Engine fan questions after front end damage

I have a couple questions concerning engine vibration on my truck that happens after warm-up. i’m currently trying to fix some minor damage from a front end collision mostly to the front and passenger side. The truck starts up and drives perfectly fine and obviously starts to run hot (need radiator) after I warm it up and let it idle. I know there can be several reasons for this from engine mounts to many other things but a friend of mine pointed out it could be the engine fan which is missing a blade at the moment and says when the clutch engages It can likely caused the vibration which is not terrible but very noticeable. I’m just curious if that is possibly the cause which I am going to diagnose and dive into later today. Currently not driving it just trying to diagnose this particular issue move onto the next. And as far as everything else the truck drives, shifts (manual trans), and power steering as well as everything else not associated with the coolant system is fine. No check engine lights either. I’m mainly curious if the Fan clutch assembly or possibly the fan itself can cause the type of vibration that you feel in cab and transmission you can see vibrating But engine and transmission mounts are fine. that’s what makes me wonder if it’s fan itself or possibly the fan clutch. I will see if the fan spins freely or has any resistance which will give me an idea if it’s the fan clutch and I will also be removing the serpentine belt to see if no vibration once up to temperature. Sorry for long post, talk to text, and wanted to cover what I know is or isn’t wrong so far.

 

yes, 100% a missing blade will cause a moderate noticable vibration

 

Take a blade off you ceiling fan and see if it vibrates. Fix it sooner than later, you’re stressing out the bearings in and water pump.

 

You are going to start destroying things pretty quickly. I once lost a fan blade on a 72 Land cruiser on a trip and I cut the opposite one off to equal the imbalance. Worked well enough to get me thru about 600 miles of driving and a couple days off road. No way would I have been able to get away with 3 blades, the vibration was pretty bad. I'd bet it's worse then you think on yours.

 

Already been running warm and low on coolant...

 

Same thing my friend was telling me but I was only asking if it’s possibly the clutch because it doesn’t vibrate until the truck is warmed up. And I think you are replying to my post. Or that’s a weird coincidence. Sorry I’m new to this forum.

 

Yes obviously I know the low coolant is a big issue. Especially since my post said I need to replace the radiator. I was just trying to narrow down the cause of the vibration before I dump money into stuff when it could be something completely different causing the problem. And no-show here so you can put the popcorn away obviously a coolant leak will call something to run hot But I don’t ever have to worry about it overheating because I don’t run it that long just wanted to see how everything ran when it was up to temperature and I noticed the vibration and being there is a fan blade missing I figured it’s likely something related to that because the motor mounts appear to be fine and it doesn’t do it when it’s cold

 

The radiator core support is a weak design on these trucks.
I’d inspect/replace it before I went to put it back together.

And I’m with the others, sounds like the fan to me.

 

Oh I am very aware of the bad things that can happen. And I’m not driving it as we speak I’m just trying to diagnose issues because I need to get it back on the road. But I’m going to do some diagnostics later and thank you because you confirmed my suspicion

 

Yes thank you. I was just trying to narrow down the cause of the vibration. Just wanted to double check especially since it only does it after warm-up

 

Fluid "viscous" clutches like these trucks have engage more when warm. Less when cold. Possible the fan isn't spinning quite fast enough when cool

You need a new fan.

 

I'm thinking the same re the fan. Ran into this on an old car I had, I forget what it was but same fix.

Good luck and welcome!

 

The fan clutch has a thermo sensor, it will lock the fan at specified temps and rpm’s. The fan will always rotate as long as the fan clutch rotates, but it only locks up at certain points, that’s when you feel the vibrations the strongest.

 

The fan is separate from the clutch on these trucks. Go buy another fan before your fan comes apart and you need a new radiator and more parts.

 

Why not remove the broken fan assembly entirely?

Reinstall the hold down nuts to keep the pulley in place.

You will need to stack a few washers since the stud threads are not threaded enough to tighten the pulley.

Start the truck and see if you get the vibration when it starts to warm up.

You will now have verification that unbalanced fan is your culprit.

 

you know you need a new fan regardless of if it's the cause or not

Do that and see what happens.

Do the radiator you know you need while you are in there

 

If you were going to buy a radiator support to replace the factory one is there any particular brand you would suggest or is something from rock auto good enough? Damage is to passenger side. And I don’t wanna have to wrestle with bent metal and have to worry about my alignment issues with headlights, etc

 

I already need new parts. And I’m getting a new fan as well I just wanted to Confirm that was the issue

 

Yep that’s the plan as well as new radiator support and air conditioning condenser. thanks

 

Yeah I didn’t get around to it yesterday but I was also just thinking of maybe removing the serpentine belt and letting it run for a couple minutes to look it’s up to temp. I know I have to be careful with that obviously but it all has to come apart anyway