JoshMcMadMac
Explorer Addict
- Joined
- December 20, 2009
- Messages
- 1,050
- Reaction score
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- City, State
- Waynesboro, PA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2002 Mercury Mountaineer
This write-up covers my recent installation of under-drive pulleys and a Mark VIII electric fan in my 2002 4.6L V8 Mountaineer; this should be applicable to most any 3rd Gen owner with only slight deviations for the 4.0L or newer models. Hopefully this will help others be able to take advantage of the limited bolt-on options we have.
Expertise: Moderate. This job can be accomplished with common hand tools and a little help from the local parts store. Small power tools and air tools help, as well as a bit of automotive and electrical background knowledge.
Obligatory Disclaimer: Do not do anything you are not comfortable with. I take zero responsibility for anything that may occur as a result of modifications or the act of modification you undertake. Proceed at your own risk! That said, this is overall a straight-forward project that can be completed by just about anyone on a Saturday, or an evening by someone who is proficient.
Parts:
Under-drive pulleys – I used Steeda part # 701-0001. There are other kits available. I chose (and recommend) a kit that replaces the entire harmonic balancer; there are kits out there that “piggy-back” on the stock balancer, which is not a good option. You will also need a dollop of high-temperature RTV for the harmonic balancer when you install it.
Electric fan – I used a Mark VIII fan. This is one of the biggest, baddest options out there, it fits, and it comes from a 4.6L application. You can buy them new for three shiny Benjamins from places like RockAuto.com. I collected mine, with the harness, from a local junkyard for $18. The 4.6L Thunderbird and Cougar also have the same fan.
Fan controller – I used Flex-A-Lite part # 33054. Do NOT confuse this with the 33165. The 33054 is beefier than the 33165, and is the minimum you want for running a Mark VIII fan. I believe Summit has the descriptions the same between the two, which is not correct. You are more than welcome to make your own decision as to what to use and how to use it. There are cheaper options and there are fancier options…I believe the FAL 33054 is the best overall option for simplicity, reliability, and performance.
Electrical bits – There are several ways to accomplish wiring. I used a 40A circuit breaker, 10AWG & 18AWG wire, crimps, eyelets, heat shrink, wire loom, electrical tape, zip ties, and some of 3M’s awesome double-sided tape. Use alternate methods (i.e. wire nuts and/or soldering, fusing, etc.) at your own discretion.
Cost:
Pulleys – Retail is $210. I paid $170 by watching eBay for a deal on a new set.
Fan – RockAuto.com has it brand new for $312, plus shipping. I got mine from the junkyard for $18…actually $19, since there is a $1 admission charge.
Fan controller – Summit has this for $96, plus $10 shipping. If you spend another $4, you can use a $20 coupon on the deal.
Electrical bits – As it typically goes with project pricing, I had everything I needed already. Figure a small roll of 10AWG and 18AWG wire at $5 a piece, $5 for the circuit breaker, $10 for an assortment of connectors that should get the job done, plus another couple bucks on electrical tape.
TOTAL: $280 – $650+
Tools, Necessary:
Sockets and ratchets (primarily 10mm)
Breaker-bar (possibly with cheater pipe)
Crescent wrench
Flat-blade screwdriver
Heavy-duty plastic cutting tool (dremel, aviation-snips, cut-off wheel, saw, etc.)
Wire cutter/stripper/crimper
Tools, Rented:
Fan clutch removal tool (you may need your crescent wrench for this, too)
Harmonic balancer puller
Tools, Optional:
Air tools
Strap wrench
Serpentine belt removal tool
Torque wrench
Pulley puller
Hand grinder
Lighter/heat gun/matches
Thermocouple/IR thermometer/OBD-II reader
Gloves (if you think gloves make you less of a man, go for it mister-lumberjack-badass-guy. I work in an office everyday and have a wife…plus my manicurist gets moody when my hands are a mess.
: Seriously, nitrile gloves keep my GoJo costs down and mechanic’s gloves keep my sharp/hot/blunt object expletives to a minimum.)
Beer…copious amounts of beer
Part #1: Clutch Fan Removal
If you are like the vast majority of people, the cooling fan on your engine has never been removed. That is ok, since as it fails the fan just runs more, not causing any real issues. However, it is sapping power and fuel economy! Even if you are only here for the under-drive pulleys and not the electric fan, the original clutch-fan still needs removed.
Start by opening the hood. You should see this:
If this does not look even remotely similar, verify you are not working on your wife’s mommy-mobile and reassess.
From here the top half of the fan shroud needs to be removed. Fortunately Ford made the shroud in two pieces, so it is easy to pop the top off and not worry about the bottom. Start by using a flat-blade screwdriver to loosen the plastic retainer on the air conditioning line:
Although it is a pretty tough part, it is worth mentioning: do not mess up this tube. It is vital to the air-conditioning circuit. If you mangle it, you will have to spend a decent amount of money to replace it and recharge the system. Plus you would have refrigerant discharging, in turn destroying the ozone, killing baby seals, and probably cheating on your taxes.
Now you can remove the 10mm bolts that retain the fan shroud. There is one on each side of the shroud, towards the top:
With the bolts removed (and stowed in a safe location to be retrieved later) you can carefully pull the shroud out of the engine bay:
Although it is a pretty tough part, it is worth mentioning: do not mess up the radiator. It is vital to the cooling circuit. If you mangle it, you will have to spend a decent amount of money to replace it and recharge the system. Plus you would have coolant discharging, in turn destroying the ozone, killing baby seals, and probably cheating on your taxes. (Alright, so maybe it is not as bad as the A/C, but you still do not want to squish the radiator fins. Keep that in mind as you continue on. If you do not trust yourself, just slide a piece of cardboard down along the radiator to protect it from whatever manhandling you cannot avoid…mister-lumberjack-badass-guy.)
Next is the fan removal. The fan is threaded onto the water pump. The fan shaft is a 1.5” hex, which you will use an open-ended wrench on to remove. The pulley on the water pump is attached with four 10mm bolts, patterned as a square. The fan clutch removal tool that you acquired from the local auto parts store has a “fork” tool that will slip over those four bolts and hold the water pump stationary while you herniate yourself trying to crank the fan shaft loose:
I have to be honest here…I did it the easy way. I used my air chisel to bust the fan loose, after a thorough soaking in penetrating oil. The hand-tool method does work; I have done it in the past. However, compressed air has made me into a girly-man (and I am ok with that). That is ok, though; doing it by hand builds character…or some other B.S. motivation that you can hear your father telling you. Worst case, if you cannot get it loose, take it to your closest old-school shop and they should spin it off there for about $20. Do it when the outside temperature is <100° and do not run the air conditioning and you will easily make it home without overheating sans fan.
Part #2: Water Pump Pulley Removal
With the fan out of the way the water pump pulley bolts can be easily accessed. The tension of the serpentine belt should hold enough to get the 10mm bolts loose. If not, you can use a second 10mm wrench or a strap wrench to get them all loose prior to removal.
Your way:
My way:
Did I mention my affinity for compressed air? Anyway, next step is to remove the serpentine belt. You can get away with a breaker-bar or ½” socket wrench now that the fan is out of the way, but I have included pictures that show how the serpentine belt removal tool can be utilized when the fan is installed and it is not possible to get a big ratchet down in there. This is the serpentine belt removal tool:
There is a ½” insert in the tensioner that the wrench goes into:
The tool goes in something like this:
Here is an idea of what you are dealing with when the fan is still installed:
Now pull towards the driver-side and release the tension from the belt:
While holding the tensioner, pull the belt off of the alternator pulley:
On the driver-side there is a bolt right above the power-steering pulley that you need to be aware of:
On the passenger-side, the belt needs to be looped around the compressor pulley and pulled through the tensioner pulley:
Now you should be able to remove the serpentine belt and put it wherever you left those bolts that need to get put back in later. You should now be looking at something like this:
If this does not even look remotely similar, verify you are not working on your wife’s mommy-mobile and reassess.
Now is a good time to check the condition of all those pulleys that really do not do anything:
These idler pulleys are important, and while you are in here it is good to verify that they are spinning freely like they should. If they do not, run back to the auto parts store and get a replacement. They will understand; they already saw you earlier when you got the loaner tools, plus you are dirty…instant wrencher street-cred, yo!
Part #3: Harmonic Balancer Removal
The ideal method to remove the harmonic balancer pulley involves an impact wrench. Did I mention my affinity for compressed air? Unfortunately, my impact wrench would not fit between the bolt and the radiator…I cried, a little. There is a 19mm bolt in the center of the harmonic balancer that needs to come off. It is connected to the crankshaft, and turns with it. There is not enough resistance in the engine to prevent it from spinning when trying to remove the bolt. I have a unique solution that has worked on more than one occasion:
Get the socket on the breaker bar and onto the harmonic balancer bolt. If the breaker bar does not reach the driver side frame rail, add a cheater pipe. My cheater pipe is actually a leftover ceiling fan drop rod, if you need any inspiration in finding your own. Be very careful to get the pipe properly aligned and propped on the frame rail, making sure that it will not contact anything else. The next step is the scary one: put the key in the ignition and turn the engine over, just enough that it will “sneeze” or “cough” but not actually start. It is safest to do this once, then check under the hood and make sure nothing funny happened. You should now be able to hand loosen the bolt. If not, give it another cough or two and it will be good to go.
Now it is time to play with that cool rent-a-tool, the pulley-puller set:
You remembered to get this before starting, right? If you are like me, go back to the parts store and get the tool kit. It’s cool; they know you and by now will probably be giving you great advice that you do not want and stories of how they have done the same thing. Rapport is a wonderful thing to have with the parts guy, is it not?
There are three 5/16”-13 bolt holes on the spokes of the harmonic balancer:
Use the appropriate provided bolts from the tool kit to attach the puller to the harmonic balancer. Those holes are probably a bit rusty, so the bolts will require some effort to turn; just be sure you have the proper bolts and are not mixing thread sizes. The center threaded rod for the puller also needs to be installed. Snug all three bolts down sequentially…most likely using a ½” wrench. It should look something like this:
The removal should be relatively easy, since there is only a minimum interference fit between the harmonic balancer and the shaft. The tool kit had a ¾” hex on the end of the center screw; you should be able to get away with that crescent wrench that you used earlier to bust-a-gut getting the fan off:
Drive the screw on (righty-tighty) and the harmonic balancer will start pulling away from the engine block:
Note the hole in the top of the water pump. This is the weep hole, and it is there to let you know if the water pump is dying. If this hole is wet or appears to have been wet with coolant, you should seriously consider replacing it now while you are in here. Plugging the hole with RTV is not a solution; I mention all of this because on more than one occasion I have seen someone post about plugging that strange hole in the water pump that obviously should not be there.
Once the harmonic balancer is loose, be careful pulling it out of the engine bay; the whole getup is awkward and a little heavy. Here is a shot to give a better idea of what everything would/should/did look like:
Part #4: Alternator Pulley Removal
Just like the harmonic balancer, the impact wrench would not fit down on the pulley nut. I manned up this time and swallowed those tears, dammit. With absolutely no other electrical modifications to the vehicle, along with the entire electrical system being in good repair, the smaller alternator pulley will be adequate even with the electric fan. If you feel more comfortable with the slight additional charging you will get from the stock alternator pulley, skip this part.
Start by removing the electrical connections on the top of the alternator:
It is safest to disconnect the battery for this procedure. The heavy gauge wire is a direct connection to the battery, so even the slightest touch of ground while trying to remove that nut will result in sparks simultaneous with defibrillation. Repeat after me: “Volts hurt, amps kill.” Plus, if you are following through with the electric fan installation, you will want the battery disconnected to make things easier for the fan controller wiring anyway. With that out of the way, run the 10mm nut off and remove the wire:
Keep that socket wrench handy, because the rest of the alternator bolts are 10mm as well. Remove the top two alternator bolts:
Then loosen the bottom two bolts:
The bottom of the alternator is slotted for those bolts, so it is possible to get it out of there without fully removing the bottom bolts. This makes dropping the alternator and expletives less likely.
The alternator pulley is now quite easily removed…with an impact wrench. Did I mention my affinity for compressed air? If you have a strap wrench (or that big, scary, lumberjack grip) and an impact wrench with a 15/16” socket you can zip the pulley right off:
If not, your new buddy at the parts store will take care of it for you. I am pretty sure he used to be a lumberjack…please do not tell him I told you.
*Another option is to use the pulley removal tool from the pulley puller loaner tool kit.
With all that done, you should be starring at this, trying to figure out what you have gotten yourself into:
You have successfully pulled apart the front half of your engine! I knew you could do it. Reward yourself with a beer, or two. Tune in next week for Installment Two: “How to make this pile of parts get me to work again.”
Part #5: Alternator Pulley Installation
I wanted to make you wait another week, because patience is a virtue, it builds character, etc., but I love you just the way you are.
Here is a comparison of the old and new alternator pulley:
The new pulley is slightly larger, which will add to the under-driving effects of the smaller harmonic balancer pulley. Plus it has high-speed, low-drag weight reduction holes!
Here I will introduce you to the first major challenge: the shaft of the new pulley is way too big:
As stated previously, the stock alternator pulley can be retained. The majority of the benefits of this upgrade come from the harmonic balancer, so if this part is scary it can be skipped without any huge loss. Otherwise, it is necessary to make the new pulley look like the old pulley. If not the pulley will stick out too far from the alternator, throw off the belt alignment, and ultimately result in a shredded belt. Since this kit is officially designed for the Mustang, I can only assume that the alternators are different. This leaves two choices. You should be able to find a local machinist that can beautifully modify the new pulley for ~$20. Ask your parts-counter friend; I am sure he can recommend someone for you that used to work for NASCAR…or was that NASA?
The other option is to do it yourself. I used a grinder and knocked it out in less than half an hour. I did not have my calipers (seriously, they were on my desk at work between my pocket protector and my graphing calculator) so I was not able to get a proper measurement. Luckily I have highly calibrated eyeballs. Proceed carefully, checking your progress frequently. Remember that you can always take more off, but putting material back on is a little tough. Test fit the pulley onto the alternator once you start getting close and try to minimize the gap between the pulley and the alternator casing. This does not have to be surgically precise since there is a long run of serpentine belt on either side of the alternator to take up a little slop. The end result should be something like this:
With that hurdle cleared it is now simply a matter of reversing the previous steps. Put the new pulley onto the alternator and tighten down the nut being careful not to cross-thread it. Slide the alternator onto the bottom two bolts:
Then hand-tighten the top two bolts:
With all four alternator mounting bolts installed tighten them down, then reconnect the wiring:
*Mechanics gloves rock!
Part #6: Harmonic Balancer Installation
Here is a comparison between old and new harmonic balancers:
This is the major contributor to better performance, reducing the amount of power used on the serpentine system. Notice the notch in the center? This is where that dollop of high-temperature RTV goes prior to installation to prevent leakage:
That slot will line up with the key on the shaft:
I had the good fortune of having that key facing upwards to get a good photo of it. Be as awesome as me and do the same thing; it makes lining the slot up much easier when you can see it! As you slide the harmonic balancer on the shaft, also thread the provided bolt from the pulley kit on. The provided bolt is longer than the factor bolt, allowing the balancer to be drawn onto the shaft. The washer from the stock bolt will need to be used. Once the harmonic balancer is far enough on that the stock bolt can be installed instead, do so.
The harmonic balancer bolt is to be torqued to 116-121ft-lbs. This is tough, since the engine cannot be used to help like it was for removal. I managed to achieve this with a strap wrench and torque wrench:
Honestly, getting it as tight as humanly possible should be sufficient, but I cannot officially approve of this. Use those lumberjack muscles and crank it on there as best as you can.
Part #7: Water Pump Pulley Installation
Old and new water pump pulleys:
More high-speed, low-drag weight savings; schweet! Like the larger alternator pulley, the larger water pump pulley adds to the under-driving effects, optimizing the overall performance gains from this system.
This one is nice and simple, as long as you have been following in order. If you try to install the water pump pulley prior to installing the alternator you will not be able to get to the bottom-right alternator bolt…but you would never stray from me, right? Otherwise, just hand tighten the water pump pulley bolts:
*Nitrile gloves rock!
Now the front of the engine looks useful again, well populated with round spinny-thingys:
You have successfully reinstalled the front half of your engine! I knew you could do it. Reward yourself with a beer, or two. Tune in next week for Installment Three: “Everything looks kosher, but something is not quite right.”
Ok, probably not as funny as the first time; I’ll knock that nonsense off.
You have made it this far; there is no fooling you that the serpentine belt needs to go back on. Start by getting the belt on the compressor, feeding it through the tensioner and pulley:
Work your way from the passenger side to the driver side, running the belt back around the pulleys. Remember to get around the bolt next to the power steering pulley:
With the belt in all the right places, especially any/all grooved pulleys, you should almost be able to stretch the belt up over the alternator pulley:
Get the serpentine belt tool on the tensioner with your other hand, push, and slip the belt up onto the alternator pulley. If any of this section is confusing you can use this picture as a reference for the belt routing:
Do not forget to tighten down the 10mm water pump pulley bolts now!
Make certain that you have cleared all of the tools out of the engine bay, then go ahead and start ‘er up. Check for anything out of the ordinary, which probably would have failed quite spectacularly already anyway. Congratulations! You can call it quits here if the electric fan does not interest you. And that is cool; you will not be as awesome as the rest of us, but the world would be boring if it consisted of 100% awesome…that would be like trying to clone Chuck Norris.
Part #8: Electric Fan Modification
You are only here because I made a Chuck Norris reference, aren’t you? From here on things are a little less straightforward. Feel free to deviate and make this work however is best for you; this is only my opinion and my approach to the process.
Here is a comparison between the stock fan and the Mark VIII fan:
They are the same size, and remember that both fans are cooling essentially the same engine. Here is just the Mark VIII fan, in case you need to know what to look for:
Looking at the above picture, I installed the right of the fan downward into the stock fan shroud. It is held pretty firmly in place, just make sure you slide it in there carefully and position it until it feels stable. The problem is that the length of the Mark VIII fan assembly is too tall. The cut-off wheel made short work of that problem. Get it, short? Sorry, I got carried away again. This is what the fan will look like once it is shortened:
Test fit the modified Mark VIII fan into the fan shroud and see if any more material needs removed. Just like the alternator pulley, it is a lot easier to take more off than put material back:
The top half of the fan shroud should pin the Mark VIII fan snugly in place. The fan hub will come close to the water pump, but make sure that it will not make contact:
The fan hub is actually offset from the water pump pulley, so the two are not as close as they appear in the picture. If the fan is floppy, you are going to have to get creative and shim it behind the stock fan shroud.
Part #9: Electric Fan Wiring
There are three connections to the Mark VIII fan: high speed, low speed, and ground. The ground pin and the high speed pin are on opposite sides of each other, but I used the factory harness. The ground is the large-gauge black wire. I have seen different colors for the low speed wire, but it is the same gauge as the ground. The high speed connection actually uses two smaller gauge wires, which from my experience is always brown with an orange stripe. The controller needs to be connected to ground and high speed:
Connect the fan ground to the controller purple wire and the fan high speed to the controller yellow wire:
I stripped the wire, used 10-12AWG crimps, and then put heat shrink over them. Then loom/tape them back up:
Circled in the above picture is a small adjustment screw. Take note of this, as it will be used later to adjust the temperature at which the fan comes on and may not be easily visible.
I used a 40A circuit breaker, so you can see the controller red wire with a ring terminal installed. If you are not using a circuit breaker, now is a good time to wire in your fuse holder or fusible link.
At this point, decide where to mount the controller. I like to keep wiring as short as possible, as well as keep modifications as centralized as possible. As such, I stuck the controller on the fan:
I used 3M double-sided tape. It is not the cheap white stuff; it is gray, and uber-sticky. I have used it on a lot of stuff that I did not want permanent holes in and it has never failed me. Feel free to use screws, zip-ties, gum, or whatever fastener you are most comfortable with, but I am pretty sure this stuff holds the space shuttles together.
Before putting the fan into the engine bay, the temperature sensor for the controller should be inserted into the radiator. You want the sensor close to the inlet, so push it into the fins a few inches over and down from the passenger side radiator hose:
Get the fan secured down into the fan shroud. The temperature sensor has two wires that need spade terminals crimped onto them, then installed into slot 10 & 11 on the controller:
Be sure to route the wiring away from the fan blades and secure it with zip-ties so it will not come loose.
The last remaining wire lead coming out of the controller is the black ground. Get a length of 10AWG wire, preferably black and ~1.5’ long, and strip both ends of it. Splice the wire to the ground lead from the controller, then put a large ring terminal on the other end. Between the battery and the grill is a ground lug; install the ring terminal here with an open-end 10mm wrench:
The next stop is a bit north of here. Next to the battery hold-down is a multi-wire connector. One of the wires is gray with a white stripe. This wire is to the compressor, and will tell the controller to run the fan at 60% when the compressor is running. This should help the performance of the air conditioning at idle, but make sure it is connected! Without this wire the air conditioning will under-perform, and most likely cycle off from high pressure. I used a crappy tap with ~1.5’ 18AWG wire since I think that might be the most common method folks will use. The better option is wire stripping and soldering. Just make sure that the tap is well seated, and tape it up well later on:
Just like the temperature sensor wires, crimp a spade connector on the compressor signal wire, then connect it to slot 8.
In order for the fan to turn on, it needs a 12V signal wire to know that the vehicle is turned on. Fuse #39 in the distribution block between the battery and the firewall goes to the fuel pump and provides the necessary 12V when the key is on. Just like the compressor wire, the best approach is to solder into the wire underneath the distribution block. An easier solution is to take ~2.5’ of 18AWG wire, preferably red, and strip both ends. Take one end, pull fuse #39, slide the wire into one side of the fuse holder, and wedge the fuse back in:
Route the wire as pictured, then put a spade terminal on the other end and connect it to slot 9 on the controller.
Finally, the controller needs a 12V source. This should be done with ~2’ of 10AWG wire, preferably red. Put a large ring terminal (the same size as the ground terminal) on one end and connect it to the lug as pictured in the previous picture (I broke the rules and used black wire…do as I say, not as I do.). Put another ring terminal on the other end, route the wire, and attach it to the circuit breaker:
The wiring is now complete! Now you can finish the installation by putting the top half of the fan shroud back into place. Do not forget to clip the metal line back onto the top of the shroud… global warming, dead mammals, taxmen, you know the drill. I like to make things as stock in appearance as possible, so I continued on with loom and electrical tape. If the wires are routed neatly, they should all loom together something like this:
Once everything is situated to your satisfaction, wrap it up with electrical tape:
With a quick engine bay cleaning it would be difficult to tell that anything is different than stock.
Part #10: Electric Fan Controller Adjustment
All that remains is a function check and adjustment of the fan controller. Turn the key to the “ON” position and wait at least six seconds. Check the controller, and one of the four red LEDs should be illuminated. Next, start the engine, then turn the air conditioning on. The fan will turn on at 60%...that sucker really sucks, right?!? Imagine that at 100%, and keep small children and loose garments clear!
The final step is adjustment. The factory thermostat opens somewhere between 190-195°F. Think of the fan as supplemental to the cooling circuit; cruising down the highway in cool weather, the radiator is capable of more than enough cooling capacity to keep the coolant at 195°F and the fan is not needed. So, the fan should be set to turn on higher than the thermostat by about 10°F, thus preventing the thermostat from excessive cycling. There are several ways to determine the coolant temperature. I used a thermocouple on my cheap multimeter, but you can use an OBD-II reader to provide the exact temperature of the coolant sensor, an infrared thermometer aimed at the radiator, or the “grab it and $%!& that is hot!” method. By holding the radiator inlet hose, you can feel when the thermostat opens and get a decent rough-estimate of setting the fan engagement.
I am always wearing gloves, so grabbing hot stuff does not faze me. As such, I waited for the meter to show me a temperature of 205°F and slowly turned the adjustment screw on the controller until the fan kicked on:
Oops, I took the gloves off at the end there…just to prove that I do not really get manicures.:
This time you are officially done. Congratulations! I knew you could do it. Reward yourself with a beer, or two. Go get cleaned up, then go for a spin. You can be happy knowing that you are getting better performance and better fuel economy…even Chuck Norris would be proud.
Expertise: Moderate. This job can be accomplished with common hand tools and a little help from the local parts store. Small power tools and air tools help, as well as a bit of automotive and electrical background knowledge.
Obligatory Disclaimer: Do not do anything you are not comfortable with. I take zero responsibility for anything that may occur as a result of modifications or the act of modification you undertake. Proceed at your own risk! That said, this is overall a straight-forward project that can be completed by just about anyone on a Saturday, or an evening by someone who is proficient.
Parts:
Under-drive pulleys – I used Steeda part # 701-0001. There are other kits available. I chose (and recommend) a kit that replaces the entire harmonic balancer; there are kits out there that “piggy-back” on the stock balancer, which is not a good option. You will also need a dollop of high-temperature RTV for the harmonic balancer when you install it.
Electric fan – I used a Mark VIII fan. This is one of the biggest, baddest options out there, it fits, and it comes from a 4.6L application. You can buy them new for three shiny Benjamins from places like RockAuto.com. I collected mine, with the harness, from a local junkyard for $18. The 4.6L Thunderbird and Cougar also have the same fan.
Fan controller – I used Flex-A-Lite part # 33054. Do NOT confuse this with the 33165. The 33054 is beefier than the 33165, and is the minimum you want for running a Mark VIII fan. I believe Summit has the descriptions the same between the two, which is not correct. You are more than welcome to make your own decision as to what to use and how to use it. There are cheaper options and there are fancier options…I believe the FAL 33054 is the best overall option for simplicity, reliability, and performance.
Electrical bits – There are several ways to accomplish wiring. I used a 40A circuit breaker, 10AWG & 18AWG wire, crimps, eyelets, heat shrink, wire loom, electrical tape, zip ties, and some of 3M’s awesome double-sided tape. Use alternate methods (i.e. wire nuts and/or soldering, fusing, etc.) at your own discretion.
Cost:
Pulleys – Retail is $210. I paid $170 by watching eBay for a deal on a new set.
Fan – RockAuto.com has it brand new for $312, plus shipping. I got mine from the junkyard for $18…actually $19, since there is a $1 admission charge.
Fan controller – Summit has this for $96, plus $10 shipping. If you spend another $4, you can use a $20 coupon on the deal.
Electrical bits – As it typically goes with project pricing, I had everything I needed already. Figure a small roll of 10AWG and 18AWG wire at $5 a piece, $5 for the circuit breaker, $10 for an assortment of connectors that should get the job done, plus another couple bucks on electrical tape.
TOTAL: $280 – $650+
Tools, Necessary:
Sockets and ratchets (primarily 10mm)
Breaker-bar (possibly with cheater pipe)
Crescent wrench
Flat-blade screwdriver
Heavy-duty plastic cutting tool (dremel, aviation-snips, cut-off wheel, saw, etc.)
Wire cutter/stripper/crimper
Tools, Rented:
Fan clutch removal tool (you may need your crescent wrench for this, too)
Harmonic balancer puller
Tools, Optional:
Air tools
Strap wrench
Serpentine belt removal tool
Torque wrench
Pulley puller
Hand grinder
Lighter/heat gun/matches
Thermocouple/IR thermometer/OBD-II reader
Gloves (if you think gloves make you less of a man, go for it mister-lumberjack-badass-guy. I work in an office everyday and have a wife…plus my manicurist gets moody when my hands are a mess.
: Seriously, nitrile gloves keep my GoJo costs down and mechanic’s gloves keep my sharp/hot/blunt object expletives to a minimum.)Beer…copious amounts of beer
Part #1: Clutch Fan Removal
If you are like the vast majority of people, the cooling fan on your engine has never been removed. That is ok, since as it fails the fan just runs more, not causing any real issues. However, it is sapping power and fuel economy! Even if you are only here for the under-drive pulleys and not the electric fan, the original clutch-fan still needs removed.
Start by opening the hood. You should see this:
If this does not look even remotely similar, verify you are not working on your wife’s mommy-mobile and reassess.
From here the top half of the fan shroud needs to be removed. Fortunately Ford made the shroud in two pieces, so it is easy to pop the top off and not worry about the bottom. Start by using a flat-blade screwdriver to loosen the plastic retainer on the air conditioning line:
Although it is a pretty tough part, it is worth mentioning: do not mess up this tube. It is vital to the air-conditioning circuit. If you mangle it, you will have to spend a decent amount of money to replace it and recharge the system. Plus you would have refrigerant discharging, in turn destroying the ozone, killing baby seals, and probably cheating on your taxes.
Now you can remove the 10mm bolts that retain the fan shroud. There is one on each side of the shroud, towards the top:
With the bolts removed (and stowed in a safe location to be retrieved later) you can carefully pull the shroud out of the engine bay:
Although it is a pretty tough part, it is worth mentioning: do not mess up the radiator. It is vital to the cooling circuit. If you mangle it, you will have to spend a decent amount of money to replace it and recharge the system. Plus you would have coolant discharging, in turn destroying the ozone, killing baby seals, and probably cheating on your taxes. (Alright, so maybe it is not as bad as the A/C, but you still do not want to squish the radiator fins. Keep that in mind as you continue on. If you do not trust yourself, just slide a piece of cardboard down along the radiator to protect it from whatever manhandling you cannot avoid…mister-lumberjack-badass-guy.)
Next is the fan removal. The fan is threaded onto the water pump. The fan shaft is a 1.5” hex, which you will use an open-ended wrench on to remove. The pulley on the water pump is attached with four 10mm bolts, patterned as a square. The fan clutch removal tool that you acquired from the local auto parts store has a “fork” tool that will slip over those four bolts and hold the water pump stationary while you herniate yourself trying to crank the fan shaft loose:
I have to be honest here…I did it the easy way. I used my air chisel to bust the fan loose, after a thorough soaking in penetrating oil. The hand-tool method does work; I have done it in the past. However, compressed air has made me into a girly-man (and I am ok with that). That is ok, though; doing it by hand builds character…or some other B.S. motivation that you can hear your father telling you. Worst case, if you cannot get it loose, take it to your closest old-school shop and they should spin it off there for about $20. Do it when the outside temperature is <100° and do not run the air conditioning and you will easily make it home without overheating sans fan.
Part #2: Water Pump Pulley Removal
With the fan out of the way the water pump pulley bolts can be easily accessed. The tension of the serpentine belt should hold enough to get the 10mm bolts loose. If not, you can use a second 10mm wrench or a strap wrench to get them all loose prior to removal.
Your way:
My way:
Did I mention my affinity for compressed air? Anyway, next step is to remove the serpentine belt. You can get away with a breaker-bar or ½” socket wrench now that the fan is out of the way, but I have included pictures that show how the serpentine belt removal tool can be utilized when the fan is installed and it is not possible to get a big ratchet down in there. This is the serpentine belt removal tool:
There is a ½” insert in the tensioner that the wrench goes into:
The tool goes in something like this:
Here is an idea of what you are dealing with when the fan is still installed:
Now pull towards the driver-side and release the tension from the belt:
While holding the tensioner, pull the belt off of the alternator pulley:
On the driver-side there is a bolt right above the power-steering pulley that you need to be aware of:
On the passenger-side, the belt needs to be looped around the compressor pulley and pulled through the tensioner pulley:
Now you should be able to remove the serpentine belt and put it wherever you left those bolts that need to get put back in later. You should now be looking at something like this:
If this does not even look remotely similar, verify you are not working on your wife’s mommy-mobile and reassess.
Now is a good time to check the condition of all those pulleys that really do not do anything:
These idler pulleys are important, and while you are in here it is good to verify that they are spinning freely like they should. If they do not, run back to the auto parts store and get a replacement. They will understand; they already saw you earlier when you got the loaner tools, plus you are dirty…instant wrencher street-cred, yo!
Part #3: Harmonic Balancer Removal
The ideal method to remove the harmonic balancer pulley involves an impact wrench. Did I mention my affinity for compressed air? Unfortunately, my impact wrench would not fit between the bolt and the radiator…I cried, a little. There is a 19mm bolt in the center of the harmonic balancer that needs to come off. It is connected to the crankshaft, and turns with it. There is not enough resistance in the engine to prevent it from spinning when trying to remove the bolt. I have a unique solution that has worked on more than one occasion:
Get the socket on the breaker bar and onto the harmonic balancer bolt. If the breaker bar does not reach the driver side frame rail, add a cheater pipe. My cheater pipe is actually a leftover ceiling fan drop rod, if you need any inspiration in finding your own. Be very careful to get the pipe properly aligned and propped on the frame rail, making sure that it will not contact anything else. The next step is the scary one: put the key in the ignition and turn the engine over, just enough that it will “sneeze” or “cough” but not actually start. It is safest to do this once, then check under the hood and make sure nothing funny happened. You should now be able to hand loosen the bolt. If not, give it another cough or two and it will be good to go.
Now it is time to play with that cool rent-a-tool, the pulley-puller set:
You remembered to get this before starting, right? If you are like me, go back to the parts store and get the tool kit. It’s cool; they know you and by now will probably be giving you great advice that you do not want and stories of how they have done the same thing. Rapport is a wonderful thing to have with the parts guy, is it not?
There are three 5/16”-13 bolt holes on the spokes of the harmonic balancer:
Use the appropriate provided bolts from the tool kit to attach the puller to the harmonic balancer. Those holes are probably a bit rusty, so the bolts will require some effort to turn; just be sure you have the proper bolts and are not mixing thread sizes. The center threaded rod for the puller also needs to be installed. Snug all three bolts down sequentially…most likely using a ½” wrench. It should look something like this:
The removal should be relatively easy, since there is only a minimum interference fit between the harmonic balancer and the shaft. The tool kit had a ¾” hex on the end of the center screw; you should be able to get away with that crescent wrench that you used earlier to bust-a-gut getting the fan off:
Drive the screw on (righty-tighty) and the harmonic balancer will start pulling away from the engine block:
Note the hole in the top of the water pump. This is the weep hole, and it is there to let you know if the water pump is dying. If this hole is wet or appears to have been wet with coolant, you should seriously consider replacing it now while you are in here. Plugging the hole with RTV is not a solution; I mention all of this because on more than one occasion I have seen someone post about plugging that strange hole in the water pump that obviously should not be there.
Once the harmonic balancer is loose, be careful pulling it out of the engine bay; the whole getup is awkward and a little heavy. Here is a shot to give a better idea of what everything would/should/did look like:
Part #4: Alternator Pulley Removal
Just like the harmonic balancer, the impact wrench would not fit down on the pulley nut. I manned up this time and swallowed those tears, dammit. With absolutely no other electrical modifications to the vehicle, along with the entire electrical system being in good repair, the smaller alternator pulley will be adequate even with the electric fan. If you feel more comfortable with the slight additional charging you will get from the stock alternator pulley, skip this part.
Start by removing the electrical connections on the top of the alternator:
It is safest to disconnect the battery for this procedure. The heavy gauge wire is a direct connection to the battery, so even the slightest touch of ground while trying to remove that nut will result in sparks simultaneous with defibrillation. Repeat after me: “Volts hurt, amps kill.” Plus, if you are following through with the electric fan installation, you will want the battery disconnected to make things easier for the fan controller wiring anyway. With that out of the way, run the 10mm nut off and remove the wire:
Keep that socket wrench handy, because the rest of the alternator bolts are 10mm as well. Remove the top two alternator bolts:
Then loosen the bottom two bolts:
The bottom of the alternator is slotted for those bolts, so it is possible to get it out of there without fully removing the bottom bolts. This makes dropping the alternator and expletives less likely.
The alternator pulley is now quite easily removed…with an impact wrench. Did I mention my affinity for compressed air? If you have a strap wrench (or that big, scary, lumberjack grip) and an impact wrench with a 15/16” socket you can zip the pulley right off:
If not, your new buddy at the parts store will take care of it for you. I am pretty sure he used to be a lumberjack…please do not tell him I told you.
*Another option is to use the pulley removal tool from the pulley puller loaner tool kit.
With all that done, you should be starring at this, trying to figure out what you have gotten yourself into:
You have successfully pulled apart the front half of your engine! I knew you could do it. Reward yourself with a beer, or two. Tune in next week for Installment Two: “How to make this pile of parts get me to work again.”
Part #5: Alternator Pulley Installation
I wanted to make you wait another week, because patience is a virtue, it builds character, etc., but I love you just the way you are.
Here is a comparison of the old and new alternator pulley:
The new pulley is slightly larger, which will add to the under-driving effects of the smaller harmonic balancer pulley. Plus it has high-speed, low-drag weight reduction holes!
Here I will introduce you to the first major challenge: the shaft of the new pulley is way too big:
As stated previously, the stock alternator pulley can be retained. The majority of the benefits of this upgrade come from the harmonic balancer, so if this part is scary it can be skipped without any huge loss. Otherwise, it is necessary to make the new pulley look like the old pulley. If not the pulley will stick out too far from the alternator, throw off the belt alignment, and ultimately result in a shredded belt. Since this kit is officially designed for the Mustang, I can only assume that the alternators are different. This leaves two choices. You should be able to find a local machinist that can beautifully modify the new pulley for ~$20. Ask your parts-counter friend; I am sure he can recommend someone for you that used to work for NASCAR…or was that NASA?
The other option is to do it yourself. I used a grinder and knocked it out in less than half an hour. I did not have my calipers (seriously, they were on my desk at work between my pocket protector and my graphing calculator) so I was not able to get a proper measurement. Luckily I have highly calibrated eyeballs. Proceed carefully, checking your progress frequently. Remember that you can always take more off, but putting material back on is a little tough. Test fit the pulley onto the alternator once you start getting close and try to minimize the gap between the pulley and the alternator casing. This does not have to be surgically precise since there is a long run of serpentine belt on either side of the alternator to take up a little slop. The end result should be something like this:
With that hurdle cleared it is now simply a matter of reversing the previous steps. Put the new pulley onto the alternator and tighten down the nut being careful not to cross-thread it. Slide the alternator onto the bottom two bolts:
Then hand-tighten the top two bolts:
With all four alternator mounting bolts installed tighten them down, then reconnect the wiring:
*Mechanics gloves rock!
Part #6: Harmonic Balancer Installation
Here is a comparison between old and new harmonic balancers:
This is the major contributor to better performance, reducing the amount of power used on the serpentine system. Notice the notch in the center? This is where that dollop of high-temperature RTV goes prior to installation to prevent leakage:
That slot will line up with the key on the shaft:
I had the good fortune of having that key facing upwards to get a good photo of it. Be as awesome as me and do the same thing; it makes lining the slot up much easier when you can see it! As you slide the harmonic balancer on the shaft, also thread the provided bolt from the pulley kit on. The provided bolt is longer than the factor bolt, allowing the balancer to be drawn onto the shaft. The washer from the stock bolt will need to be used. Once the harmonic balancer is far enough on that the stock bolt can be installed instead, do so.
The harmonic balancer bolt is to be torqued to 116-121ft-lbs. This is tough, since the engine cannot be used to help like it was for removal. I managed to achieve this with a strap wrench and torque wrench:
Honestly, getting it as tight as humanly possible should be sufficient, but I cannot officially approve of this. Use those lumberjack muscles and crank it on there as best as you can.
Part #7: Water Pump Pulley Installation
Old and new water pump pulleys:
More high-speed, low-drag weight savings; schweet! Like the larger alternator pulley, the larger water pump pulley adds to the under-driving effects, optimizing the overall performance gains from this system.
This one is nice and simple, as long as you have been following in order. If you try to install the water pump pulley prior to installing the alternator you will not be able to get to the bottom-right alternator bolt…but you would never stray from me, right? Otherwise, just hand tighten the water pump pulley bolts:
*Nitrile gloves rock!
Now the front of the engine looks useful again, well populated with round spinny-thingys:
You have successfully reinstalled the front half of your engine! I knew you could do it. Reward yourself with a beer, or two. Tune in next week for Installment Three: “Everything looks kosher, but something is not quite right.”
Ok, probably not as funny as the first time; I’ll knock that nonsense off.
You have made it this far; there is no fooling you that the serpentine belt needs to go back on. Start by getting the belt on the compressor, feeding it through the tensioner and pulley:
Work your way from the passenger side to the driver side, running the belt back around the pulleys. Remember to get around the bolt next to the power steering pulley:
With the belt in all the right places, especially any/all grooved pulleys, you should almost be able to stretch the belt up over the alternator pulley:
Get the serpentine belt tool on the tensioner with your other hand, push, and slip the belt up onto the alternator pulley. If any of this section is confusing you can use this picture as a reference for the belt routing:
Do not forget to tighten down the 10mm water pump pulley bolts now!
Make certain that you have cleared all of the tools out of the engine bay, then go ahead and start ‘er up. Check for anything out of the ordinary, which probably would have failed quite spectacularly already anyway. Congratulations! You can call it quits here if the electric fan does not interest you. And that is cool; you will not be as awesome as the rest of us, but the world would be boring if it consisted of 100% awesome…that would be like trying to clone Chuck Norris.
Part #8: Electric Fan Modification
You are only here because I made a Chuck Norris reference, aren’t you? From here on things are a little less straightforward. Feel free to deviate and make this work however is best for you; this is only my opinion and my approach to the process.
Here is a comparison between the stock fan and the Mark VIII fan:
They are the same size, and remember that both fans are cooling essentially the same engine. Here is just the Mark VIII fan, in case you need to know what to look for:
Looking at the above picture, I installed the right of the fan downward into the stock fan shroud. It is held pretty firmly in place, just make sure you slide it in there carefully and position it until it feels stable. The problem is that the length of the Mark VIII fan assembly is too tall. The cut-off wheel made short work of that problem. Get it, short? Sorry, I got carried away again. This is what the fan will look like once it is shortened:
Test fit the modified Mark VIII fan into the fan shroud and see if any more material needs removed. Just like the alternator pulley, it is a lot easier to take more off than put material back:
The top half of the fan shroud should pin the Mark VIII fan snugly in place. The fan hub will come close to the water pump, but make sure that it will not make contact:
The fan hub is actually offset from the water pump pulley, so the two are not as close as they appear in the picture. If the fan is floppy, you are going to have to get creative and shim it behind the stock fan shroud.
Part #9: Electric Fan Wiring
There are three connections to the Mark VIII fan: high speed, low speed, and ground. The ground pin and the high speed pin are on opposite sides of each other, but I used the factory harness. The ground is the large-gauge black wire. I have seen different colors for the low speed wire, but it is the same gauge as the ground. The high speed connection actually uses two smaller gauge wires, which from my experience is always brown with an orange stripe. The controller needs to be connected to ground and high speed:
Connect the fan ground to the controller purple wire and the fan high speed to the controller yellow wire:
I stripped the wire, used 10-12AWG crimps, and then put heat shrink over them. Then loom/tape them back up:
Circled in the above picture is a small adjustment screw. Take note of this, as it will be used later to adjust the temperature at which the fan comes on and may not be easily visible.
I used a 40A circuit breaker, so you can see the controller red wire with a ring terminal installed. If you are not using a circuit breaker, now is a good time to wire in your fuse holder or fusible link.
At this point, decide where to mount the controller. I like to keep wiring as short as possible, as well as keep modifications as centralized as possible. As such, I stuck the controller on the fan:
I used 3M double-sided tape. It is not the cheap white stuff; it is gray, and uber-sticky. I have used it on a lot of stuff that I did not want permanent holes in and it has never failed me. Feel free to use screws, zip-ties, gum, or whatever fastener you are most comfortable with, but I am pretty sure this stuff holds the space shuttles together.
Before putting the fan into the engine bay, the temperature sensor for the controller should be inserted into the radiator. You want the sensor close to the inlet, so push it into the fins a few inches over and down from the passenger side radiator hose:
Get the fan secured down into the fan shroud. The temperature sensor has two wires that need spade terminals crimped onto them, then installed into slot 10 & 11 on the controller:
Be sure to route the wiring away from the fan blades and secure it with zip-ties so it will not come loose.
The last remaining wire lead coming out of the controller is the black ground. Get a length of 10AWG wire, preferably black and ~1.5’ long, and strip both ends of it. Splice the wire to the ground lead from the controller, then put a large ring terminal on the other end. Between the battery and the grill is a ground lug; install the ring terminal here with an open-end 10mm wrench:
The next stop is a bit north of here. Next to the battery hold-down is a multi-wire connector. One of the wires is gray with a white stripe. This wire is to the compressor, and will tell the controller to run the fan at 60% when the compressor is running. This should help the performance of the air conditioning at idle, but make sure it is connected! Without this wire the air conditioning will under-perform, and most likely cycle off from high pressure. I used a crappy tap with ~1.5’ 18AWG wire since I think that might be the most common method folks will use. The better option is wire stripping and soldering. Just make sure that the tap is well seated, and tape it up well later on:
Just like the temperature sensor wires, crimp a spade connector on the compressor signal wire, then connect it to slot 8.
In order for the fan to turn on, it needs a 12V signal wire to know that the vehicle is turned on. Fuse #39 in the distribution block between the battery and the firewall goes to the fuel pump and provides the necessary 12V when the key is on. Just like the compressor wire, the best approach is to solder into the wire underneath the distribution block. An easier solution is to take ~2.5’ of 18AWG wire, preferably red, and strip both ends. Take one end, pull fuse #39, slide the wire into one side of the fuse holder, and wedge the fuse back in:
Route the wire as pictured, then put a spade terminal on the other end and connect it to slot 9 on the controller.
Finally, the controller needs a 12V source. This should be done with ~2’ of 10AWG wire, preferably red. Put a large ring terminal (the same size as the ground terminal) on one end and connect it to the lug as pictured in the previous picture (I broke the rules and used black wire…do as I say, not as I do.). Put another ring terminal on the other end, route the wire, and attach it to the circuit breaker:
The wiring is now complete! Now you can finish the installation by putting the top half of the fan shroud back into place. Do not forget to clip the metal line back onto the top of the shroud… global warming, dead mammals, taxmen, you know the drill. I like to make things as stock in appearance as possible, so I continued on with loom and electrical tape. If the wires are routed neatly, they should all loom together something like this:
Once everything is situated to your satisfaction, wrap it up with electrical tape:
With a quick engine bay cleaning it would be difficult to tell that anything is different than stock.
Part #10: Electric Fan Controller Adjustment
All that remains is a function check and adjustment of the fan controller. Turn the key to the “ON” position and wait at least six seconds. Check the controller, and one of the four red LEDs should be illuminated. Next, start the engine, then turn the air conditioning on. The fan will turn on at 60%...that sucker really sucks, right?!? Imagine that at 100%, and keep small children and loose garments clear!
The final step is adjustment. The factory thermostat opens somewhere between 190-195°F. Think of the fan as supplemental to the cooling circuit; cruising down the highway in cool weather, the radiator is capable of more than enough cooling capacity to keep the coolant at 195°F and the fan is not needed. So, the fan should be set to turn on higher than the thermostat by about 10°F, thus preventing the thermostat from excessive cycling. There are several ways to determine the coolant temperature. I used a thermocouple on my cheap multimeter, but you can use an OBD-II reader to provide the exact temperature of the coolant sensor, an infrared thermometer aimed at the radiator, or the “grab it and $%!& that is hot!” method. By holding the radiator inlet hose, you can feel when the thermostat opens and get a decent rough-estimate of setting the fan engagement.
I am always wearing gloves, so grabbing hot stuff does not faze me. As such, I waited for the meter to show me a temperature of 205°F and slowly turned the adjustment screw on the controller until the fan kicked on:
Oops, I took the gloves off at the end there…just to prove that I do not really get manicures.
: This time you are officially done. Congratulations! I knew you could do it. Reward yourself with a beer, or two. Go get cleaned up, then go for a spin. You can be happy knowing that you are getting better performance and better fuel economy…even Chuck Norris would be proud.
