I launch my stream off the porch!.............ROTFLAMO

 

Okay, so it's been the first day that we haven't had rain here in NYC so I decided to install the used fan from Indy. Thanks man! I started at 7pm and finished around 11pm. And I was only working off my garage light and the street lamp! Anyways, here's what I did, sorry, no pics. My wife would NOT let me touch the camera after she saw how dirty my paws were...LOL...
1) Drained the coolant and washer fluid, I recycled for you "green" people out there.
2) Located the two bolts that held the top shroud in place, removed bolts after removing battery. Unplugged all hoses and electrical connections. Cussing cause I scraped my knuckles.
3) Noticed one of the fan bolts was conveniently located right under the "A" frame. Cussing some more, decided to remove the "A" frame. Found out that the two lower bolts were ,again, conveniently located under more engine parts.
4) CUSSING ALL HELL OUT!!!!!!!
5) Removed top two bolts of "A" frame, gently coaxed the frame towards the engine thus giving me room to work the bolt. Now check this out. If you are facing the engine, there will be two bolts on the right hand side of the fan assembly and one on the left hand side. I took off the lower bolt no problem. Now the fun begins: The upper bolt and the left hand ones have seized!!! Tried using the torx drive, nope. Tried using the ratchet, nope. Cried, begged and pleaded, nope. Had to finally knock the bolts out of the plastic housing. Which left me with either no holes or broken tabs!!! CUSSING!!!!!!
6)Finally got the new fan assembly in place and screwed one bolt into place. Now for the two tabs... One had enough hole left to put a new bolt and nut to hold it into place. The other one I had to use zip ties to do it. I know, I know, blasphemy!!! I had no choice!!! So get off my back!!!
7) Replaced everything I took out and cussing all the way. Hi ho hi ho cussing all the way.....
8) Located the VSC on the battery holddown and connected all wires properly.
9) Tested the control, worked flawlessly.
10) Scared the neighbors cause I was cussing up a storm then laughing like a lunatic!
So in summation:
VSC and second hand fan: $150
Misc. parts: $20
Eating crow and admitting it: $0
Not paying someone else do
it and keeping the money
for some more mods: PRICELESS!!!!!

P.S. Anyone know where I can get skin grafts??? LOL...LOL...LOL...
P.P.S. I took off the pusher and controller and pushed the grill back onto place. She look much better now!

 

Congrats on what sounds like a job well done.

So you have a stocker aux fan that YOU can control as you see fit now, right? What conditions are you looking to solve and parameters looking to use?

IndyD

 

Indy, yep. I'm going to use it for its intended purpose, to cool down the a/c condenser and to help cool the rad if/when the temp gets too high. Hmmm... Now I gotta wrap the a/c line... I wonder ho much a laser thermometer costs... Hehehe...

 

OK here is a question I want to get rid of the belt drive fan and replace it with E-fans. is there wiring harness connections in these trucks or will i have to run the whole thing. Can't find what I'm looking for so figured this is the best place to ask?

 

No there is no harness on your 1999 of any kind. You will have to wire your truck complete with fan, relays, switches, and sensors.

 

Just a update to this thread. As I have removed my clutch fan and running only the oem electric fan, I was discussing this cooling issue with Chris from performance injection, the company that programs the Hughes SCT tuner concerning my cooling fan running all the time. He says that the oem fan should perform well when run continously and he has yet to see one burn out early. They set the on temperature on my PCM to turn on the fan at 150 degrees and stay running.

So far so good, I am holding around 177 to 180 degrees during the fall season using only the OEM electric fan but doubt the electric fan will hold up when Texas blistering 100+ heat in the summer arrives.


He also recommends as I have explained to him that I have removed the clutch fan, that they have a electric fan replacement for our Dodge trucks. The kit they make comes from a Jeep Cherokee!!! The OEM electric fan for the Cherokee is 19 inches. Exactly the same size as the clutch fan. They rated the Cherokee electric fan to pull 4400 cfm's. The bonus for this fan vs the ford Mark fans, is that this fan pulls less amperage (50amps at initial power on vs 60-70 for mark fan) so it will not put a strain on our electrical systems. They also make a custom shroud that perfectly fits our radiators. Not sure if it is a perfect plug n play fit. The electrical harness to the fan is a Dodge OEM plug which will plug into any Durango that has the oem electric fan. No electrical hacking here. Let your PCM control this fan!

I am waiting to get the links from Chris to get more information and pricing. I got his permission to post the information in this forum. Maybe they can give us a discount if we do a group buy in. I will definitely plan to get one of these as I will never go back to a clutch fan now that it is removed from my truck.

 

Regardless of failure or if it lasts forever, the OEM efan will not keep it cool in the summer whether it runs constantly or not. Be prepared.

IndyDurango

 

I know this is an OLD post however, did anyone get the part information about the clutch fan delete that Kensai was talking about above? Having some funky cooling issues with my 2000 4.7L Durango and I remembered this thread but I never seen the final results.

Thanks
Steve