my fan on my 96 ford ranger 2x4 4.0L never goes off how important is it that i fix this and what are the problems it could be causing other than not going off could this have anything to do with an occassional rough low and rough idle and sometimes the truck dies but as soon as i give it gas it is fine sometimes sitting at a stop sign it will act as if i am tapping the gas any ideas??

 

What fan are you talking about, the engine fan or the blower motor for the climate control system? Probably not your problem, more likely you have a dirty IAC motor that is sticking and causing idle problems, needs to be cleaned, along with the throttle body and even the injectors.

 

Dude I know exactly what you are talking about. There is a wax inside your fan clutch that actually causes it to run at different speeds. Kinds of works like a thermostat. If the fan clutch is not functioning properlysuch as you have described it can cause driveline belt fatigue, and cause the fore mentioned stalls.Also they rob alot of power.

If the fan is just winding up at start up but slowing downafter say a minute or so don't be too concerned.This seems quite normal with the fansin Fords.

If your fan revs up louderwhen your engine revs up beyond 1800RPM I'd change it. The fan clutch really never needs to gofaster than this as theorystatesyou should be travelling and air will pass through the engine copmpartment secondary to your spped. Becasue of thisthe fan should kick out or stop reving faster after 1800RPM.

If your fan sounds like it is winding up really high when your engine is hot only (travelling slowly on a hot day, or even when travelling at faster speeds on a hot day) I'd be considering other cooling issues. On the Ford Vans especially with the packed in 6.0 diesel it is not uncommon for the fan to kick in and out as the engine compartment gets very hot and to even hear your belts sqweal as it does becasue it is working so hard.

Hope this helps. I have donemine and it can be a bit of a pain in the ****.Plus the replacement I got had a factory defect which caused it to only go the spped my engine was-----way over 1800RPM. I sounded like a jet liner taking off..