Has anyone had to change a Ford V-10 fan clutch

[dbates]

Has anyone had to replace the Ford V-10 fan clutch on a Winnebago?
I have a 1999 Ford under a 1998 Itasca that the fan clutch appears to have bad. On long steep hills it overheats and I don't hear the fan kicking in.

I've been able to get over the hills by turning on the heater therefore using the heater radiator for additional engine cooling but I need it fixed. If so, did the radiator have to be removed? I’ve been having a problem finding a mechanic that knows anything about it. Most figure that the radiator will need to be taken out and that substantially increases the repair cost.

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Dave

[rkentzel]

Don't know about the V10 my 460 I had to pull the radiator to do it. Just know way else to do it. It was still a pain.

[Belgique]

DBates: further to my last post. Dug around the MH and found my receipts. This all happened Dec 2013.

When they thought it was the fan clutch, they put a new one on. Took 1.5 hours of labor. The clutch, 8A616, cost $279. As I recall, they did it all from the underside and it wasn't a big deal.

Climbed a hill near the Garage and same thing. That didn't fix it so all that was left was a sensor. I can't remember which one or what it was doing. The garage ordered it from a Ford dealer and I picked it up. Part number is "9L8Z-6G004-C, Sensor Assy, $39.29". The garage installed it for $25. Did not take long. Climbed Black Mountain to Asheville (a pretty good long grade) and all was normal. A year later and several grades later, no problem.

Good luck!

[Belgique]

I did last year on an '08 and it was not a huge deal. I didn't do it...a mechanic did. BUT...that wasn't the problem! Did the hill test and same result. Turns out it was a bad sensor. Found it by pulling the dog house and the mechanic did temp checks on the engine while I drove. Changed the sensor (not sure which one). I'll dig back and see if I can find more info.

On edit: for some reason I cannot find posts I made during 1st half of 2014 or the latter part of 2013 using the search function. I think it was August 2013 Maybe you can searching on my name Belgique. They did not pull the radiator. They did something that was relatively simple from below. Labor was like an hour. The clutch was around $200, I think.

But, again, the clutch wasn't the problem, it was the sensor. I had the exact symptoms you describe.

[koda55]

Can you move the fan by hand? When mine went bad, I could not move the fan at all. Another check is start the engine and see if the fan rotates or stops suddenly when you shut off the engine. if it rotates about 2 times the fan could be good. If it stops suddenly then the fan clutch is bad. I didn't hear my fan come on because it was engaged all the time.

[dbates]

Gjac

I really appreciate all of the responses I’ve gotten. I’ve never been much of a vehicle mechanic and at 76 I’m even less of a one.

I've never allowed it to go into the red but it has gotten very close to the red on the dash temperature gauge. The 1st time it happened I pulled over, left the engine running, poured some cool water over the radiator and it cooled down. After that I’ve always turn on the dash heat to maximum and have been able to get to the top of the climb before it gets to the red.

Several years ago we entered Yosemite from the east entrance and it has a very long steep climb. The temperature would rise a little bit then I’d hear the fan kick in and the temperature would immediately drop back to normal. I don’t hear the fan kicking in anymore.

I've looked at the U Tubes but can't find any for V10 in a MH.

Dave

[jolooote]

Check U-TUBE. I bet there is a video showing one being changed.

[suppok]

I do not have a Winnebago, but do have a 2000 Dutch Star gas with V-10. I changed the fan clutch on it in 2012 and without removing radiator. I did from under the chassis, used the fan clutch tool borrowed from O'Reilly, and only screw up or difficulty was trying to turn nut the wrong way. On line instructions stated that the hub nut is left hand thread. MINE IS NOT LH! I even looked at the replacement clutch and convinced myself it was LH thread. After many hours of struggle including the use of my Air Chisel, I quit. While in bed that night, it came to me that it had to have Right Hand threads. Next day I again looked at the new clutch and confirmed that the threads are in fact RH. 15 minutes later the hub was off. Since I had hammered so much on the hub, I decided to change the water pump as insurance in case I had caused damage to its bearings and seals.
I did have to do some reaching and had a small difficulty with the fan attachment bolts and nuts, but all was doable.
I am sure the Ford chassis is the same no matter the coach builder as far as the fan clutch and front supports
Good luck and thoroughly insure which direction to remove the hub.

[carringb]

I had to do mine last summer. Same symptoms.... would no longer kick on on long climbs like it used to, and I was seeing higher tranny temps as a result. Radiator should not need to come out. Fan bolts to clutch so its easy to move out of the way. Clutch is a reverse rotation style so water pump threads are left-hand. You'll probably need a chipping gun to break the threads loose (clutch to water pump shaft).

[Gjac]

Dave when you say It overheats on hills does the radiator coolant boil and overflow? or just your gauge climbing towards the red? Is the fluid leaking out of the fan clutch? Can you spin the blade more than one rev when cold? Some times dirt can build up on the coil spring in front and can act as an insulation delaying the fan clutch from coming on. This can be cleaned off with a tooth brush and some carb cleaner. Also is you temp gauge reading accurate. You can compare the sensor reading to the thermostat reading with an IR gun to verify the accuracy of the reading. I would check these thing first before I changed it.

[RLS7201]

Pulling the radiator, which would require removing the AC condenser and having to recharge the AC, is just nuts. Any mechanic worth his weight in tools can change the fan clutch with out removing the radiator. On my Ford 460 F53, I can R&R the fan clutch in less than an hour, through the dog house. Your mileage may vary. :R

Richard

[jfkmk]

While I've not changed a fan clutch on a Winnebago, I have changed them on other vehicles. Trying to remove one without removing the radiator on a mh would be next to impossible and would probably take a lot longer. Also, it would be a good time to give the radiator a really close inspection. If it's on the way out, now would be the time to replace it. Yeah, probably more than you want to spend, but you would save a lot on labor.

[Xflyhighx]

Time wise it will be a lot quicker. Leaving the radiator in just makes it twice as hard.

[OldF__t]

Sorry I can't answer your question directly. I haven't had to do the job yet and I am not looking forward to it. The shop manual for my year does state that the radiator needs to be removed so I am wondering like you if anyone has done the job without pulling the radiator.