The_Josh_Bear
Full Access Member
I wont pretend to have read all 198 pages of this build, lol! But what I have seen is great, love the attention to detail. I've learned some good stuff from this thread and your help over the forum.It’s been a while since I’ve really done much to the truck. She’s been hibernating waiting for the salt to wash away. If you go back to last year, my big issue has been water temperature. I’ve pondered it a lot and the first thing to do after talking to a few other guys with new motorcraft clutches from Rock Auto, I changed the fan clutch for a Hayden. Not my first choice but it’s what I could reasonably get my hands on.
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I got it installed and as I put the shroud on I noticed there is a big gap between the shroud and the radiator at the top.
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I’M thinking that can’t be helping matters. I took it for a good drive. Seems to be running well. Of course it’s cool enough there’s no way the clutch would lock up now. So I stuffed cardboard in front of the radiator. The fan sound was different with the cardboard but I got the water temp to around 230 just sitting in the driveway. I think the fan locked up better but I couldn’t swear to it. I know it cooled down really fast when I pulled the cardboard out. I feel like I heard the sound change more as it cooled down. I dunno. Maybe with it not moving pushing heat at the clutch through the radiator it is slow to react. I don’t know. Guess I’ll find out when I hitch it up end of next month.
Several things to do before then.
1. Fuel pressure gauge - need to know if I’m starving it for fuel. I have it. Just need to install.
2. Spare tire carrier. Really want get that done to get the spare out of the bed.
3. Adjust timing- she’s set at 9.2-9.3 I’m going to back it off a little and see if I can build a little more boost down lower.
4. Probably do an oil change and send a sample off to see how bad my bearings are after the little oil loss hiccup.
That’s my my short list.
As for the cardboard trick the "textbook" way to test these viscous clutches is to cut a hole in that cardboard the size of the aluminum housing and then seeing what temp a real gauge says when it kicks on. 230 is way too late. It's not out of the operating temps of a solid coolant mixture but cutting it way too close. If you re-do the test with the hole cut out I bet you'd be much happier with the result.
Also timing with a turbo is better a little retarded, say 6.5*-7.5* which is quite a jump from where you're at. It'll sound like a different(quieter) beast but should spool better and have higher overall power too. Nothing to do but try it out and see!