Replaced Fan Clutch Wire Support Tube - Details / How To

[quangdog]

While doing a routine check under the hood of my Ranger today I discovered that mine was a victim of the support tube for the fan wiring harness breaking down and cracking. I know this problem and a common solution has been described elsewhere on this forum, but I could not find any really good photos or video of the repair process - so I took some detailed photos and shot this video explaining the problem and going over my fix. The whole process to replace the deteriorated hose took me about 20 minutes:



Here are some photos:

The supplies I used for the repair. Total came to $9.10 at OReilly's.

Overhead view of the broken support pipe

Better shot of how it failed.

Factory pipe removed, with wire harness still attached, and factory clamps removed. I was able to re-use all but the crimped one on the left.

The hose just crumbled as I took it out of the truck.

Comparison of the factory and replacement hose diameters.

Another comparison of factory vs. replacement hose.

Bits of crumbled factory hose.

Here's the fitting on the fan clutch where the hose clamps. It's just a hollow post molded Into the plastic of the housing.

The post bolted onto the accessory side of the engine. It's just a solid post on a bracket.

Here's the new length of hose with the old factory compression clamp on the right, and the 2 factory cable clamps attached approximately matching where they were on the factory hose. New screw-style hose clamp on the left. I used a few drops of WD-40 on the inside of both ends to help get the hose to slide over the mount points.


Hopefully some of the details in this post are helpful to anyone else who needs to fix this Issue on their truck. Left alone, the fan clutch will eventually rip the wiring out of the harness, or damage the plug - leading to all kinds of fun stored codes, check engine light, and reduced driveability.

I'm glad I caught this when I did.

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[DonS]

What length did you cut the new jose to?

 

[DonS]

Whoops, Hose

 

[NotBudule2]

I check mine all the dang time but so far it's like new...
I wonder ? how the dealership repairs these as the factory hose is molded and I can't find it separate. Do they do the same or replace the whole damn fan clutch ?

 

[Dr. Zaius]

I check mine all the dang time but so far it's like new...
I wonder ? how the dealership repairs these as the factory hose is molded and I can't find it separate. Do they do the same or replace the whole damn fan clutch ?

If the dealer is charging it to Ford, you can bet they're going to bill the maximum they can.

 

[got3fords]

Does the preload from having to bend a straight piece of hose have any negative effect?

 

[AzScorpion]

Thanks for the detailed write up Kimball. Since this has been an ongoing issue now I made it a sticky so hopefully it will help more people. I don't know if it's helps, but I hit mine (and my e brake boot) every 3-4 months with some 303 Aerospace Protectant which so far both my Rangers have been fine.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Thanks for the detailed write up Kimball. Since this has been an ongoing issue now I made it a sticky so hopefully it will help more people. I don't know if it's helps, but I hit mine (and my e brake boot) every 3-4 months with some 303 Aerospace Protectant which so far both my Rangers have been fine.

Didn't that cause the wheel to fall off your first Ranger? ?

 

[Stevedbvik1]

Thanks for the write up. I preemptively changed mine out to the silicone hose version on my 22 with 18000 miles. My OEM hose was fine and still very flexible with no signs of any cracking. It did have the huge ridge inside the hose on the engine side where it goes over the sharp nub on the end. But I have a question for you about your old hose. Was the fan side of the hose just as brittle as the engine side or was it more flexible? Wondering if the heat on the engine side is a major contributor to the failure besides the hose being cheap garbage and a gorilla clamp pinching it on.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Thanks for the write up. I preemptively changed mine out to the silicone hose version on my 22 with 18000 miles. My OEM hose was fine and still very flexible with no signs of any cracking. It did have the huge ridge inside the hose on the engine side where it goes over the sharp nub on the end. But I have a question for you about your old hose. Was the fan side of the hose just as brittle as the engine side or was it more flexible? Wondering if the heat on the engine side is a major contributor to the failure besides the hose being cheap garbage and a gorilla clamp pinching it on.

When I replaced mine, only the engine side was crumbling.

The fan side was fine.

 

[quangdog]

What length did you cut the new jose to?

I tried to match the original as closely as I could, but there is enough slack in the harness for a bit of wiggle-room here. Came out to between 6-7" or so.

 

[quangdog]

Thanks for the write up. I preemptively changed mine out to the silicone hose version on my 22 with 18000 miles. My OEM hose was fine and still very flexible with no signs of any cracking. It did have the huge ridge inside the hose on the engine side where it goes over the sharp nub on the end. But I have a question for you about your old hose. Was the fan side of the hose just as brittle as the engine side or was it more flexible? Wondering if the heat on the engine side is a major contributor to the failure besides the hose being cheap garbage and a gorilla clamp pinching it on.

The engine side is definitely more brittle/broken down than the fan side.... though the whole thing is junk and falling apart. The engine side (as you can see in the video) I could crumble up in my hand. The fan side at least was still a little pliable.

 

[quangdog]

Does the preload from having to bend a straight piece of hose have any negative effect?

I don't believe so. The hose sort of naturally figures out where it wants to sit/bend due to the angles between the 2 mounting posts, and the wiring harness seems perfectly fine where it is. There is sufficient slack in the harness that even if the bend does not match exactly it'll be fine.

 

[quangdog]

I check mine all the dang time but so far it's like new...
I wonder ? how the dealership repairs these as the factory hose is molded and I can't find it separate. Do they do the same or replace the whole damn fan clutch ?

I check mine at each oil change (every 5k miles) and whenever I happen to be under the hood. I was checking washer fluid level yesterday when I noticed it completely broken off. At last oil change it was fine (about 4300 miles ago - just about due for next oil change).

 

[AzScorpion]

What length did you cut the new jose to?

In case you forgot. ?

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