so on my way home from palm bay about a week ago the truck overheated on me. ever since iv been just filling the truck up with hose water and it goes about ten miles before its out of water and overheated again(not really overheated, maybe 220 degrees but plain hose water boils at 210 so i dont get very far on it). i squeezed the upper radiator hose and water squirts out of the radiator around were the fan is, im assuming the fan hit the radiator, when i slam the hood while its running it sounds like the fan hits for a second, i can hear a tink tink tink metal on metal sound.. i can only think of 2 things that cause this, 1- i can wobble the fan about a half inch back and forth, nothings loose but theres play in the fan clutch. and 2- the engine mounts are probably bad, when i got the truck the trans mount was in 2 pieces so the engine mounts have been through hell, everyone tells me the truck rocks and shakes so much at idle that the engine mounts have to be bad, i chalk it up to being a clanky 90s diesel. when i shift it into 3rd gear sometimes i think i can hear the fan contacting the radiator but it could be an interior squeak for all i know.

so the question is, is that little bit of play in my fan clutch enough to go through the radiator or do i need to concern myself with the motor mounts as well?

another concern i have is that when i open the radiator cap while its running i dont see any flow, when i squeeze the upper hose its not hard, would the hole in my radiator cause the system to not function properly or do i have a water pump issue as well? i guess i sholodnt expect there to be any pressure in the system when theres a hole in the rad, the fan just blows a mist of water all over the place as it runs.

EDIT: another little concern, my injector on #2 came loose the other day... could this be a related issue in any way shape or form, head gasket maybe? why on earth would an injector even come loose! all i did was tighten it up and the truck ran again, its been running a little rough but i cant hardly tell what is acceptable on these trucks, iv never consider the motor to run smooth as butter, and im sure my timing on the pump is out. only reason i noticed is because i notice it stumbles a little more then normal when your rev it up in neutral.

so much for this being such an awesome reliable truck, starting to remind me of my half ton chevy i guess being stuck on owning nothing but cheap and outdated 90s trucks is my problem . the money i have in my 2 turds i could have had one nice duramax.

 

Check your rear transmission mount as well. I had a friend with a first gen that had fan/rad contact. The rear trans mount was badly worn, and between replacing it and the fsn bearing the problem was fixed.

 

If the bypass system is changed or inop. the cooling system will not flow, I know thats not your question and I didnt spend much time reading but just thought i would throw that in.
If your concerned you could always use a combustion gas tester and determine if combustion gases are entering the cooling system. If theres a hole in the radiator everything will be covered in coolant!

 

the transmission mount was completely separated in 2 pieces when i got the truck, the transmission used to clunk against the floor when i let the clutch out, i replaced the trans mount a few days after i got my truck. maybe theres been a leeks developing ever since and it finally just let go. and its just hose water at this point, not an once of coolant anywhere .

 

i understand that!
stop by a local shop and ask to borrow a coolant pressure tester and run out to their lot and pressure test.
For your sake, dont run straight water long, it causes corrosion and parts fail much faster!

 

i can use our pressure tester at school, im in an automotive program so i have access to special tools. but since im off of school this week i wont be able to use it and ill also have to do this job in my driveway rather then at school. its hard to go back to working in your driveway when you start using a nice work environment with a lift

i ordered a radiator from a salvage yard for 130 bucks shipped, its a used aftermarket unit out of a 96 cummins, has a 90 day warranty. ill run to autozone and get a fan clutch for it and throw it together, probably skip the motor mounts.

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well i took another look today and one of my fan blades is cracked off and missing. so i guess my motor mounts arent the problem here. why on earth would the fan blade come off like that?

 

When/if the fan hit the rad it could have broke off then, but it would have to hit something damn hard to break it.

 

i think the vibration from the fan clutch being shot made it come apart. i just did the kdp job and i know the fan had all its blades at that time but when i think hard about it now i remember seeing one of the blades had a small crack and i dint worry about it, i figured this thing doesnt really sling enough rpms to be too worried about it, guess i should have... wont let something like that slide again.

 

If the fan contacted the radiator you should be able to see it on the radiator, pull your shroud and look.

 

I couldnt see the fan coming apart without you knowing
I would think the shroud would be in pieces. You'll need to check your fan hub assembly because they will fail, and with an out of balance fan your much more likely to loose a fan hub. I see that your already going with a fan clutch...good idea!

I will say I've seen guys when pulling the fan clutch , use a air hammer bit thats too wide and separate the fan and shaft and leave it for the customer to correct.