Ticking (fan hitting cowl?) After Towing

[Oakstone]

Heya,

I towed my trailer for the first time yesterday. Not a big pull, just 40 mins out of town on fairly flat roads. When I arrived at the campsite, I could hear a ticking noise, kind of like a fan hitting a cowl each time it rotated, coming from the passenger side of the truck behind the grill.

There wasn't much I could investigate since I was dropping the trailer off at my spot with my 11yr old and then heading back to town. This morning, the noise isn't there.

Has anyone else experienced this or have an idea what it might be? I have my first service appointment in about a month (22 F150 PB 302A) and I'm guessing it'll be a "can't reproduce" if I had never heard it before towing and don't hear it now.

I've attached a video that I took for the techs at the dealership.

Cheers!

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[powerboatr]

are you sure there was not a leaf or something trapped and it fell out when you shut off truck?
i ask because a state park we go to waaaay to much . i have sucked up leaves and pine straw when the bus engine fan kicks in to HIGH as we idle through the campsite legs, makes a terrible racket on the plastic and guides,
i thought the engine was coming apart first time, i heard it .
i shut down the engine and began to go open up the access and just like that, leaves fell out on the ground

maybe a foreign item made its way to the fan shroud
if the shroud was bent or blade bent, it would still be making noise maybe?

i have sucked up a plastic grocery bag in the 150 already and it got trapped in the shutters and was flapping around like a card on bike wheel

 

[Oakstone]

I will definitely take a good look and see! Thanks for the tip

 

[Blue22]

Is it RPM related? Have someone give it some throttle to see if the ticking speeds up. If the ticking stays the same then you have a good idea that it's not anything related to belts, pulleys, fan, etc.

 

[Snakebitten]

Fans are electric, so RPM agnostic.

 

[Blue22]

Fans are electric, so RPM agnostic.

Duh! I never liked those HP leeching belt driven fans anyway.

 

[Snakebitten]

They did use up some crankshaft power, but the could definitely pull some air though the heat exchangers!

 

[powerboatr]

Fans are electric, so RPM agnostic.

and wouldnt be great they reverted to dc generators when your flying down the road at 75..of course shutters would have to go
that would get battery to 95%

 

[PB2021]

You sure it’s not your active shutters. In video they look closed. After towing I would think they would be wide open to let air in

 

[Snakebitten]

You sure it’s not your active shutters. In video they look closed. After towing I would think they would be wide open to let air in

Good catch!
It certainly fits the narrative.

It's very possible for a foreign object to obstruct the louvers from a smooth quiet travel. And a plastic tick/click is exactly the description I'd give for it.
On these trucks you can even expect a soft code regarding the louvers for the radiator, as well as those for the Intercooler. I removed the Intercooler louvers and have a permanent code as a result.

 

[powerboatr]

Good catch!
It certainly fits the narrative.

It's very possible for a foreign object to obstruct the louvers from a smooth quiet travel. And a plastic tick/click is exactly the description I'd give for it.
On these trucks you can even expect a soft code regarding the louvers for the radiator, as well as those for the Intercooler. I removed the Intercooler louvers and have a permanent code as a result.

I removed the Intercooler louvers and have a permanent code as a result.


hmmm tell me more young man, i had thought about doing that, but leaving the actuator motor in place to stop the codes,

 

[Snakebitten]

I removed the Intercooler louvers and have a permanent code as a result.


hmmm tell me more young man, i had thought about doing that, but leaving the actuator motor in place to stop the codes,

It's the actuator that throws the code. It's something about the actuator moving beyond its expected range, and is a natural result of the louvers not being there to restrict the range by hitting the intended stop.

It might be possible to leave one specific louver in that acts as the stop, but I don't care about the code. It's a soft code that is never going to be noticed unless you scan for it.

By the way, if your truck is a Powerboost, you'll be disappointed in the very small return on reducing IAT2 temperatures, which is what I was desiring. It's now obvious to me that the elevated intake temperatures are a result of the ICE turning off for lengthy periods of time. When it is off there is ZERO fresh air coming in and the intake gets heat soaked from the block radiant heat.

If you monitor the IAT2 pid, you can watch it escalate dramatically each time the ICE turns off. As soon as the ICE starts it will drop 10°F in seconds, but the starting point is already much higher than a non-Powerboost.

 

[powerboatr]

It's the actuator that throws the code. It's something about the actuator moving beyond its expected range, and is a natural result of the louvers not being there to restrict the range by hitting the intended stop.

It might be possible to leave one specific louver in that acts as the stop, but I don't care about the code. It's a soft code that is never going to be noticed unless you scan for it.

By the way, if your truck is a Powerboost, you'll be disappointed in the very small return on reducing IAT2 temperatures, which is what I was desiring. It's now obvious to me that the elevated intake temperatures are a result of the ICE turning off for lengthy periods of time. When it is off there is ZERO fresh air coming in and the intake gets heat soaked from the block radiant heat.

If you monitor the IAT2 pid, you can watch it escalate dramatically each time the ICE turns off. As soon as the ICE starts it will drop 10°F in seconds, but the starting point is already much higher than a non-Powerboost.

my limited data on shutters open or closed is this and i am surely wrong
tow haul ..they stay wide open
ac on MAX they stay wide open
sport mode may be open or not
normal ...only open on temps and ground speed, as in slow below 30 or so.

for me inter cooler receiving maximum air flow is very important to good engine power per gallon of fuel

maybe those trucks in COLD areas can benefit from closed cooler shutters, but its HOT here 8 months out of the year, lately 10 months


my super duty had a liquid to air cooler for the inter cooler, WOW it kept temps very consistent and cool and was pretty compact..but super duty has 2 cooling systems with 2 different temps

 

[Oakstone]

Mine seem to be sitting about halfway open. The truck cycled on for the generator this morning and the ticking was there again. The engine is warm when I took this photo because it was idling for 10 mins or so.

 

[Snakebitten]

Can you get your ear up close to the grill and the Intercooler and see if the ticking seems to be close to either?

If you ou can get your fingers on one of the louvers, you would likely feeeeel the tick IF it is associated with them.

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