Catastrophic Fan Failure on a 2014
- Thread starter CutthroatSlam
- Start date
CutthroatSlam
Senior Member
I’ve pressure washed it earlier this year. This vehicle does see its share of off-roading and winter driving in Montana. I do all the work and I look it over all the time. Case in point, I discovered the transfer case input seal was leaking while I was under the vehicle lubing the driveshafts. I pulled the transfer case and replaced the seals. The reason why it has reached 342K miles is my care and maintenance. I’ll put pressure washing on my to do list next time it’s down in SoCal.
Last edited:
I'd recommend not pressure washing the engine bay. That's a good way to get water into electrical connections, eventually causing corrosion and shorts. Or past various other seals designed to keep water out. Those seals can keep water out, as long as the water isn't forced past the seals under pressure.
If you must wash the engine bay, use only a minimum of water under very low pressure. Then go for a nice long drive to dry the engine bay.
If you must wash the engine bay, use only a minimum of water under very low pressure. Then go for a nice long drive to dry the engine bay.
A liberal coating of degreaser of choice-Simple Green, etc. and light spray with hose paying attention not to soak or blast any one area, has served me well. After that, a light pressure spray every once in a while is enough to get most things relatively clean.
Jetboy
New member
No reason to blame yourself on this one. It's a really obscure failure on a self-contained zero maintenance part. Probably just a bit of bad luck.
FWIW - I pressure wash my engine bay semi-regularly if its full of mud. Never had an issue beyond the engines old enough to have a distributor. I do it on my UTV after almost every ride. The engine is regularly submerged = often in glacial silt water that's super hard on stuff. I can't imagine a scenario where it would damage a fan clutch. They're sealed fluid systems. I guess it might be worth opening one up and seeing what's inside. I made the mistake of going a bit down the rabbit hole on fan clutches and apparently Toyota has multiple fan clutch versions at least for the Land Cruiser depending on global market - possibly using different oil weights to change the engagement and idle air flow. And Eaton has clutches that you can "tune" by changing oils. Way more than I ever wanted to know. I can say with a pretty high level of confidence that I'll never change the oil in a fan clutch on a Toyota. But I now know that it's a thing that people actually do.
FWIW - I pressure wash my engine bay semi-regularly if its full of mud. Never had an issue beyond the engines old enough to have a distributor. I do it on my UTV after almost every ride. The engine is regularly submerged = often in glacial silt water that's super hard on stuff. I can't imagine a scenario where it would damage a fan clutch. They're sealed fluid systems. I guess it might be worth opening one up and seeing what's inside. I made the mistake of going a bit down the rabbit hole on fan clutches and apparently Toyota has multiple fan clutch versions at least for the Land Cruiser depending on global market - possibly using different oil weights to change the engagement and idle air flow. And Eaton has clutches that you can "tune" by changing oils. Way more than I ever wanted to know. I can say with a pretty high level of confidence that I'll never change the oil in a fan clutch on a Toyota. But I now know that it's a thing that people actually do.
Last edited:
CutthroatSlam
Senior Member
I too pressure wash semi-regularly. However, return to office with mandatory 2 days a week average in the office, has me living at our Fullerton, CA while my retired wife prefers to mostly stay at our ranch in Montana…and I can’t blame her. Wife has not hauled the second pressure washer I purchased up to Montana. So I pressure wash this truck when it gets down to Fullerton, or semi-regularly. Other than dust on the cosmetic engine cover noted by the other poster, there are no oil leaks and the engine is clean.
honda250xtitan
New member
yea, very random failure. hard to catch a seized fan clutch before it fully seizes anyways. i know you mentioned wife said the fan was being weird but still.
You can do as you please. I'm just saying that it's not the best practice. Back in my consumer car repair days, I saw several vehicles that had electrical gremlins, and upon diagnosing, corroded connectors, and suspiciously clean engine bays. In talking to the customers, they talked of the regular washing they gave their engine bays.
I have friends still in the business, who periodically run into the same issue.
ACF-50 is supposed to be good for protecting electrical connectors from corrosion. It was apparently designed for aircraft, but is used a lot on motorcycles.
Grug556
New member
was it seized fan bearing that caused shaft to stop at speed and the torque wave went up the fan shaft and caused it to grenade into its housing? Ive seen an industrial fan do this and throw a 25hp motor through a block wall, almost killed my lab guy at the time, i pulled the idiot out of the way.
Otherwise any chance you had an animal nesting or leaving debris in the fan area?
Otherwise any chance you had an animal nesting or leaving debris in the fan area?
Yes, it can definitely help. It can help clean up corrosion too. But if it wasn't present beforehand, you still have to find the fault, and clean or replace the connectors. And maybe replace the wires also, depending on how extensive the corrosion is.
It can be a big PITA. Which is why flood cars are usually totaled.
CutthroatSlam
Senior Member
No chance of animal invasion; we have never had that issue in the areas this truck inhabits. I shoot ground squirrels on site and set live traps for squirrels and skunks which are then dispatched. Tired of their burrowing under my patio.
They are working on the vehicle reportedly completing today. Wife is driving down today, staying the night, picking up the car in the am and driving back.
Last edited:
Grug556
New member
Whats your round for ground squirrel? I did one in recently with a hot loaded 45-70 Govt. Actually set it on fire when it fell to the ground as I was quite close. Ussually i use a 22 but this ****er was sitting up in the tree crackling at me, each time I chased it away it came back... so we needed a more permanent fix!
Good luck on the fan, hope it works out ok
Good luck on the fan, hope it works out ok
CutthroatSlam
Senior Member
My big problem with ground squirrels is at my Fullerton, CA home. Though it is over an acre, it is within the city limits, so shooting a real firearm is not legal. As such I use a pellet rifle in .177 gauge. I have taken out squirrels at 50 yards, but only in the backyard which has a safe back drop at the back which is another yard with a row of trees blocking it. For the most part I am live trapping and dispatching the bastard by poking the barrel through the trap cage right up to their heads. Squirrels I leave out in the yard and they get taken away by the hawks and the owls. Skunks get bagged and immediately dropped in the trash as the predators do not eat them.
My neighbor has a chicken coop and he’s shot a couple of coyotes with an AR-15 loaded with .22 subsonic rounds, always mindful of the back drop. I have shot and hit several yotes with the .177, but really need .22 pellet rifle.
Gov 45-70 is a very robust round. A lever action carbine in .45-70 is what they call a guide gun in Alaska which they use for taking out Brown Bears (aka. Grizzlies).
Up in Montana we can shoot anything, including full automatic. Montana is a full 2A State in the richest way. My home there has a full walk in gun vault with a bank vault door. It’s like a 15’ x 15’ room and I have been slowly filling it. The living up there is just great.
Last edited:
honda250xtitan
New member
Jetboy
New member
A slightly different issue happened to my current Tundra. I bought used from a service manager of a dealership. Truck was super clean under the hood. I believe it had been fully washed and then they used some sort of engine dressing like armorall. Looked great, but it ruined the serpentine belt. The oil on the belt caused it to squeak. Not ideal. And there's probably still some residual on all of the pulleys. The light oil also collects dust. I wish they had stopped at just clean and dry and not proceeded to cover it in engine dressing. Not sure I'll ever get rid of that completely. If they really want it to look pretty - maybe coat it with a ceramic coating or something. And cover the belt area.
Toyota usually uses high quality Sumitomo connectors that should hold up pretty well to water intrusion. I don't get too close with the spray. Just enough to get rid of the mud, weeds and weed seeds, and dirt buildup. I'm not looking for car-show clean. Just clean enough to not trap moisture or cause more long term problems. My F250 had low quality plugs that were more like cheap consumer grade stuff. I'm not sure those would stand up to a hard rain fall. My Yamaha UTV is the same way. It's pretty low quality in a lot of places like wire harness connections despite being engineered to be in water over the engine. Ironically the only electrical issue I've had is a stator (alternator) failure that is inside the engine presumably to protect it from the elements? PITA to replace. Alternators inside engines are not a great idea IMO.
honda250xtitan
New member
tire shine ruined your serpentine belt??? we sure about that?
Grug556
New member
Yes mine is a stainless marlin Guide gun. I use it for Bears to up here. I love Montana! I have looked at moving to Eureka or slightly south of that near the national forest in Rexford. Great laws, or should i say great lack of laws.. In my home office I have a Montana flag hanging behind me, its for my house when I buy it there!
I had a gun room. Now its a kids room. Life huh.
CutthroatSlam
Senior Member
My brother has two stainless Marlin SBLs in .45-70. With the riots on the run-up to the last presidential election, he bought one for each home (Corona Del Mar and Cambria).
Here’s my vault at the Stevensville, Montana Ranch home:
November 9, 2023 - YouTube
Wife picked up her 2014 in Idaho Falls today and drove it the 300+ miles to Stevensville, MT. Runs perfectly.
