adanvjr

Good evening,
What's the best way to check the fan clutch on my 2005 F150 V8 5.4L?

I think my fan clutch is starting to go bad. I've been noticing some chirping noise coming from the radiator area when I do a cold start. The noise will remain present until the engine's temp gauge needle reaches half way (normal operating temp).

This morning, I heard a loud clacking when I did a cold start and went away completely as the engine warmed up (took about 3 minutes). Sound was coming from the radiator area. The clacking sounds as if you shake a can with a marble in it, then slow down until you stop.

However, the other times today when I done a cold start, it cranked on fine with no clacking, just the chirping.

I have not witnessed any overheating. My morning commute is about 45 mins, 30 of which is driving in stop-go traffic.

I sprayed some water on the belt to see if it was the belt acting up first, but chirping was still present.

digitaltrucker

Do you have a belt tensioner? CHeck it by spraying with WD40.

adanvjr

Won't that cause the belt to slip by all the pulley wheels?

digitaltrucker

The bearings in the tensioner, not the belt. My bad for not clarifying.

Had an 89 that would chirp in humid weather.

nrivera04

Sounds like an idler pulley(s) going out to me. Had two go bad last year and I just changed the 3rd today. Tensioner pulley is the only one I haven't changed yet.

Easy to check... Take the belt off and spin pulleys. They should spin a few times and make no noise.

Mod (Ret.)

In theory, the belt tensioner should be changed whenever the belt itself is changed.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Do not spray or get wd40 on anything the belt rides on

adanvjr

Yeah, did that too. They're on tight and No noise.

I think that clacking noise was the fan clutch stuck between an engaged / disengaged position.

What's the best way to check the fan clutch?

Or is there a way to test it without having to pull it out?

AutoAnything

You should be able to spin the fan without the engine running to see if it's bad. If it makes any noise, or spins quickly/freely, then you might have a bad fan clutch. If it doesn't make noise or spins slowly (shouldn't spin very freely) then the fan clutch is probably still good.

Seems more likely that a tensioner or idler pulley would be making the noise if you're not overheating, though it's not exactly warm right now, so you never know.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

worn belt will chirp too