Warm Weather Friend

 Summer is in full swing and your truck air conditioner is getting a real workout.  The days of Triple H, not the WWE wrestler either, of hot humid and hazy are here like it or not.  

Running the air conditioner cuts into your fuel cost but is a necessary thing to have to keep your sanity.  A little maintenance every now and then will help head off any potential problems down the road.  

Check the coolant hoses and clamps for any leakage and tighten up the clamps and change hoses as needed. Don’t wait until a full spray begins or you lose something on the road.  By then it may be too late, especially if it fell off.  Don’t forget about checking your coolant too.

Coolant hoses usually last between 8 and 10 years unless they are in extreme high-heat as is the case near the engine block or hot exhaust component.  Those hoses near the engine block may also be a little harder to find.  Find a clamp and you find the hose.    

Hoses needing replacement around every 4 years include the air compressor, oil cooler, and water pump.  Again, don’t wait until you spring a leak or burst a hose completely because of neglect.  You know that according to Murphy’s Law, if something is going to break, it will be at the worst possible time, in the worst possible conditions.   Don’t forget to check the heater hoses and coupling sleeves running to and from the radiator too.

New clamps are always better than using old once but reuse old ones if you must, and secure hoses with black cable ties.  The cable ties are cheap and do a real nice job keeping things from rubbing together and wearing on each other.  If you just can’t tie off a hose and it could be rubbing on something, create a buffer between the hose and whatever it will come in contact with.  Use an old hose you may have handy from your last hose change, slit it open and be careful.  You don’t want to be slitting open fingers.  Position a suitable length of the slit open hose around the clamped hose and use a cable tie to secure the two in place.  You now have created a buffer, just in case the hose moves around.

Fan clutch linings wear out over time, and like everything else should be replaced.  If you have your truck ignition key turned so the fan turns freely and you can see more than a 1/8^th inch gap, your linings are worn and need to be replaced.

And while you are replacing your linings, go ahead and replace the engine belts too.  These should all be replaced about once every year.  With the fan belt off, take hold of the fan clutch and turn it.   If it binds up and/or has any up/down motion, the fan hub bearings could be shot.

Now rebuilding a fan clutch and hub is something you could probably do yourself, at home, following the directions of the rebuild kit.  But you know as well as I that if something is going to go haywire it will be on the road and away from home, and good luck trying to find a rebuild kit on the road. 

Af you see a damaged fan blade that means it time to replace the fan.  Don’t wait, the situation will not improve with age like wine.  Leaving this go could result in the fan getting out of balance and could wreak havoc on the bearings on the fan hub.

These are only a few of the things can could breakdown and cause you a slow burn.  So  keep cool by doing routine maintenance at home and regularly.

 

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