I have a 2002 Durango RT. I had to replace the fan clutch. I went to Autozone to purchase one. They said that there were 2 different ones. Light duty and heavy duty. I usually to upgrade when I have to replace parts. When the heavy duty fan clutch was installed, I immediately notice a loud howling sound from the fan from a standing start that never really seemed to dissipate much. The old fan clutch use to do that from a cold start but would usually go away after awhile, but the heavy duty would stay engaged longer. It engages whenever I accelerate whether on the street on getting on the freeway. Sometimes it's louder than the exhaust.


Besides the acceleration decrease and mpg, the one thing I did notice was the temperature gauge showed the engine running a lot cooler. Here's a picture of my temperature gauge . With the OEM fan clutch, the needle was just off center. I've been told by different mechanics that temperature is too low and I've told that it's ok where the temperature gauge stands. I want to keep my Durango, but I don't want to stress the engine. So I'm posing the question to you all. Should I keep the heavy duty fan clutch even though it keeps the engine cooler? Is the HD clutch making the engine work harder? Should I go back to the OEM fan clutch even though the temperature gauge shows a higher temperature? I'm open to all opinions.

 

I think the 'heavy duty' was used with the OEM towing package, which I happen to have (like the towing package adding the 160 amp alt over the 136 amp to run trailer lights/brakes). My gauge looks like that all the time. By you being annoyed with the noise, and the old one fine over the years, sounds like you might want to switch to the 'standard duty'.

 

It does have a towing package. That's what came up on the computer at the auto parts store. So I went with it. I've been considering switching to the standard FC, but I know that the temperature gauge will go up making the engine run hotter. I don't know if it would really matter or not if it did. I'm just not sure which why to go based upon what some mechanics have told me about using the heavy duty compared to stand duty. I know it's a difference. I'm just looking for what works the best.

 

Not sure exactly where you're sitting at without numbers on the gauge, but that looks about where my 5.2 always sits. The 5.2/5.9 are perfectly happy sitting in the 180°-195° range. On my gauge far left mark is 130°, straight up is 210° and far right is 260°.

 

Rockauto has good info on fan clutches.


http://www.rockauto.com/genImages/93...SD-HD-SVRD.pdf

 

Thanks dolittle for the link. It helped out a lot. From what the specs say, my Durango came with a heavy duty fan clutch. I just don't know why it so loud. I just replaced the PCM and the front axle recently and the mechanic said the same thing. Once I find out what degree levels are on the temperature gauge, then I'll make a decision on if I'll change it. From what I've read, 180-195 is a good temperature range for the cooling system. I just don't know what those ranges are pertaining to the gauge in my Durango.

 

My recommendation in general, and would help this issue... buy an ELM327 on eBay (the long ones, not the short stubby ones), then pop $4.99 for the 'Torque' app for your phone. You can drive around and monitor all sort of things, like water temp, MAP output, O2 sensors, speed, etc. It will also read and clear codes too. I keep the ELM327 in the console and always have my phone, so always have a scanner (for any vehicle). I keep a 2nd ELM327 in my Jeep.

 

I had mine replaced with HD clutch. Fan will initially roar for a bit for cold starts but will immediately disengage after a few min or driving a couple blocks. What you DO NOT want to get is the severe duty clutch. That was my initial clutch I swapped out and that thing never disengages until you are on the highway or when the A/C is running. The HD clutch keeps my truck cool in the summer. My torque app shows it running between 180-190 in the summer and 170-180 in winter. HD Clutch hardly comes on during winter time.

torque is a good app but I prefer Dash commander. menu and looks are much nicer and easier to read vs Torque.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...hCommand&hl=en

 

Didn't know if that one, checking it out now. Thanks.

 

My HD clutch fan will dissipate after a while, but it kicks in when I accelerate from a standing a stop like from a stop sign or stop light. It also kicks in when I get on the freeway or if it downshifts to third gear by turning off the over drive. When I accelerate to pass on the freeway, if I don't hop on the accelerator, it won't kick in, but the acceleration is slow. It was quicker before I changed the FC to HD. The only thing is I changed it because it went bad. I posed the question about the fan clutch because I had a few mechanics say it was running to cold which makes the mpg go down. Some said the temperature should be higher for better mpg. That's why I added the picture to this post. From the input that I've gotten from this post, the temperature should be between 180-195. Since my gauge doesn't have number, I don't know what my temperature range is reading. I've looked online to see if I could find out what temperature the tick makes represent, but for the 1st generation Durango mine being an 2002, I couldn't find what the tick makes represent. If I could change out the FC to get more acceleration and better mpg and still stay within 180-195, I would consider making that change. By the way, I appreciate you guys for your input.