Archived 05 Electric Fan Clutch out and need options

[chris969]

Hello Everyone. I just joined here today and so far it is a great place to learn! I have a problem that I need help with. We had a lot of heavy rain for the past month and now my electric fan clutch does not work. The fan does not turn at all when the engine is on. The mechanic at the dealer said the wires were torn out, possibly due to the fan blades bending from the heavy rain we have had for the past month down here. I was wondering what my options are. The new part is $290. 00 plus installation of 1. 5 hours at the dealer rate. I was thinking of an electric fan (if there is a kit available that will be automatic so I do not have to turn switches on and off). I can still drive the truck and while it is moving, it is not getting too hot but idling, it gets hotter and hotter. I cannot afford to damage this truck. Please let me know if there is an electric fan kit that would work and roughly how much it cost and how long to install. I can do mechanical work. The truck is a 2005 Dodge Cummins 2500 Quadcab longbed SLT Automatic. Thanks for any help.

 

[chris969]

Come on people, 23 views and no ideas if there is an electric fan kit that would work ok or if it is just better to go with the factory electric fan clutch? Thanks for any help.

 

[MMeier]

Come on people, 23 views and no ideas if there is an electric fan kit that would work ok or if it is just better to go with the factory electric fan clutch? Thanks for any help.

Do a search here on those... one of the bigger POS's on the 3rd gen trucks. I'm on number 4 now (at 186k) and member GShail here is on number 14... yes 14!! ( at 270k or somewhere around there) Helped him change out the last one here on his way through town... amazing how good you become at something when you do it on a regular basis!! Oh, and where are getting them at only $290, costs me $325 when I use my buddys shop, otherwise they are damn near $400 bones!

 

[Missouri Mule]

Wouldn't that be covered on your 7/? year warranty. I never heard of a fan blades bendig ??? Sounds like an excuse to me!

 

[MMeier]

Chris, were you driving through a flooded area when this might have happened?

 

[chris969]

It was just raining real bad and then I parked the truck just before it started flooding near the highway exits (some are very low and have bad drainage problems and a few cars were under water and only the roof was showing).



That price was at the Dealer. Lithia Dodge.



I was told it is in the 3yr/36000 mile warranty where the engine/trans are in the 7yr/100000 warranty.



If you guys are having those kinds of problems then I really should look into an electric fan and get rid of the fan and shroud.



I will do a search for electric fans and see what I can find. I called the

Dodge 1800 number to see if they would help me with the issue as I just hit 40000 miles on the truck and I was told it was a bad design for the wires to be there so close to the fan blades and it happens a lot. If I have to spend that kind of money, I think I could go with an electric fan instead.

 

[MMeier]

It was just raining real bad and then I parked the truck just before it started flooding near the highway exits (some are very low and have bad drainage problems and a few cars were under water and only the roof was showing).



That price was at the Dealer. Lithia Dodge.



I was told it is in the 3yr/36000 mile warranty where the engine/trans are in the 7yr/100000 warranty.



If you guys are having those kinds of problems then I really should look into an electric fan and get rid of the fan and shroud.



I will do a search for electric fans and see what I can find. I called the

Dodge 1800 number to see if they would help me with the issue as I just hit 40000 miles on the truck and I was told it was a bad design for the wires to be there so close to the fan blades and it happens a lot. If I have to spend that kind of money, I think I could go with an electric fan instead.

IIRC, there are no electric fans available that can move the amount of air required to keep everything happy.

 

[chris969]

I was told that you need aspecial tool to change it out. I can do it myself if I had the tool that they are talking about.



I still have not heard from Dodge about the warranty issue-if they would help me out or not. This really sucks!



I guess a dual electric fan would not work either huh?



I was just thinking about the fan blower motors like in the home ac unit. It would be cool if you could rig something like that in front of the radiator for the right amount of cfm's needed for the Diesel.



I guess I will just have to get the money and get the electric fan clutch.

 

[chris969]

I forgot to say Thanks.



I really appreciate the info.

 

[MMeier]

Autozone and a bunch of other parts places will rent you the tool. IIRC, it is a 36mm open end and a spanner type tool to go over the bolts on the hub to keep it from turning. If you are careful enough a long ***** punch will work on the big nut, but be careful!

 

[chris969]

Did your's and your friend's fan clutches just go out or did the wires get pulled out like mine? I am wondering when mine is fixed if it would be a good idea to pull the wires more towards the radiator with ty-raps to hold them from getting pulled into the fan. I wonder if that would work. What do you think?

 

[MMeier]

Mine just stop working, never pulled the wire harness into the fan. On George's, I'm pretty sure his just dies also, maybe he'll chime in here. As long as you get the rubber whatever you want to call it, into place in the shroud and have decent push pins holding the shroud together, I find it hard to see how they can get pulled into the fan myself, even when the fan kicks in hard. And as for ty wrapping the harness, I'm thinking that might put more force on the clutch itself, you will see it has a certain amount of resistance to rotation , putting more on it by tying the harness back may harm it earlier then wanted... my. 02.

 

[chris969]

I wish there was another option like a regular fan clutch. What would be wrong with a regular fan clutch? It has snowed here 1 time in 25 years. We usually do not get down into the 20's that much. Do you think if it was available, it would work? If I remember correctly, at high speeds, it is slipping and not really turning with the speed of the motor. Maybe I am not seeing everything here but what would be wrong with a regular fan clutch if you could find it? Down here in Texas, it is usually warm or hot but our 1 or 2 months of winter are no big deal. Maybe in those cold months it would be a problem? What do you think? I wonder if a company out there makes one?

 

[chris969]

I was just thinking, my brother has a Ford F350 Diesel. I wonder if it has a fan clutch or electric fan clutch. If it is a regular fan clutch, I wonder if the aftermarket manufacturer has one that would work or if there is one that is almost the same size and you might have to change out the shrouds? Hmmmmmm... ... ... . Have any of you been down this road and looked at this idea yet? It would be nice if you could just buy one for a Chevy or Ford and bolt it on and it work good or even for a while and just be a whole lot less expensive to change out when it goes bad. Thanks again.

 

[MMeier]

I wish there was another option like a regular fan clutch. What would be wrong with a regular fan clutch? It has snowed here 1 time in 25 years. We usually do not get down into the 20's that much. Do you think if it was available, it would work? If I remember correctly, at high speeds, it is slipping and not really turning with the speed of the motor. Maybe I am not seeing everything here but what would be wrong with a regular fan clutch if you could find it? Down here in Texas, it is usually warm or hot but our 1 or 2 months of winter are no big deal. Maybe in those cold months it would be a problem? What do you think? I wonder if a company out there makes one?

I looked briefly at this possibility also last go round. As far as I could tell, all the earlier" normal" looking clutches... ( ones without wires coming out of them) use a smaller thread diameter where they screw onto the hub. seeing that... and if I keep the '03, this coming off season I might try to experiment with an earlier style shroud, fan, and hub. IIRC, the 03's use a 26" diameter fan, ealier models used only a 20 or 21" fan. Still do not know how to bypass the electronics part, but I do have my A/C compressor and a manual fan clutch override hooked up to toggle switches.