dull roar

[Spiritfish]

I use the remote start at the front door, by the time I walk down the 75' driveway the fan is normal. It's fun to freak out the covey of quail that feed on the olives next to the driveway...you would swear they heard a cat in the bushes the way they scatter.

Oh sh*t, now I'm probably going to have PETA dropping by for tormenting the quail...

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[Zanardi]

Hello Guys. Long time reader, First post. My experience has been like Ranger Pride. I hear the roar in the morning when starting to drive on a cold engine. I too however stopped today to run into a store for about 10 minutes. I had driven several miles to the store so engine was a operating temp when I stopped. When I came out, started the truck again and started to drive off I got the roar again on a warm fan/engine.

Is everyone confident it is the fan? When I start out of the driveway in the morning on a cold engine I notice my revs get up fairly high before the transmission upshifts. To me the roar sounds more like routine engine noise. Is it possible the transmission simply stays in first gear a bit longer when the engine is cold? That doesn't explain the noise on the warm engine as described above.

I've only had my truck (XLT) about two weeks / 1500 miles.

 

[Codimac14]

Hello Guys. Long time reader, First post. My experience has been like Ranger Pride. I hear the roar in the morning when starting to drive on a cold engine. I too however stopped today to run into a store for about 10 minutes. I had driven several miles to the store so engine was a operating temp when I stopped. When I came out, started the truck again and started to drive off I got the roar again on a warm fan/engine.

Is everyone confident it is the fan? When I start out of the driveway in the morning on a cold engine I notice my revs get up fairly high before the transmission upshifts. To me the roar sounds more like routine engine noise. Is it possible the transmission simply stays in first gear a bit longer when the engine is cold? That doesn't explain the noise on the warm engine as described above.

I've only had my truck (XLT) about two weeks / 1500 miles.

Having a warm engine doesn't necessarily equate to a warm fam clutch. I assume under the right circumstances it is possible for the fan clutch to cool enough to lock on start up. If you are questioning if it's the fan, open your hood, have someone rev the engine a little on a cold start, and you should literally be blown away when you hear the woosh ha ha.

 

[outdoorphotog]

if i remote start mine, you can hear it in the driveway, and eventually it quiets down, to the point i have to look and see if its still running...it gets that much quieter.

but odd thing the other day, i drove it first thing, fan did its usual thing. did some errands and while driving after one of my stops, the fan got loud again for about 10-15 seconds.
it had never done that before, nor do I think it should have for any reason.

I have the exact same experience with hearing the fan. Seems like the longer i sit at a red light and its cold out the more likely it is to make the loud fan sound when i take off.

 

[hughesjv]

does anyone else experience a semi roar with a perceived lack of power when you first take off in the morning. seems to correct itself after about a 1/4 mile. if so does it have to do with the turbo? this is my first turbo. and does letting it warm up longer matter ?

I live in Colorado, and it has been cold, but I can't say I hear anything like a roar...it definitely sounds like a truck (with a V8 even though it a 4 cylinder) but I thought that was the way it should sound...well maybe not for a 4 cylinder but either way, I love it.

 

[geophb]

Love the occasional loud fan roar in the ranger. And it feels like Im driving this when I take off

 

[Chris M]

at least this fan isnt as annoying as my neighbor down the street with a 3500 cummins diesel Ram dually 4X4 with those stupid AF testicles hanging off his trailer hitch

KLACKAKLACKAKLACKAKLACKAKLACKAKLACKA as he idles down the street on a cold morning.

I used to own a Freightliner that didn't make as much noise as some of these diesel pickups do. It's embarrassing to be around.

 

[jss81258]

The key is that the clutch disengages at low rpm.

In another life, I had a Datsun 280Z with a viscous fan clutch and plastic blades and can tell you exactly what happens when it doesn't disengage and you take it to about 6500 rpm......

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Makes you wonder, how long until someone makes an electric fan for it? I know I'd be tempted to buy it.

Hard to say on that. For some reason Ford decided to put some sort of sensor on the fan clutch. I'm guessing it's to monitor the fan rpm and possibly force the clutch to engage in the event of an overheat issue? ? So figuring out how to setup a electric fans that will connect to that and correctly report back so as to not throw a code won't be as simple as tapping the coolant temp sensor/AC compressor so the fans will kick on when they are supposed to and running power for them.

Truth be told, this is one of the first aftermarket mods I went searching for when I saw the engine driven fan instead of electric.

 

[geophb]

Hard to say on that. For some reason Ford decided to put some sort of sensor on the fan clutch. I'm guessing it's to monitor the fan rpm and possibly force the clutch to engage in the event of an overheat issue? ? So figuring out how to setup a electric fans that will connect to that and correctly report back so as to not throw a code won't be as simple as tapping the coolant temp sensor/AC compressor so the fans will kick on when they are supposed to and running power for them.

Truth be told, this is one of the first aftermarket mods I went searching for when I saw the engine driven fan instead of electric.

Not a sensor. The ranger uses a electrically controlled viscous clutch. A similar setup was used on the 6.0 powerstroke. Its just loud after sitting/first startup because all the oil in the clutch sinks to the bottom. So the clutch is engaged until the oil spins to the outside, then it freewheels until the computer decides it needs it.

No electric fans will come close to the hurricane that the stock fan can pull through the coolers. Unless you spend some serious coin.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Not a sensor. The ranger uses a electrically controlled viscous clutch. A similar setup was used on the 6.0 powerstroke. Its just loud after sitting/first startup because all the oil in the clutch sinks to the bottom. So the clutch is engaged until the oil spins to the outside, then it freewheels until the computer decides it needs it.

No electric fans will come close to the hurricane that the stock fan can pull through the coolers. Unless you spend some serious coin.

I want to say there's more going on with that fan clutch unit than a simple on/off. There are 6 wires going to the clutch switch so there's definitely more to it. I was trying to point out that it would be fairly involved to properly replace the engine driven fan for electric unit to make sure it all works properly.

You are correct, just any electric fan will not have the same or similar CFM rating as the engine driven fan, but it wouldn't necessarily need to. A high CFM dual fan setup that has an integrated shroud that is or near the same dimensions as the radiator should be able to pull enough air through to keep everything cool. A fan setup like this could possibly work well for the Ranger. Just need to get it setup so it kicks on not only with water temp, but with ECM activation (like the clutch) and when the AC is on. This fan kit can adequately cool high hp big block V8's so should be good for a turbo charged 4 cylinder. The other factor would be to make sure that the setup would allow enough air to flow through it when traveling at freeway speeds. So having large diameter fans and additional ports on the shroud like this one has would be required.

 

[geophb]

I want to say there's more going on with that fan clutch unit than a simple on/off. There are 6 wires going to the clutch switch so there's definitely more to it. I was trying to point out that it would be fairly involved to properly replace the engine driven fan for electric unit to make sure it all works properly.

You are correct, just any electric fan will not have the same or similar CFM rating as the engine driven fan, but it wouldn't necessarily need to. A high CFM dual fan setup that has an integrated shroud that is or near the same dimensions as the radiator should be able to pull enough air through to keep everything cool. A fan setup like this could possibly work well for the Ranger. Just need to get it setup so it kicks on not only with water temp, but with ECM activation (like the clutch) and when the AC is on. This fan kit can adequately cool high hp big block V8's so should be good for a turbo charged 4 cylinder. The other factor would be to make sure that the setup would allow enough air to flow through it when traveling at freeway speeds. So having large diameter fans and additional ports on the shroud like this one has would be required.

I just wanted to point out some interesting tid bits about it, as some may think its just some old school mechanical fan. I know my engineering brain facts come off as cold.

Correct it is not just on/off. Its controlled by a duty cycle, which varies the amount of "slip" if you will, in the clutch.
Don't get me wrong electric fans can be very good. Its just that the factory ranger fan moves A LOT of air stock.

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