Ha! Ha, ha, and ha! So me and Midnight Rider are not the only ones running locked factory fans after allDoes yours like to slip on the belts when you revv up?
Haven't had that problem. I do have A/C so I have 3 belts running around the fan pulley.
Clutch fan removed
- Thread starter lotzagoodstuff
- Start date
Haven't had that problem. I do have A/C so I have 3 belts running around the fan pulley.
Brianedwardss
Registered User
Add me to the locked fan clutch group. The 7.3L IDI runs so much hotter than my 6.9l's ever did. And after using up two $130 clutches, enough was enough. I'm sure its robbing power and mileage, but 80% of my trucks driving is city, so there's plenty of time spent idling at a stoplight or in traffic. But once I do get on the freeway and get up to 2500 rpms cruising, that fan is singin'!
Goofyexponent
Mentally Unstable..
And just how does one do the locked fan mod? Welder and a mask?
Just wondering: all you guys with pinned/locked fans, what kind of mileage are you getting?
Brianedwardss
Registered User
14 mpg for me.
I originally locked my fan by drilling a hole through it, spinning the clutch til one of the internal clutch 'pucks' were covering the hole, and then drilled through it and stuck in a grade-8 bolt. Well after a month or so, my truck at idle sounded like a Peterbilt or Kenworth with a bad fan clutch, that smacking sound they make at idle, especially when I shut it off. (Goofy you should know what I mean..) Well come to find out the hole in the internal clutch 'puck' had wallowed itself out and made the fan slightly loose. I pulled the bolt out, and filled the hole with wire-feed weld from both sides, and the rest is history. Been good ever since.
I originally locked my fan by drilling a hole through it, spinning the clutch til one of the internal clutch 'pucks' were covering the hole, and then drilled through it and stuck in a grade-8 bolt. Well after a month or so, my truck at idle sounded like a Peterbilt or Kenworth with a bad fan clutch, that smacking sound they make at idle, especially when I shut it off. (Goofy you should know what I mean..) Well come to find out the hole in the internal clutch 'puck' had wallowed itself out and made the fan slightly loose. I pulled the bolt out, and filled the hole with wire-feed weld from both sides, and the rest is history. Been good ever since.
Goofyexponent
Mentally Unstable..
Oh ya! I know the sound! One of our 855's at work makes that sound CONSTANTLY....kinda scares me because I know if it comes flying apart I'll have to try and go make her limp home.
I just might do this to my fan until I get a wrench big enough to remove it and replace it with my "new" one. I might buy that chain wrench I seen tonight when I was at Canadian Tire.
I just might do this to my fan until I get a wrench big enough to remove it and replace it with my "new" one. I might buy that chain wrench I seen tonight when I was at Canadian Tire.
Brianedwardss
Registered User
I thought so
Goofyexponent
Mentally Unstable..
does it really make a HUGE difference in milage. THe reason I ask is because I got to move a fairly large and old therefore heavy camper this weekend coming. My clutch fan is TOTALLY shot, and I wouldn't mind doing an electric conversion (the wiring is something I could do with my eyes closed) but until then I need to have mine operational.
I do a LOT of highway travelling now where I moved and I need to save what I can when I can.
I do a LOT of highway travelling now where I moved and I need to save what I can when I can.
Brianedwardss
Registered User
Honestly, the fact that you have 3.55 gears AND overdrive, your rpm's are probably pretty low, so a locked fan clutch isn't gonna use much more energy. Now when I had a C6 with 4.10's... different story!
LCAM-01XA
Full Access Member
I only have two belts right now, and both one the driver-side of the engine (PS pump and air compressor). Before I put the York on I still had just two belts but one was on the passenger-side driving the vacuum pump directly, so every time I revved up the belt would tighten on the water pump pulley and no squeals. My alternator has a belt that only goes down to the water pump to avoid all that nasty belt slap at idle, but tomorrow I'm picking up a new factory belt and adding an idler pulley under it, this should solve the belt slip issue and the other belt's slapping all at once.
Some folks drill through and run a bolt, I actually ran braces from two of the water pump pulley bolts out to two of the fan blades, thus eliminating not only clutch slippage but also any possibility that the fan clutch will one day spin off the water pump shaft and into my radiator. Kinda silly looking, but it works good.
14-15 mpg on the interstate with a big camper in the bed, 19-20 mpg same cross-country trip with no camper. I drive at 1800-1900 rpms which translates into 55-57mph road speed, cruise control engaged almost all the time.
Didn't make any difference for me, but then again I have OD so I don't revv up high like folks with C6 or T18/19 transmissions do...
Hey Goofy, have a look and see if you can use a right angle drill or something creative to get a bolt in it and lock it up. Keep in mind that if that clutch comes apart it could break important stuff, I have heard of the fan eating radiators when failing, but I don't know if that was a clutch failure or the whole assembly spinning off the big left handed threaded nut.
If you cant drill a hole in it without removing it, don't be scared to try pulling it off without a chain wrench (can you rent one?). I used a racheting strap and a big crow bar to get mine off, what really helped was having the correct crows foot (1 7/8" or I guess 48 mm would work too). I believe it's supposed to be tightened to 165 ft/lbs with thread locker, which scared me initially but I got mine off without much trouble. Also, keep in mind that if you can't get it off without a chain wrench, you can always just put it back together and be right where you are now.
As my F-15E pilot buddy says "Don't be scared. Baby's are scared, and you ain't no baby"
Good luck
Logroller
Full Access Member
wow yalls trucks get warm ,,, my truck has never seen over 200f and that was pullin 8ton so something might be wrong my normal temp is 185 all day and even idling in 80/90 temps so just a thought
I'm with ya Logroller, I have a feeling that a lot of cooling issues are a result of different cooling system conditions from truck to truck. For instance, I've seen trucks with brand new radiators overheat because they got plugged from dusty roads. I make it a point to wash my radiator out from the backside forward from my years of living in the Midwest and wanting my radiator to cool optimally, as well as last longer.
I would like to see somebody with a before and after on the same truck with a radiator, water pump, thermostat swap. I think the results would be pretty shocking.
Here's how I locked mine. And like I said before, I cannot hear it roaring unless I get over 2000 rpm. With the zf overdrive and 35" tires, I loaf along at pretty low rpms on the highway. I haven't checked the mileage though. I was getting 15mpg. I need to check it again now.
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LCAM-01XA
Full Access Member
They chew the rad when they spin off the threaded water pump shaft - if the fan blade bolts were to fail it will simply slide back towards the water pump and likely eat some belts. Oddly enough, when I went to replace my water pump last fall, when I took the braces off I found the fan clutch nut loose on the water pump shaft
So, if it were not for them braces, I'd have ended up with a fan in my radiator at some point. The weird part is the nut was tight when I put the braces on like a year before that, so how did it get loose when the fan blade is not turning with respect to the water pump I have no idea...Also, Franklin's setup is good, just make sure to not go too thing on the angle iron cause that's a bigass fan you're stopping at engine shutoff, and so them brackets will see lots of force on them.
