its possible that the truck was running warmer with the old can clutch simply because it was old and worn, and now any new clutch would keep the temperature where it is sitting at right now. . . food for thought


your not going to hurt the engine running it where youa re, however if you put the lighter duty clutch in you will save some fuel becase it disengages more readily.

 

I've always heard the HD fan clutches engage a lot, which will bring down your fuel economy. I had a standard one on my durango and towed a 6000lb boat when it was over 95 degrees no issue. Something to consider as well is switch to electric fans, best of both you can have the fuel economy and cooling. On a side note, we have heavier fans with more blades than the ram 1500 of the same year does. I was surprised at that when I had to take the fan of my ram to do a water pump, I think it has to do with the size of the durangos engine compartment being smaller and not moving as much air.

 

I was thinking the same thing. That's why I was hoping to get some conformation on what the temperature ranges are with the standard FC. So I posted a picture of my temperature gauge to see if someone with a standard FC could tell me if the temperature range was the some or different than the HD FC. If the standard FC will keep about the same temperature, I will change it back to a standard one.

 

Jr,

To clarify the clutches, the HD clutch is actually the same as the OEM. Getting a standard one may end up not cooling as well under extreme conditions.

My mistake was replacing the HD with a Severe duty. The Severe duty does not disengage much. Fan can get so loud, I cannot have a normal conversation in the truck.

Switching back to HD clutch was a godsend from the severe duty. Only engages frequently when temps outside are near 100 degrees. So it is doing its job. However, cool days or winter days, the HD clutch hardly kicks in. It's like driving with no fan clutch at all.

 

One of the things I've wondering about is the temperature gauge reading and what is should look like with a HD or Standard FC. I've been trying to find a picture of a temperature gauge of a proper running standard FC to make a comparison to mine to see how close they are. I changed mine because it went bad. It started to wobble. I know the HD FC stays engaged longer and kicks in when it downs shifts into 3rd. I've just noticed a loss in acceleration and mpg, but the motor is running cooler. I've been told it's running to cold and that it effects the acceleration and mpg. I would just like the best of both worlds. I just hope someone could shed some light on the situation or point me in the right direction to find the information I'm looking for.

 

[My 2¢...] The system is designed so the thermostat controls the gauge needle, not the fan. Assuming your radiator is clean, good fluid, good water pump, etc., you shouldn't see any needle change between any of the clutches with normal around town driving.

The only time the needle would be different with any of the clutches is when the motor is working hard and maybe A/C on at 95° and the clutch+fan+radiator can't pull out all the heat being generated. If you see needle changes after swapping in any model new clutch and normal load town driving, it's because the old clutch was indeed dead or there are other issues with the cooling system.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you for answering my question. When I changed to the HD FC, I changed the radiator, thermostat, top radiator hose, and water pump. I also had the system flushed. I think I may switch it back to the standard FC. I don't use the AC a lot where I'm from. I have a lot of miles on my Durango, but it's been well taken care of. I've had a lot of work done to it, (new upper/lower control arm assembly and bushings, new front sway bar bushings, new upgraded timing chain, new front axial/deferential, new PCM, radiator, new top OEM radiator hose, water pump, HD fan clutch, heavy duty shock upgrade, upgraded to grooved rotors) and have regular engine maintenance done to keep it running strong (ie., oil and fluid changes). I'll let you know how things go if I change it back. Thanks JD!!!

 

I finally figured out what the problem was with my fan clutch. Apparently the salesperson sold me a severe duty fan clutch. Shortly after I bought the fan clutch, I went back to the parts store and told the salesperson that sold it to me that it had to be the wrong part. He insisted that is was a Heavy Duty fan clutch. That was a year and a half ago. The thing I find fascinating about this whole ordeal is that I went to mechanics, auto parts stores and even a dodge dealership and asked if they could tell if I had a heavy duty clutch or a severe duty clutch. No one could give me a clear answer. Every parts store that I went to see if they had the fan clutch in stock to compare didn't have one in stock and didn't have any pictures of one that would show the difference. About three months ago, I went a parts store called Mounment Auto Parts and asked if they had any in stock that I could look at. They had 3. One was a Standard Clutch. The second was a Heavy Duty Clutch. The third was a Severe Duty Clutch. After the salesperson laid out all three in front of me, I could see that the Severe Duty looked just like the one that was sold to me at Autozone. I bought the Heavy Duty Clutch from Mounment Auto Parts. I had the Severe Duty removed and had the Heavy Duty installed. I HUGE Difference. After almost 2 years since I was sold the wrong part, I took the fan clutch back to Autozone. I talked to the manager and he looked up the purchase on the computer. It appears that Autozone does not a separate listing Severe or Heavy duty for the their fan clutches. They list them under one umbrella as HEAVY DUTY. The manager said that the salesperson that sold me the clutch just grabbed what was on the shelf based on what the computer listed. Even though it was well past the return date, the manager gave me a full refund for the Severe duty fan clutch. The moral to the story is don't go to Autozone for engine parts.

 

I stopped by a Pep Boys, my first time ever in one of their stores. I ordered a pair of trunk lid struts for my GF's '93 Geo convertible. They looked it up, ordered a pair, and days later sold them to me. They didn't fit, so I took them back. They charged me a restocking fee, saying I must have had the wrong vehicle, since that is the part their computer claims is right for my stated application. That was 7 years ago, and it was only $6 loss, but I have never have been in another Pep Boys. I ordered the right part at another auto parts store in town without issue.

 

JeeperDon,
This seems to be the norm for the larger auto parts stores. Cheap parts and bad customer service. I don't understand how the inventory at these stores don't coincide with the descriptions on their computers. Also, It doesn't help that at the parts store chains that most of the people behind the counter have no auto parts knowledge of what they are seller. They go by what's on the computer screen. I miss the good old days when you could go to just about anywhere and people would have at least some basic knowledge about what part you were looking for. I guess it pays to spend a little bit more to get what you want from the specialty auto parts stores.