Hey folks. Got 135K on the ole Dakota (2000 v8
4.7)and I noticed some very brief clattering under
the hood the other day. Checked it out and it looks
like the fan is a bit loose. Its got probably 1/4
inch lateral movement to it and its enough that I
think its just barely nicking the air conditioning
compressor bolt. So what causes this lateral "play"?
Should it just be a matter of replacing the fan
clutch assembly to tighten things back up again?
Thanks in advance...

 

I just had the same on our 5.9L RT. It was the clutch. Shot, worn out. It actually kept spinning after the engine was shut off. It was a pain to remove. I had to buy a holder at napa to hold the pulley(looks like a long spanner wrench with 2 dowel pegs on the end). The holder was like $20. Made life alot easy. I rented the fan clutch tool first. And I would not hit it with a hammer like the Autozone guy told me to do. That does not work with a Dodge!
The clutch was like $59.

 

Sounds good Brutus, thanks for the reply. Yeah, I've already asked around for the fan wrench and the tool, I read in the Hanes book that the one for my 4.7 is a little different than the one you had to use on the 5.9. I'd already priced the clutch as well, and it was about what you quoted. Thanks again for confirmation..

 

if your fan clutch has gone bad and has been bad for a while, (im not sure how long its been like that) but i would check out your water pump too while your right there because all that movement could have put more stress on that waterpump.

 

@tamcnally-Will do, I'll check it out. Its not been like this for long but you're right, I'm right in there at it, might as well.

@brutus-I misread the Hanes book, looks like I need the same pulley tool. Calling around now for it...

 

Hey Brutus, my Napa boys are having trouble coming up with the tool I need...any suggestions? They keep wanting to give me the standard flat pulley tool for pulleys with protruding bolts...

 

i think you can just use a spanner wrench. like one that looks like a pair of scissors anyways. your truck might be different, but thats what i used. if you know anyone who works on hydraulic cylinders they will have a set or two laying around.

 

This is what I got at Napa.
http://www.costplustools.com/KD-Tool...er_p_2229.html

 

fwiw - To remove my fan I ended up using a breaker bar and socket with a large pipe wrench. The tool at Autozone kept slipping off

 

Thanks folks. Got it changed out today and that seems to have been the problem. Instead of a spanner wrench I ended up driving two bolts through an old garden stake and using that to hold the pulley. I must have been lucky because the nut broke free relatively easily after that. The Autozone wrench did slip some though, but I cheated a little to snug it up. Thanks again ya'll...