Stop fan-clutch for water crossing?

Why not slip the accessory belt off before crossing, then put it back on when you get to the other side? The battery will provide enough spark for several miles of driving without the alternator, so 50 or 100 feet shouldnt be an issue.

 

I guess it is old age I just can`t see a good reason for driving through a river.

Does one get out first and check your not about to drive into a 10' deep hole or discover a very big rock??

 

It's actually slipping almost constantly. All the clutch is is a spiral spring inside an enclosed cylinder. As the spring heats up it expands and the spiral essentially grows outwards and eventually makes contact with the walls of the cylinder. This then transfers the energy from the water pump shaft to the fan, but until then it is free spinning, just like it is the majority of the time. When your engine hits the water there is no way for the engine to get hot enough to heat up the radiator so that the air coming through will heat up the spring. Essentially you can do this for hours.

As for old timers not understanding, it's simple. Sometimes you have no choice but to cross a river. The trail you came in on may not be doable in the other direction, you might not have enough gas to go back that way, or you may just want the challenge .

 

I hope you own your truck free and clear. Insurance companies don't like to replace drowned vehicles. They pay for stupid accidents, not so much if you willingly run your truck in a river.

I'm sorry, I just think you would be better off spending time trying to figure out how to avoid running your truck in deep water.

You have many other issues to deal with before tieing off a fan. I'm sorry to sound negative, but you need to find ways to avoid fording deep water.

 

There was a guy who posted here that hydrolocked his motor few years back. Insurance company paid it off because it was the only way out and the storm was forecast to get worse putting him at even greater risk had he stayed.

Some of us use our trucks for adventure. Adventure means unknown. I personally have been on several trails where once i cleared an obstacle it would have been impossible for my truck to make it back up. I usually stop, hike a ways up and see if there are any obstacles I can not do before I even attempt obstacles like this, but what happens if i hike a mile down and don't see anything and then 10 miles down there is a river? Now I'm stuck between a rock and a hardplace. An obstacle I can't make it up, and a river that i have a chance to make it through. If you go out enough eventually you will find things that you have no way to avoid. They put your rig and your skills, or lack there of to the test and that's half the fun. If you don't want to take risks like that then I suggest you go with the other tourists and stick with the guided tours on the graded roads. I however like to see places that most people will only see on tv or in a national geographic. I read stories of others to learn from their mistakes and their successes. I make modifications to my truck to attempt to avoid catastrophic failure in the middle of nowhere. I take first aid classes in case of injuries. I try to research the dangers of an area I'm entering before I go into it. What's the weather going to be like, what kind of dangerous creatures might I encounter, and how should I handle them when I do. I spend a lot of time researching, asking questions, and answering questions because I want to survive to have as many adventures as I can, and there are others out there who feel the same. Some of them have more skill and others have less, but we all seek the same thing. I love this hobby and the people in it because it is not a competitive hobby, it is a collaborative one.

In this particular situation you're not being negative, you're right. The question he has asked shows he is a long ways off on his learning curve before he should attempt deep water. He should consider taking other paths out, even if that means cutting a new trail, but there might come a time that he has no choice, and I like to give information because of that fact alone. He might be stuck, and the information he received here might mean the difference between literally life and death.

 

Ok I can relate kinda like going from Thule to Camp 100 but at least I was getting paid to do those things.

I would much rather face solid water then liquid !!

 

once when I was working on my rig I forgot a dikes under the hood it fell down and stopped the fan from spinning. Drove about 10 miles down the road and noticed the engine temp was climbing, go to discovered the dikes pulled them out and it went on to keep working. But I am pretty sure it would wear out the fan clutch after a while it is made to coast till needed.

 

I've had my fab submerged numerous times. I'm not an idiot so I want going fast,nor did I have the rpms very high. I had other issues with water that high than worrying about my fan. Lots of worrying goin on here.

 

I think the op and others are over thinking this. As long as your not hauling ass into the water you'll be fine. The fan spins slower than the engine anyways. The clutch on it is slipping all the time unless it's bad.

 

I used to have this mentality about it as well. That is until I killed the radiator in my ranger. There was a riverbed by my house that flowed when it snowed in the mountains. I had a general knowledge of how deep it was based on how high up the banks it was. So one day I'm going across it and as I'm getting to the other side My front end suddenly drops a foot. The fan blades hit the water and bent forwards destroying my radiator beyond any field repair. Luckily I knew somebody close by who gave me a tow home. He told me that same morning he had to bring his tractor down to flip over an explorer that had gotten stuck in that very same spot, the water dug under him and flipped him onto his side. The hole left by that is what killed my radiator, fan, fan shroud, and water pump. It's just easy and quick insurance to protect against that. Shut off the motor, tie a rope around a blade, and tie the other end to the frame, or another solid point, cross the river, turn off the motor, untie the rope, and you're off again.

 

#Fordproblems

 

Lots of good information and insight here. As 2008Taco has pointed out, Im no pro at offroading. I have been out a number of times, and usually shy away from big obstacles. But I know that there is at least 1 (unlikely) situation where I may have to do something I'm uncomfortable with the truck. It's paid off, but I'm not looking to risk trashing it. I've had a few close calls (kinda) when the 4wd was new to me. I like to take precautions now... In the case of crossing water, that means a string to tie the fan blades (and probably dumping water on the fan clutch first to cool it off/allow more slippage)

 

Not all water crossings involve a river, sometimes it's the entrance to the trail.
There's no need to mess with the fan, just go slow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZb5sZyJU4w&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZb5sZyJU4w&feature=youtube

 

i have crossed water several times where the water is at my hood and have never ever had a problem.

 

Just for clarification, the fan clutch does not contact the timing belt driven water pump in any way. It mounts to a bracket driven by an accessory belt.
This is for a 2001 Tacoma w/a 3.4L:




After checking any water crossing to make sure it's ok to travel across/through, with the proper amount of momentum you'll create a bow wake keeping the water level lower in the engine bay. Front skids help with this too. Stopping in any water crossing is never a great idea.

Luke had absolutely no issues with this crossing in his later model Taco:

 

This, 100%, seems like The Way.

You take your time at the river's edge, shut off the engine, get out & take a careful look, assess how deep the crossing is, how fast the water is flowing (if flowing,) etc. etc. -- and you pour several gallons of water carefully over your fan clutch to cool it down so it will have as little torque as possible. Then attach an appropriate length of durable semi-stretchy cord so that when the fan tries to turn it is arrested not with sharp hard jerk, but a smooth increase of rubber-band-like tension.