Fan Lubrication

[George House]

Howdy friends,... since my ‘26 engine is out for a rebuild, I turned my attention to a wobbly fan and fan pulley. I removed the 4 screws and the fan from the pulley and saw the shaft looked good. Then I determined I must’ve included modern needle bearings many years ago. The entire assembly seemed a bit dry. I then consulted my repro Ford T lube chart on the wall and it stated grease on the early fans and oil on the ‘later’ fans. I then dove into the Forum archives and found only one - July 2016 - thread and many of ya’ll chimed in with both grease and oil. Would it be different if needle bearings are used ?

[rainer]

Hello. I have just finished such repair.

My '16 Touring has one of the very first fan hubs. As I found out, my hub is hollow!!!!

So I had a lot of work with turning a new insert, glue it in, and finally fill Epoxy Resin into the gap. This will never ever come out again, and from outside everything looks very original.
Finally I inserted two needle bearings, so the fan is running now very well. Tomorrow I will install it.

I can give you details if you are interested in.

[George House]

...and another thing - the old gasket under the fan and above the pulley into which the 4 screws are inserted was some kind of dark, hard paper. I’ve seen this gasket cork. Which is correct ? And is there another gasket in the hub rear under that cup washer ? Oil or grease ??

[jab35]

George, this diagram may be useful. Front gasket with 4 holes was paper/granulated cork sheet depending who made them. Rear seal was/is felt. I use chainsaw bar oil in my '26 with bronze bushings, and do not overtighten the fan belt, ymmv. jb
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[TRDxB2]

I would assume that most references to fan lubrication may be those with bushings. External references to needle bearing lubrication would suggest grease and in some cases oil. "Needle bearings are usually lubricated with grease, but oil or oil-mist lubrication is preferred for heavy-duty or high-speed applications. Many light-duty bearings never require relubrication, but high loads or speeds demand it"
and then there are different constructs of needle bearings https://www.machinedesign.com/mechanica ... e-bearings

[George House]

Thanks James and Frank. That was exactly what I needed. I think it’ll be grease.

[John Codman]

This is one place where I have deviated from original. The old fan pulley slung grease all over the inside of the engine compartment; I replaced it with an aluminum sealed-bearing pulley from Lang's. It's the best (and one of the only) updates that I have done to my T.

[Original Smith]

I used rear axle oil in mine, 90/140. I never checked the oil level, but it's a good idea to do so occasionally, as it does go somewhere after years of use.