my fan clutch is past wore out and i NEED another one, financially i cant buy new right now so im looking at going to the wrecker to hold me over for the summer.....will i be able to use a fan clutch from pretty much any dodge 318 LA block? Magnum too? car/truck they should all be the same?

 

You can swap over to an electric fan for less money than you can get a new clutch for. My electric fan set up was less than $100, and an electric fan will free up about 15 hp. As for buying junk yard parts like that, I would suggest staying away from it, cause there's no way of saying for sure if its any good, and those things are a PITA to have to do the job twice.

 

Is there any way of getting the fan to start automatically? Any write ups on it that i can read about?

i just figured id try a junk yard one cuz i can get it for 5 bucks....

 

If you're asking about the electic fan, yes. There a couple different kinds of thermo-switches that tell the fan to turn on whenever the coolant reaches a certain temperature. As for a write-up, I can't really help you there, cause my electric fan is attached to a switch in the dash that I manually turn on.

 

Summit racing has a few thermo switches listed in the section their universal fans.

 

I totally agree with this statement. You may get a fan for $5 but installing it just to find out that it may be in worse shape than the one you got rid of, is no fun at all. Especially in the summer when the engine super-heats and causes all sorts additional problems that will cost way more to repair than waiting a bit and/or converting to electric. I priced out a fan, switch and themostatic sensor at Advance Auto parts and it came in at about $115 with tax. I'm waiting on my taxes to do the conversion.

 

Would ripping the fan off give 15 more HP?

 

Those are the claims that I've heard. That mechanical fan is really heavy!

 

im not sure about 15HP but it will defiantly free up a few extra ponies..... i was lookin and to take the fan clutch off my truck takes 4 bolts and another 4 or 5 to take the fan off....i have yet to decide what i want to do, my uncle might still have a intrepid or two for parts that i can maybe steal off of...if thats the case ill defiantly go electric

what kind of thermo switch would you recommend? Summit racing links?

 

15 is a lot. The best way to describe it is when the fan clutch is not engaged and 2 more hp. Compared to when the clutch is engaged it could be 15hp or more.