Fan Noise??? - Diesel Forum

darekennel · 07-02-2004, 07:48 PM

Ok I am still loving my 6.0 conversion but I have noticed a weird noise.
It sounds sorta like a fan that is short cycling. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this normal? Seems that if it was to "cool" something down it would stay on longer than it does. It kicks in for a few seconds then off. There is no loss of power or change in engine performance at all when this happens.
Any ideas??

Yardbrew · 07-03-2004, 12:50 PM

My 02 has a fan lockup that seems to be keyed to engine temp and maybe the gear that the tranny is in. In real hot weather under a load, it'll come on....sometimes just for a few seconds. Happens when I pull away from a stop light, or when I'm going up hill with my trailer on a real hot day.....like I said, usually doesn't stay on very long. Sounds like a jet plane is flying right above my van.

Yardbrew

darekennel · 07-03-2004, 03:25 PM

Sounds exactly like it! We live in rather hilly country and first noticed it keep cutting on and off when we were on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We did not have any load and were not towing anything. It is a bit unnerving though...sounds like it is short cycling.

Yardbrew · 07-03-2004, 04:54 PM

Kim,

I've been on the Blue Ridge Parkway and didn't have that happen.

How fast were you going? Sometimes, driving 30-40 MPH, my transmission will get hot if the ambient temps are in the high 80's or 90's.

I'm wondering if the fan lockup might also be tied to tranny temps.

Yardbrew

D_Goodspeed · 07-05-2004, 06:00 PM

I just came back from a 1300-mile tow from San Francisco to Portland and back to San Fran. I had the fan cycle on/off only going over Mt. Shasta and the Sisque Mountains. It did cycle on and of as the engine started to heat up. I had 2 mechanic in the van with me and the story is... on the front of the fan clutch is a coil spring device that measure the air temp. flowing through the radiator/oil cooler/Trans cooler. If the air temp gets to whatever temp the spring is set at the fan clutch engages and draws an incredible amount of air. This cools the engine and the spring slowly uncoils and de-clutches the fan.
That's the story I was told.
The van towed GREAT!
2004 E350 PSD 6.0

AutoJim · 07-07-2004, 11:33 AM

I'm trying to find out if the 6.0L in the Econoline gets the same Visctronic fan drive that the F-series has. I'll let y'all know.

MikeL46 · 07-20-2004, 06:07 PM

The first time that fan came on, it seemed like we had broken something - it is soooo loud!

Mostly, it comes on at low speeds (30-40) going up and down hills and using power. I'm guessing that you only hear it when it is coming up to speed, then it continues to run for some more time, but cannot be heard.

pon · 05-02-2005, 11:34 PM

I wish I had found this topic last September when I posed the same question. My conditions are:

* 90 degrees or warmer
* long up hill grade, (I-5 Grapevine or I-8 Jacumba)

It happened again last Sunday on the 9 mile 6% grade coming up I-8 from Ocotillo. Usually when it would downshift to 4th. What is so bothersome is that it repeatively comes on and off so quickly. I called my service advisor and he immediately suggested the fan clutch. Which is why I went back and searched here. He did offer to check it, something they can do while I wait. If anything comes of it I'll pass it back for the van crew.

FYI - I have 3000 miles now on my transmission recall repair with no problems. Mileage seems to be SLOWLY getting better. Mostly 14 now but sometimes greater than 15.

Pat