I've got a 97 f150 ext cab 4.6 auto 100,000 miles w/ heating probs. The truck has a 3" body lift the fan shroud has been trimmed a little on the bottom but im sure thats not the prob. I bought the truck about 2 months ago and everything was fine until last week. The truck started picking ug a skip and the clutch fan was staying engaged all the time. I put new plugs and wires in and noticed a few vaccum lines were eat up pretty bad so i fixed those as well. truck ran fine everything but the fan. So I took it to the shop and had a new fan clutch put on and they charged the A/C for me. I drove the truck about 30 miles everything was fine then i got into stop and go traffic and the truck started heating pretty bad. Took it back to the shop they changed the thermostat and water pump and the truck still heats but now when you first crank the truck up it runs cool at idle for about 20 - 30 mins. and you can drive it and it stays cool until u come to a stop the it starts heating again but when you start driving it again as long as ur easy on the gas peddle it cools itself back down but if you stay into the gas it keeps heating im fixing to change the radiator in a few mins. could it be a bad fan clutch causing this prob.
Any Suggestions PLZ

 

make sure that you have like a 30%antifreeze-70%water mixture in the radiator. If still overheating it could be the radiator or just has the wrong fan clutch in it.

 

i just went outside and looked at the clutch on the fan and its spins really freely 1 lil push and it spins around 5 - 6 times and when the motors runnin it spins but nowhere near the engine speed even when its hot when you give it gas it doesnt even speed up at all it shouldnt be like this should it???

 

Sounds like a bad fan clutch. I have been repairing things with wheels for over 40 years and I never assume new parts are good. Potentially could be a clogged radiator


you did not have a heating problem until you took it to the shop- correct?
you had a problem with the fan clutch being seized.
now you have a new fan clutch and you have over heating problems at idle. also most aftermarket fan clutches are junk out of the box.
go back to the shop and ask them to properly check out the fan clutch. like they should have done before they started throwing parts at your truck and lightening you wallet. offer to pay ther difference between the fan clutch they put on and the Ford OE unit. if they sqwak remind them about the tstat and water pump that did not fix the problem and suggest you are due a refund.
let me know the final result

 

First of all, the proper mix for water and anti-freeze is 50%/50%. This ensures you have the proper temp range for hot and cold weather. Secondly, when the engine gets withing normal operating temperature there should be some resistance from the fan clutch. The heat from the radiator heats up a wax pellet that locks the clutch. If it is not locking up, then get the shop you used to replace it again. It is normal for a fan to spin freely when cold, but not when hot. It seems you found your problem. Good luck!

 

thanks for the input. I still think its the fan myself i noticed when the trucks running and i floor the gas the speed of the fan never gets any quicker even when its cold or the the temp guage is just under the red the fan still spins the same and before w/ the seized up fan it would put out so much air it stirred up a dust cloud under the truck


thanks

 

I agree, but think it's both the fan clutch and the radiator. You said it will overheat while driving unless you drive real easy on the gas. Even with no fan at all, it shouldn't overheat while in motion unless the radiator is partially clogged. Stop and go driving, you need the fan. Your symptoms sound more like a partially clogged radiator, but your description of the fan operation sounds like the fan clutch isn't up to par.


That's debatable, but after a loooong, hot day at the track, I'm not in the mood tonight.

 

Lower third of the radiator is plugged reducing the cooling area.
At speed, the airflow is just enough to keep the engine cool.
When you slow and/ or put A/C/loading on, the capacity to cool is no longer large enough.
This shows when the coolant tends to want to boil 'after' a hard pull and loading but not while running at good road speeds.
Been there before. Took awhile to understand it. A new rad cured the problem.