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wadiator woes ie: radiator woes

1K views 2 replies 1 participant last post by  fuzeman 
#1 ·
Well technically not the radiator but the radiator fan. Subbed for our paper-delivery person beginning of March when it was still a bit cold in the Buffalo area. At about the 3/4 mark the van started to get warm and the temperature gauge started rising so I drove around the block and turned the heat up, wasn't that cold so opened the windows. After a few more papers it was still warm and at one point smoke billowed from under the engine compartment and you could really smell a hot transmission. Switched over to the sister's Flex and finished that day and the van didn't deliver again. Next day or so I did give it a look over and it didn't seem too bad and I realized the smoke may have been water from a puddle. Started and ran fine, wasn't low on radiator coolant but it was low about 1/2 a quart of transmission fluid, the one fluid I didn't check when prepping the van for deliveries. Topped that off and drove the van and it seemed good until April when the weather started getting warm. Get home one day and the engine temperature is rising again. This time I get the idea to check the fan and wouldn't you know it, not spinning at all and at this point it should have been going like mad to cool off the engine. Looked around the service manual some and the check for fan not spinning at all directed me to the Powertrain Diagnostic Manual, which I don't think was in the service manual. Did see the fact the fan comes on when the A/C was on, confirmed by a post in here, and tried that and the fan did spin. Spin is a generous description as it really wobbled like a 4 bladed B-17 propeller that had lost one of it's blades, but at least it spun. Today I put on the surgical gear, greasy clothes, and pulled the fan and shroud. The blade portion of the fan seemed very loose and of course all nuts, fasteners were rusty as heck. I did get the blades off the motor and noticed the wacky thing. The small three bladed fan mounting bracket would spin independently of the motor. Managed to remove that to find the flats on the bracket pretty much non existent. It seemed they weren't designed well as the flat spot was very small and near the bolt that holds it on and not the length of the shaft it mounted to. I have put that back together and then diagnose the fan issue.


(hope this picture comes displays.)
 
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#2 ·
Upon further investigation the fan blade mount is not keyed to the motor shaft although it looks like it is. It just tightens down with a reverse thread nut.
 
#3 ·
My engine coolant temp sensor ohms out at 17000 ohms and a spare at 14000 ohms at a temperature of 48 degrees Fahrenheit with specs saying a range of 7,000 to 13,000 is OK at 70 degrees Fahrenheit, 700 to 1000 ohms at 200 degrees btw.
I think those are close enough, aren't they?

And.... I posted this question in 'Spare Parts' also, for the reverse thread nut, what kind of lock washer should I use? Is there such a thing as a reverse thread lock washer?
Lets keep replies for that in spare parts.
 
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