Newbie to the forum, first time posting! I also am fairly inexperienced with auto repair, but am trying to learn as much as possible. On a recommendation from a friend, I purchased a Chilton manual, but this thing is super complex, plus it covers so many different models I am having a hard time figuring out what is relevant to my truck.

I have a 2000 Dakota V6 5-speed manual with 85k miles. Up until recently, I had noticed that every now and then the engine would roar incredibly loud when I was giving the truck gas, when I first started the truck, until I reached 3rd gear. This problem only happened once in a while, so I passed it off as nothing. But just recently, the engine is roaring all of the time!

I did some searching on this forum and came across one possible culprit is the fan clutch. I checked my temperature gauge while driving and noticed that the temperature reading was not reading too hot, which would be an indication the engine is overheating and the heat is causing the clutch to spin the fan faster. With the truck cool, I tried turning the fan by hand and it didn't really turn well at all. Basically, the fan would hit spots where it would give much more tension than the rest. But even in the least tension spots, the blades would maybe rotate 1/5th of the way with a good spin and abruptly stop. How hard is the fan supposed to be to spin? The only test I could find is if the fan spins 5 times or so without stopping, than the clutch is bad, but what about if it doesnt even spin a single revolution at all?

The only other thing I could think of is maybe something is wrong with the exhaust system, especially since the roar is perfectly matched with the RPM of the engine. How would I go about checking if something is wrong with the exhaust?

Again, I am not very experienced, but would like to think I am somewhat mechanically inclined. How difficult would any repairs be for a newbie? Are there any other areas I should check? What's the best resource for someone new to auto repair to study up on?

Thanks very much in advance for your help!

-Noise

 

yea you found the culprit, its the clutch on the fan, and they all roar like that when the trucks are first started, its worse in the cold, but when you first start it the clutch liquid is all settled in the bottom, until it spins back evenly into the clutch the fan will turn faster when the RPMs go up and it is normal, both my parents trucks have done it since they were new, and the cold weather makes it worse and the fan in my truck doesnt spin much more than maybe 1/4 turn (at most) by hand w/ the engine off, your clutch is fine and this is normal dont worry

 

Hmmm... so what ifonenever roars at all? Does that mean the clutch is shot, and the fan will not spin up to full potential?

 

it depends on how long the truck sits between running and alot of stuff, ours dont always do it in the summer, and since you havnt run it in the cold winter yet i wouldnt worry about it unless your temp gauge is going up, and if it doesnt make noise in the winter when it starts cold then look into replacing it, just my .02

 

Thanks, shrpshtr325. That makes sense. Really the only time the temp has gotten up (about a needle's width above 210), was when we were towing around 2200lbs on a 93 degree day, uphill, and with the A/C on. So, now that I think about it, the fan(s) must be doing something right. [8D]

 

Thats sort of why I always had figured the sound was normal for the last few years I have owned the truck, especially since it would go away by the time I shifted into 3rd gear. But the problem I have now is that its not going away at all! The noise is loud all the time. Since I commute to work, I generally drive down the highway at about 70mph, 2500RPM. The temperature gauge will rise until itis sitting at about 10 o'clock, yet the roar of the engine continues. In the cabin, it is so loud that I can't even drown the sound out with the radio without my speakers distorting.

I guess that leaves me with either one of two problems. Either the engine is overheating and the gauge is wrong, or something must be messed up with the fan clutch. After driving it, I opened the hood to see if it was any hotter than normal, and granted this is a crude test, but the enginetemperature seemed to be the same as it always was. I guess that leaves the fan clutch as the only possible culprit.

For a somewhat newbie to auto repair, how hard is a fan clutch to remove? I found some instructions that said to use a spanner wrench to hold onto the water pump, and then use a 36mm wrench to break the nut free. Then, the fan and fan shroud should be removed together. How many bolts are there on the fan shroud? I found three, one on the top passenger side, one on the top driver side, and one about mid-way down on the driver's side. Are there any more bolts for the shroud? Also, what exactly is a spanner wrench? In the instructions, it gave a Snap-On part number, but the website does not return anything when I search for that number. The water pump in my truck doesn't have any other bolts sticking out of it to hold onto.

Thanks again for the help everyone!

-Noise

 

a spanner wrech you can probably use a strap wrench around where the belt would ride(at least i would) and i honestly cant help anything else bc i have never had to do a job like this

 

i made my own spanner wrench. you need a piece of steel bar stock about a 1/4" thick or more, about an inch wide, make one piece about 18" long. the other about 6-8" long. it will look like a " Y " when your done. bolt the two pieces together where the " Y " comes together and drill the tips and press in two 3/8" dowel pin's ( the pin's are about 1 1/4" long). bolting it together allows for adjustment so the pins can be inserted into the water pump pully. i would recomend a pipe or something over the end of the wrench ( it's pretty tight ! ) and let someone else hold the spanner or if it's long enough, let it rest against the frame and break loose the nut. i use the word " about " alot because you can make these things several ways or rent one possibly. this worked on a 2003 4.7 4wd. i only had two bolts holding the shroud on. not too complex a job. good luck. rich c.

 

It's Fixed!!

The Fan Clutch was definitely the problem. I went to Autozone and purchased a new one. They did have a fan clutch kit, but some person had borrowed it last Monday and had yet to return it. All they had left was one that would work on Water Pumps that had the 4 bolts, not the indentions like mine. I ended up picking up a Strap Wrench for $15 instead. I took off the Serpentine Belt, put the Strap Wrench around the water pump pulley, and tightened it against the belt tensioner. It didn't even take a rubber mallet or breaker bar to get the nut off, just one really big push and it broke free.

The only major snag I ran into was the Fan Shroud. I found three bolts, two on the driver's side, and one on the passenger side. There were also slots on the bottom which the plastic tabs sat in. But, I could still not get the passenger side free. I felt some sort of plastic post on the passenger side, but couldn't get it out. Ultimately, I gave up, and just wedged the fan through the gap between the fan shroud and the radiator/washer fluid/coolant overflow.

Once I got the new Fan Clutch on the Fan and installed it, I already knew then it was fixed, since the Fan spun so much more freely without taking a ton of force, yet it didn't spin endlessly as if it was not causing any force at all. Of course the truck cranked up beautifully and was as silent as it always used to be. I drove down the road a few miles, then hopped on the interstate and drove back. The truck also felt like it had some more power to it too, granted that may have been psychological.

Anyways, THANKS SO MUCH for all of your help on this forum. Newbies like me greatly appreciate it. Now I guess I have alot of reading to do to figure out what to mess with next on the truck!

-Noise