Anybody else experience a fan clutch going bad?

[Fitzmotor]

It's a dry metal chirp and when I put a long screwdriver on it to pin down the noise, it's coming out of the clutch hub, when it's engaged it's quiet.

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[airline tech]

Just curious, with the timing of the chirp, does the module want to rotate - in the direction of the fan?
The module being the black part that is attached to the support hose.
That module should pretty much stay stationary.

 

[Fitzmotor]

It works like it should, noise only no movement, typically makes the noise cold then is gone, but these days it's starting to do it warm as well.

 

[Blue Streak]

It works like it should, noise only no movement, typically makes the noise cold then is gone, but these days it's starting to do it warm as well.

I'v looked (have not studied it )so I know the basic design, but is there any way to try & get a shot of spray lube in the area of the hub & bearing to see if that helps. ?

 

[Fitzmotor]

I thought about it, and then I thought "no, let Ford fix it" I have a laundry list of things as I approach 36K to get sorted out.

 

[Bsqrd]

I thought about it, and then I thought "no, let Ford fix it" I have a laundry list of things as I approach 36K to get sorted out.

Yeah, you have "other" things to do these days. ?

 

[JJG]

Negative:

This is a poorly designed Fan Clutch, that should be a RECALL.

Look at the Pic below, and see the Molded Hose, that goes nowhere?

This Molded Hose is the anti-rotation for the Electric Module on the back side of the Fan Clutch.
Now note the Wiring Harness that is attached to the Hose.

I have not had one apart yet, but I believe that the Electronic Module of the Clutch will free spin and the hose keeps it in place, by not allowing it to rotate freely.
So, either the Fan Clutch locks up (Failed) and it forces the hose to break or the hose breaks due to constant torque on it.
Once the hose breaks free it takes the wiring harness with it and rips the wiring harness apart.
There was another thread on this awhile back.

This explains how it takes out the Oil Pump, though its mechanically driven it is electronically variable controlled (Pressure)
Note: Power Feed from Fuse feeds the Fan Clutch as well as the Variable Oil Pump Solenoid.
So, most likely Fuse Blew when this occurred.

So when power is removed does the solenoid stick open or closed for the oil pressure? Or is this just a sending unit?

 

[Fitzmotor]

Yeah, you have "other" things to do these days. ?

What, I have lots of time available.... , when the new saw blade shows tomorrow, I'm off to production until I run out of hose.

 

[airline tech]

So when power is removed does the solenoid stick open or closed for the oil pressure? Or is this just a sending unit?

The Electric Module - Is allowed to rotate freely on the shaft via what I believe is a raceway.
It is sandwiched between the Hub and the Nut.
Direction of Rotation is (as installed Clockwise) towards the support hose.

Hence the reason for the support hose to break at the engine bracket (side) Why???
Rubber degradation or Clutch Wear adding abnormal stress to the hose?
Now for those that only have the hose break and no noted rotation of the module - Possibly just the hose degradation.
Now for the owners that have the wire harness damaged, I think bad clutch, something is grabbing and forcing the module to spin.

Module Operation:
The module itself is a Hall Effect Sensor (FSS - Fan Speed Sensor), it is picking up the rotation of the Clutch Hub, the knubs on the back side of the hub are the reference points.

The PCM - uses various sensor inputs to determine Fan Speed,
ECT-IAT-TFT-CKT-Engine Load and AC Request via AC Line Pressure

The Clutch has 2 chambers - Reservoir and Working Chamber
Fluid is held in the reservoir and ported to the working chamber.
When the valve opens, it allows fluid to be ported to the working chamber.

At engine start (cold) the clutch is ENGAGED for a few minutes, this is due to the fact that there is trapped fluid in the working chamber (settled to the bottom of the working chamber) that has to be released back into the reservoir.

Once all fluid has returned to the reservoir, the clutch DIS-ENGAGES

NOTE: On a hot engine start up, the clutch will be DIS-ENGAGED.

Now the PCM has full control of the Fan Speed, by using the various inputs and setting a desired Fan Speed based on those inputs and programmed parameters in the PCM.
The PCM knows current fan speed via the feedback it is receiving from the FSS - Fan Speed Sensor.

The actual control of fan speed is done by opening and closing the Actuator Valve (In between the chambers, thereby porting fluid into the working chamber or releasing it back into the reservoir via an internal drain.
This is PWM - Pulse Width Modulated control and has control from (0-100) percent.
0% being disengaged (Equals Engine RPM -Speed) and Engaged - 1-100%
The more fluid that is in the working chamber = the faster the fan speed.

 

[Fitzmotor]

Wow, that's run off a PWM, that's brilliant, only as much fan as needed, compared to the traditional clutch fans that are on or off, too bad Ford has problems with them.

Actually, I talked to the service advisor at the dealer I used to work at, I asked him "are the transmissions having problems" (ha, ha I know the answer) he goes " we are having problems with everything! you name it!" and he went on to say how he cant get any parts for anything, cars sitting dead with no ETA on parts.

 

[Jason B]

The Electric Module - Is allowed to rotate freely on the shaft via what I believe is a raceway.
It is sandwiched between the Hub and the Nut.
Direction of Rotation is (as installed Clockwise) towards the support hose.

Hence the reason for the support hose to break at the engine bracket (side) Why???
Rubber degradation or Clutch Wear adding abnormal stress to the hose?
Now for those that only have the hose break and no noted rotation of the module - Possibly just the hose degradation.
Now for the owners that have the wire harness damaged, I think bad clutch, something is grabbing and forcing the module to spin.

Module Operation:
The module itself is a Hall Effect Sensor (FSS - Fan Speed Sensor), it is picking up the rotation of the Clutch Hub, the knubs on the back side of the hub are the reference points.

The PCM - uses various sensor inputs to determine Fan Speed,
ECT-IAT-TFT-CKT-Engine Load and AC Request via AC Line Pressure

The Clutch has 2 chambers - Reservoir and Working Chamber
Fluid is held in the reservoir and ported to the working chamber.
When the valve opens, it allows fluid to be ported to the working chamber.

At engine start (cold) the clutch is ENGAGED for a few minutes, this is due to the fact that there is trapped fluid in the working chamber (settled to the bottom of the working chamber) that has to be released back into the reservoir.

Once all fluid has returned to the reservoir, the clutch DIS-ENGAGES

NOTE: On a hot engine start up, the clutch will be DIS-ENGAGED.

Now the PCM has full control of the Fan Speed, by using the various inputs and setting a desired Fan Speed based on those inputs and programmed parameters in the PCM.
The PCM knows current fan speed via the feedback it is receiving from the FSS - Fan Speed Sensor.

The actual control of fan speed is done by opening and closing the Actuator Valve (In between the chambers, thereby porting fluid into the working chamber or releasing it back into the reservoir via an internal drain.
This is PWM - Pulse Width Modulated control and has control from (0-100) percent.
0% being disengaged (Equals Engine RPM -Speed) and Engaged - 1-100%
The more fluid that is in the working chamber = the faster the fan speed.

Someone posted that the metal bracket gets pretty hot being that it's attached to the engine.

 

[TJC]

That chirp certainly isn't normal (I have a penchant for stating the obvious - sorry). The 6G appears to have an electric fan.

Maybe Ford wised up...

Naw!

This is the noise, it's slowly gotten worse and more frequent, I have to get it fixed before it fails.

Thank you very much for the reply. I do not have the chirp. Just the injector pump noise I think. Good luck on that fan clutch. Now I’ll be listening for it as well. Coming up on 50k miles.

Ut Oh!

While I was relearning my transmission to behave I heard a similar chirping that was at the end of a 100 mile trip. When I drove the truck the next day I heard it again, but juust once as I was pulling into the garage. It was not constant, just a metallic chirp every now and then.

It was never constant, but the previous day it was quite frequent. I'm going to start listening for it and narrowing it down. But it sounded very much like your recording, but slightly softer.

The chirping was occurring when the clutch was not engaged.

 

[airline tech]

Hey Fitz, in the link below is video of your exact sound - Confirmed Fan Clutch

Engine noise "ticking/clicking" | 2019+ Ford Ranger and Raptor Forum (5th Generation) - Ranger5G.com

 

[airline tech]

I am highly curious as to what the module is doing, is it flexing or jumping along with the click?

 

[Fitzmotor]

To me it sounds like it's not completely disengaged from the other half of the clutch, it only does it when the fan is not engaged.

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