roaring fan, 4.6, issue ongoing | Page 2 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

roaring fan, 4.6, issue ongoing

I'll go against the grain here and say run it with the cap completely off. It will make a mess - keep a hose handy and some 50/50 mix. But when it burps - it will burp unhindered.
A 16# cap has been recommended. I believe that if you can't run the 20# cap then you have a problem somewhere that needs to be fixed. I know this will hit some people wrong - but a 16# cap is a band-aid.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





The lower pressure cap will only lower the boiling point of the coolant by 9 degrees. It does not affect the engine temps, merely creates less pressure.

It will not hurt to run the lower rated cap.
 






Not that engineers are infallible - but why did they spec the 20# cap to begin with? There had to be a reason to do that - at least initially during the design phase.
We will never know why that decision was made - but at least on a V8 engine that doesn't have a plastic housing for the thermostat then an extra 4 PSI shouldn't be a burden for your components. Logic would say that with increased pressure then yes - they will fail faster - but how much faster?
Are the cooling system failures that we all get - like the radiator, the Y to the rear core, and on the V6 the thermostat housing really a result of the increased pressure? We don't really know because no one here bought one new and put a 16# cap in it right away to prove that it would last longer. So that means even at 16# we might have had the same failures.
People don't switch to 16 until after they have problems. I can't stress enough how important that point is.


In case you haven't guessed by now - I have been told that I overthink things.

I don't consider it a problem.
 






I've gotten a new fan clutch, and the tools to swap it with. Man, didn't think I was gonna spend that much.

Any other surprises I can expect? LOL
 






Make sure you have good fan nut spanner wrench and the other one to hold the water pump. Breaking the fan loose was my biggest obstacle. After that just bunch of (I think) 8 mm bolts.
 






My 08 Mountaineer also did the roaring fan thing this past weekend when we were driving up Skyline Drive on the parkway in the Appalachian mountains. I think the reason for it was because we had just driven up very steep hills to get there. I only noticed it doing it when were driving about 30 mph or so. I would rev up and make a roaring sound. It didn't do it long, but my guess is the computer was engaging the clutch to cool the engine down faster. I had my coolant, hoses, thermostat and the housing replaced not long ago, but i just figured it was a common thing to occur when the engine gets hot from climbing steep grades like I did.
 






I put a new fan clutch in yesterday and it didn't fix a damned thing. The upside is that it took me about 35 minutes in all.

I hate throwing parts at stuff.

I guess on Wednesday I'll take the grill off and blow out the condenser and radiator fins and see if that helps. Probably put a piece of window screen in front of it too...I do a lot of night driving and the bugs are bad here now.

I may also put a water pump in it as they're about 45 bucks from my favorite parts store.

Thoughts?

FWIW, the old fan clutch didn't feel any better or worse than the new one.

Could have better spent the 320-some dollars, for no result. Ughh.
 






Have you ever replaced the thermostat? They don't always stick open or closed - sometimes they stick part way between the two. Beyond that - it could be that the vanes are so worn on the water pump that they are not pumping much water anymore. I would only suspect that on something that wasn't maintained though. Between the two, the thermostat is where I would start.
 






I'll grab one tomorrow before work. Shouldn't be a big deal.
 






I left work yesterday and had that deafening roaring sound for the 1/2 hour trip home, most of it interstate. No rise in temp. A/C running. I stopped near home at the gas station to get a few things. Started it back up and drove the last 2 miles "roar-free". No problems this morning on the way to work either. Can't figure it out. In the past when its happened, it was usually a coolant issue.
 






Yesterday I pulled the radiator out, flushed the **** out of it, new t-stat, fresh mix of coolant, and today my issue is solved.

Thanks for all the words and tips. BTW, removing/installing a radiator sucks ass. Those plastic brackets on each side can kiss my ass LOL.

Now my AC works as it should, the engine doesn't run hot with it on, and now...onto the next thing to do...

:)
 






Congrats. Yes - pulling the radiator is a LOT harder than it should be.
 






Glad it solved the issue, but why did you take the radiator out to flush the coolant?
 






Mostly to blow the condenser out with air...wanted to be sure it was clear lol.

Probably didn't need to, but I was tired of farting around with it.
If I hadn't fixed it this time, I was just gonna take it to a mechanic and bring the vaseline..lol
 






As of today 6-10 the issue has returned.

Guess I'll have to pout a water pump in. So much for not wanting to throw parts at it..

Damn it..

I'm also going to look at the connections to the fan clutch, the roar went away along with the getting hot symptom. Now that it's getting hot again, the roar is back. There's a correlation, maybe it's the obvious thing, I don't know.

It's only 80 here today, there were a couple three days prior where it was warmer out, and it didn't get hot then.

I'm stumped, and pissed off..
 






I'm going to put a new water pump in tomorrow. I've never done one on a 4.6 before, but having replaced the fan clutch last week and taking the rad out, it doesn't look to bad at all, really.

Is there anything I need to expect, possibility of broken bolts, etc?

I have had my share of issues with 5.0 water pumps and having to use heat on the two long bolts to keep 'em from twisting off...

Hopefully this fixes my issue. Everything else has been replaced...fan clutch, T-stat, etc.
Feller on another board asked me if I took the fan off (duh)....I said yes, why? Wanted to know if I put it back on the right way....I said yes, the side that said "front" obviously goes, well...to the front.

I'm pretty observant, lol.

Anyway, I'll update, and hopefully, I can put this case to rest tomorrow. If not, I guess i'll take it to the dealership, I'm stumped, otherwise.
 






Feller on another board asked me if I took the fan off (duh)....I said yes, why? Wanted to know if I put it back on the right way....I said yes, the side that said "front" obviously goes, well...to the front.
Funny part is - he probably has never taken a fan off himself and is just trying to act like he knows crap he will never know.
I don't get it but I've seen it a lot - if you don't know the answer or don't have the experience - don't post. We are discussing the health of a vehicle here - not your ego.
Fortunately, I see very little of that here. In a 'only on the internet way' you won't get a lot of traffic on a post - but the traffic you get will be more sincere and helpful.
 






Probably doesn't help his situation any that he's a chevy guy and usually bashes every other make LOL.

Anywho, off to go swap a pump! Will post results in about eleventy three and half hours, or dark, whichever comes first. Gotta make it fairly fast...wife wants me to take her out tonight.

I don't say no to date night with her ;)
 






New pump on and everything buttoned back up, took it for a 10 mile drive, no issues. Hopefully this was the fix.

OTOH, the old water pump (replacement, no ford numbers, etc) appeared to be decent. Impeller blades were all intact, no weeping, no bad bushing/bearing..

possible for it to be bad without obvious visual signs?

I'll post more if the issue returns, hopefully I can have a happy ending LOL.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Sadly - it's direct drive and if the impellers were good then it's not likely the problem. About the only thing left at this point is a blockage somewhere. Likely the front or rear heater cores. If this doesn't work, isolate the hoses to the heater cores and flush them backwards.
 






Back
Top