1989 4.9 F-150 Fan Play

[Nick_Good]

I have a 1989 F-150 2WD manual 4.9L 6Cyl w/ AC. My problem is that my fan is bouncing around all over the place. The belt tension is correct because it has the auto-tensioner. I just replaced my belt 30 miles ago due to it being chewed up. When the truck is running I can hear it banging around. I looked at the fan while it was idling and the fan is bouncing around. I cut the truck off, maually loosened the tension by putting a breaker bar on the tensioner and turned it just like i would when putting a new belt on it. I can move the fan up and down with my hand. Im not sure if the fan clutch is shot or what. Any info would be appreciated. Also when the truck is not running i can rotate the fan left and right like normal, it just has alot of play. This is my DD so I need to fix this.

Thanks for the help.
-Nick Good
GUTTLY@aol.com

 

[JDraper]

Either the fan clutch or the water pump bearings are shot, although if it's not leaking antifreeze, I'd suspect the clutch first. If you can see down in there, you should be able to tell where the wobble is coming from. If it's from the fan clutch, the shaft that goes into the front of the water pump won't be moving up and down while the fan is. If it's the water pump, you should be able to see the shaft moving with the fan.

 

[Nick_Good]

I just went down to the garage and check. The fan and pulley(before the water pump) are both moving up and down. I can not tell if the shaft is also. Also, it has not leaked any fluid since i have had it, aprox. 10,000 miles.
Nick Good