Fan clutch stuck on

Mine is same year as Tom's. Just ordered the same flasher that went out on his 2 months back. Just waiting next for the fan clutch. My right side sway bar link is gone. broke this week. Wonder who's next on that part! Bad things come in threes, they do for me at least.

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Moose- I've got a squeak up front that I hope is just my sway bar links. I plan on digging into it tonight.

Clutch still hasn't released.......

I was at my friends shop using his tire machine to fix a leaky tire that a Goodyear couldn't fix, when I noticed the missing r/s link. It's always something. At 18 years old, parts are going to break. In your case is just piss poor quality parts these days. It was bad enough 20 years ago, when I used to work on my customers cars. At least back then, most aftermarket parts still lasted awhile. Never had to go with dealer parts, except for stuff that wasn't available any other way.

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My squeak was most likely due to a ball joint needing some grease.

But get this: it's the lower joint that I just installed not too terribly long ago that was pre-installed in the LCA (figured doing the whole arm would be a good idea since the bushings at the frame might need to be replaced (I was wrong)). Why was it squeaking? Well, I don't think I could ever get grease into it. I'd put the grease gun on it, pump the handle, but all the grease would leak out around the zerk. Tonight I took the zerk off and found it to be caked full of "mud". Not sure how else to describe it. It was a thick, rusty colored goo that prevented the new grease from coming in. I cleaned up the zerk and got it flowing, reinstalled it and pumped out a bunch of gross looking grease from the ball joint. I took it for a drive and it seems to be nice and quiet.

But I did notice grease leaking from the passenger side CV boot. I can't find a hole, but the entire boot looks pretty old and dry. Says "made in Canada" on it. Factory CV axle?!?!? 236k miles.

ExplorerTom said:

My squeak was most likely due to a ball joint needing some grease.


But I did notice grease leaking from the passenger side CV boot. I can't find a hole, but the entire boot looks pretty old and dry. Says "made in Canada" on it. Factory CV axle?!?!? 236k miles.

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That would be pretty amazing can't complain about that kind of service miles

Tom if the CV joints still good, I'd repack it and put on a new boot. The replacement joints are real crud, unless you spend the big bucks. You got a lot of dirt and mud there in Colorado. On top of that you 4 wheel a lot. Maybe once a year pop the zerk fitting, and do what you did. I'd also spray down the CA bushings with silicone, or ruglyde rubber tire mount. Good stuff! you also need to spray your CV rubber more. Glad your squeak free. Like I said earlier, you always seem to get the same issues I get about a month earlier. Picking up turn signal flasher today from Ford. 18 years not bad!

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Ordered the Flex-a-lite fans. I’m done with these crappy mechanical clutches.

Their you go Tom! Let us know how they work in the Colorado heat. The plus is you'll probably pick up 1-2 miles per gallon not driving the clutch fan. I guess you have to put on a shorter serpentine belt.

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Belt should stay the same. The belt is also turning the water pump where the fan clutch bolts to (if I remember right).

That sounds right. Is it a straight bolt in fit? Where do you screw in fan heat temp sensor? Is their a plug in the block that can be removed? Or do you have to drill and tap?

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