Ford F53 460 powered fan clutch options?

RLS7201 wrote:

Once up to temperature my gauge never moves off the "O" unless the the engine overheats. The clutch kicks in and out and the gauge don't move. Throughout the years of being on various RV forums, I typically see 460 issues such as yours, with replacement radiators. Do what you must.

Richard

I have been busy the last few weeks so haven't had a chance to work on the RV until this past weekend. Richard I did read your cautions about the fin per inch count of replacement radiators. I did my due diligence researching the Superior Cooling SC-3TZ8005C that I used in my rig for this very reason. I did raise this question and was assured by them that it was more than up to the job. It does not have the fin density of the original, but the same amount of rows with wider tubes. I am no radiator expert so after scouring the forums and speaking to others here who have used it (as well as being crunched for time) I spent the money and so far it works great.

I was able to locate my problem this past weekend, but just to recap:

The fan clutch operation was suspect from the beginning, but seeing as I had a leaking radiator and the previous owner admitting to using stop leak to stop the tanks from leaking, I went for it first. After replacement it ran much cooler, but the fan operation was the same, It would kick on sometimes at stop lights, was slow to engage at speed (if at all) and when it did come on it was very late, outside of the NORMAL range. I then installed the Hayden 2799 which did a great job, but too great of a job. It ran quite often and the noise wasn't very pleasant, especially at highway speeds. I cleaned up the face of the original clutch, as it was lightly coated with a sticky substance and dust and grime, and reinstalled. The problem got worse, I couldn't hear it engage at all at any traffic light or city driving.

I managed to locate a new old stock fan clutch, part #F2TZ-8A616-B last week on the auction site. I pulled the doghouse cover (for what seemed like the 100th time this year :S) and pulled the original clutch out. I worked it back and forth by hand and it felt normal, but as I kept working it by hand it got easier and easier until it would just free wheel in my hand, with zero resistance. I let it sit for a minute, it returned to normal and I was able to do it again. No good. I would have never caught this the first time around as it felt good initially so I didn't read any further into it.

I installed the new factory clutch and took her for a hard test drive. She ran nice and cool, Never even thought about getting out of the NORMAL range on the gauge and I could hear the fan cycle on and off briefly in stop and go traffic.

I'm pretty fortunate to have made it all the miles I did in the dead of summer, Through the mountains etc. with a fan that kind of worked. I believe it just weeped enough of its silicone out of the front to no longer engage properly.

I hope this bit of info will help someone else out in the future. I know there's still plenty of us running these old 460 rigs, so hopefully this will save someone some hair pulling. Now maybe I can enjoy her for the rest of the year instead of wrenching! :B Thanks all!