calling them channel locks for my whole life, Well now that you told there called water pump pliers, okay,i know plenty about tools, and cars, ive always worked on my truck on my own, and it runs damn fine, and that gives me positive reputation about car knowledge, for your information no vise grips were used to gaw up my water pump pulley, i used my bare hand to grip it, when theres no right tool availible for the job, theres always some alternative, even if it means scrapping up knuckles, by the way i had no cuts after removing my fan, unlike you if i did get scrapped i can take the pain unlike you. anyway. the thing about me being a shop rat at midas was harsh, i apologize about the jiffy lube crack, i meant to say your nothing but a backyard mechanic for your granny.

 

Opatience=A***ole

 

I hope the fan clutch fixes your problem. If not, it may be your lower radiator hose collapsing and restricting the flow. It sounds weird but I experienced this phenomenon when dealing with a Grand Am a couple years ago, drove me nuts for awhile.
As far as the sub topic of backyard mechanicing, I proudly count myself as one. I find it immensely satisfying to diagnose and fix something myself rather than pay a garage anywhere from $20 to $60
an hour to randomly replace parts in a vain search for the solution. It has been my experience that is about all they do nowadays anyhow. I can replace parts a whole lot cheaper than they can.
I have a pretty well equipped shop and often can fabricate a tool for a special purpose. I made one for the fan clutch on my truck. If you work on your own stuff it usually indicates you enjoy doing it and are trying to save money in the process. Most people can't afford to own every special tool needed on today's vehicles.I have used channel locks and vise grips in the past, but usually as a last resort. Sometimes you have no choice.
Live and Let Live guys.
DannyP

 

My policy with mechanics and garages is to avoid them at all costs! Like you said, some may take forever to replace parts that do not solve the problem at hand. Instead, find a good dealership. Yes they do charge the most, but the mechanics there (in my case the Ford dealer)see nothing but Ford trucks day in and day out. Usually, they can pin down the problem quickly and replace the part. In my past experiences, labor has been kept to a minimum, usually only one hour. Plus with a dealership, you know that you are getting the best service possible.

 

Just read the latest postings and am also proud to be a backyard mechanic as are Motorcraftsman, DannyP and others. We don't own every tool on the SNAP-ON truck for economic reasons and sometimes must improvise, even at the expense of our knuckles. A small price to pay! And if we were all certified mechanics we wouldn't need to seek advice on these message boards---advice which is invaluable at times.
As for OPATIENCE. Jiffy-Lube must be paying pretty good for you to afford all these specialty tools. If I had your money, I'd burn mine (or at least buy you some knuckle bandaids with it). If you can scroll back up to my original posting, without scrapin' your knuckles on the keyboard, you'll find the answer to what's got you baffled.
---By applying pressure to the tensioner pulley with a socket and ratchet, the serpentine belt will hold the water pump pulley in place allowing removal of the fan clutch nut.---
Remember....IMPROVISE! And what exactly do you use your "water pump pliers" for? Replacing the water pump?

 

That makes no sense ...Applying pressure to the tensioner pulley bolt in order to tighten the belt will loosen the bolt on the tensioner pulley , so if the bolt is turning ( Loosening ) any affect it had at tightening the belt will be lost as soon as the bolt is loosened . Taking cheap shots at others that post here is childish . This forum is here for us to help one another not bicker like a bunch of kids . Im sure we would never say these things in person to one another so why do it here .I think 0patience was trying to make a point . Mechanics that turn wrenches for a living need the tools that save them the most time . They have families that depend on them so they have to have the tools to do the work most efficiently . From what I gathered Will got his truck running Ok so thats all that matters , Right ?
Paul

 

As an addition to this story, I replaced the serpentine belt this weekend (the Ford dealer suggested I should, or pay them to do it). It took me a couple of minutes to figure it out (my Chilton's manual isn't worth a damn), but I finally figured out that you can put a socket wrench in that little square hole and pull the whole pulley back. Hey, anybody know how to remove the top of the overflow/windshield wiper fluid reservoir? I have some junk down there I would like to scrub out and it seems like the top is glued on or something. Thanks.

 

Will ,
The top of those two tanks is secured to the tanks , I dont recommend trying to remove it . If the coolant reservoir has some rust and dirt in it , remove its hose that goes to the radiator , shove something in the end of the hose so it doesnt leak all over the place , then route the hose from the tank down to the ground and remove the plug and let the tank drain into something , Next use your garden hose to flush the tank out . It only takes a few mins to do . After its all flushed , secure the hose back to the radiator and refill the tank with coolant .
Paul

 

I have completely removed the tank before, flushed it, and there is still some small pieces of junk in there. I reached in with a brush attached to a screw driver and got some of it out, but some still remains. When I had my new radiator installed last summer, the mechanic did not touch the overflow tank, and the bottom of it had this nasty sludge in it about a half-inch deep! Sure, it's ok to hook this up to a brand-new radiator! Needless to say, I ended up cleaning it out, but was refunded the amount of the labor because of their oversight. And like I said before, this shop was where the big Ford dealer in the area took all of their radiator work. Scary, isn't it? Anyway, I just wanted to know if the top could be removed, but if not, I'll just do the best I can with my screwdriver.