A month ago, I put on a (Bosch) water pump, t-stat, upper and lower radiator hoses and installed a new (Hayden) fan clutch from RockAuto. Purged the old coolant and replaced with new.

That was 2K miles ago and it has been working like a champ. Today I drove back from the store and the rango sounds like a jet engine all the way home.

So I pull in the driveway, pop the hood and sure enough the fan clutch is like locked in place. Plus there is just a little play in it if you wiggle back and forth. No doubt about it - its toast!

But after only a month and 2K miles? What the.. Did I just get a lemon?

 

Anything can be DOA....I've had brand new coils last for 2 days and then give up. I'd chalk it up to bad luck, warranty it out, and try again. If the next one you buy goes bad within a month (or even a year), then I'd change brands.

 

So I warrantied the fan clutch out, replaced it with another Hayden, drove 20 mile test - all good. Next morning got up to go to work and deja vu' - the replacement is locked again!

So I went to the local Dodge Dealer and got a Mopar replacement. Cost 2.5 times as much, but no issues since then...

Sometimes there is no substitute for the real thing. Only good news out of this experience is I now can replace a fan clutch in under 15 minutes.