Tonight I heard a strange noise so I opened the hood and found the fan hit the radiator again. It doesn't seem to have damaged it other than it tore off the thin support straps that go from top to bottom and scrapped some of the cores but it is not leaking. I replaced the motor mounts and the trans mount also and am still having this trouble. What else can cause this? The rad came with new mounts and all so they are not worn. The fan is a good used unit that I bought from a friend that was never hit or bent. How much clearance is there supposed to be between the fan and the radiator?

 

Only thing I can think of is that either the clutch is failing oddly...or maybe the fan hub bearing?

You should have about 1" to 1.5" clearance between the fan blades and your rad core.

 

I only have 1/2" clearance between the fan and the radiator. The clutch and bearing are tight.

 

was the motor out at one time and the left and right engine side motor mounts swapped?

 

The motor was not out as long as I have owned it. I replaced the mounts and they are the same part number for left and right.

 

Wow That's weird. I have alot more than 1/2"

 

I have a smidge under 2".

 

Is it a thicker core radiator, you should be able to get your hand between the clutch and core.

Is the fan bearing loose, there is a bolt on the back side, the fan has a tremendous amount of pulling force especially inside a shroud, I have seen fans suck themselves into a radiator if they hit water or the core gets swamped.

Is the hub hitting or the blades?
Jim

 

Double-check that your mounts are correctly installed, sounds like the WHOLE ASSEMBLIES may be flipped side to side.
The difference is ~ 1".

For the STEEL brackets, the holes for the isolator are offset FORWARD on BOTH sides. The bracket with the half-moon notch (which faces UP) is the driver's side bracket.
The cast blocks that the steel brackets bolt to are offset by 1/2 inch FORWARD, meaning the cast block has a 1/2" bias towards the REAR.

Mark.

 

It is the stock replacement radiator it is not thicker. The fan bearing is tight and so is the clutch. I do not have a fan shroud on the truck because it was broken in the past. The hub did not hit the blades did though. The blade was actually stuck on the bottom edge of the radiator I had to yank the fan to free it.

 

I cannot see the mounts right now but it sounds like that may be my problem. If that was the case you would think that i would have had a hard time installing the trans mount because the engine is an inch foward. The trans mount went right in after I installed the new motor mounts. I looked under the hood on the pass side and the head of the bolt that mounts the bracket to the cast block (The bolt is installes with the nut to the rear) is just about in line with the bolt that is holding the cast bracket to the block. Does this sound right? Does anyone have an engine out that they could snap a few pics so I can compare?

 

Here is the right side mount. Sorry about it being a little blury.




Here is the left side mount.




Is the fan hitting the raditor in one spot or making a full circle pattern in the raditor??

 

When the fan hut last time it made a full circle. This time it seemed to only hit on the driver side about half way up. I see my problem now though. The stamped steel brackets are swapped from side to side. The bracket with the slot you have pictured on the passenger side and mine is on the driver side. And the one with the round hole is on the passenger side. Looks like that hole is off set to the front when properly installed and mine are reversed. Thanks a lot for the help you guys are the best.

 

That'll do it.
Just that error is a 1 inch difference.
You'll probably need a new tranny isolator, too.

Mark.

 

Ok I was wrong the driver side frame is slotted but the mount bracket is not. My brackets are just like they are in the pictures. If my radiator support was back that far I would have alignment problems with the sheet metal and I do not. What else could cause this? The fan is so close that when I thread it off of the support hub that it hits the rad a little on the last couple threads.