dumper wrote:The only problem l have had with a viscous fan is when it has seized up you could tell by the noise when reved up when stationary so if it gets really hot I’d expect that if you stopped it while hot and check the fan it should be locked up a very noticeable resistance.
Thanks for the idea, Dumper, and method to check if that 's working. It isn't.
Today I resumed this job by starting the engine, and it came to life immediately after sitting for 2 days. So that is some success; I guess we can presume that there is no air in the fuel system. Prior to starting it, I checked to see if fuel had leaked from that area I pinpointed a couple days ago, and sure enough, though I had tightened one 5mm allen bolt on what looks like a base plate for the lever and spring on that right side of the pump, I noticed that there are in fact two such bolts, so I tightened the other one, and it wasn't really loose. However, there is a pool of fuel on some parts of the engine block, as well as under the van. I couldn't see any dripping, and wondered where it's coming from. That became apparent very readily after starting the engine. There is still a drip of about one drop per second not from this plate that I tightened, but slightly below it (at the bottom side of the pump), which appears to be a type of end piece to a moving axle or valve inside the pump itself. There are two phillips screws that hold it on, and a center pivot, so clearly there is something inside that moves like a butterfly valve or something like that. In any case, the phillips screws are a bit worn and I can't grip them to tighten them. After the engine warmed up, I gave it a little throttle; it revs and runs nicely, but after doing that, I checked that leak and now it's a spray, or squirt. I'm losing a lot of fuel there and of course I won't be able to drive the van with fuel spraying out of that mechanism.
As for the overheating problem, yes, the needle did creep to the right, about 3/4 on the gauge, before I shut it off. The whole time I was checking to see if I could notice which of the hoses might be blocked. At no point could I even determine that coolant was passing through any of those hoses. I squeezed all of them numerous times, and only the smaller hose which runs from the engine block and then to the coolant tank gave any noticeable results; squeezing that brought air bubbles, or perhaps just coolant, back up into the tank. As I said, during this whole time I didn't notice any coolant flowing through any of the hoses, nor into the overflow tank. And I'd filled it this time with about 3 liters of distilled water to replace the fresh coolant lost a few days ago. This by chance allowed me to see that no coolant flowed into or out of that tank. After shutting down the engine, I felt the hoses and noticed that the upper radiator hose was warm, but by no means hot. The lower radiator hose was cooler, as if it hadn't had any flow through it.
By the way, I started the day by installing a new Borg Warner thermostat. It has a 3mm or so bypass hole in it, so my understanding is that this hole allows the system to bleed itself of air in the coolant system, correct? However, the old thermostat was an identical one (definitely a Borg Warner as well) and dated 12 2013, so not very old at all, and i appears to be in good shape, though I didn't put it to a boiling water test. I installed the new thermostat and rubber ring.
So, my questions are: which hose or hoses need to be replaced? Last time I checked at the Ford dealer, not all of them are even available. The two main radiator hoses are new. There are also a few hoses which channel coolant inside the firewall to the heater core. I think there is one more hose as well, the one I was squeezing which seemed to affect the level of coolant in the reservoir.
I checked the viscous coupling on the fan, and when it was hot, after turning off the engine, it spins like those spinners children played with a few years ago: very fast and easily. So I take it that this also needs to be replaced, but how would that affect my situation? Is this perhaps the only problem I have? If I replace this with a working unit, would my over heating problems cease?
I'm in a bit of trouble with the fuel leak, no matter what else I fix.
