I was told the magnum engines do this I am just not used to it so just asking. I have a 2000 Dakota 3.9L V6 Magnum. I have only owned it for two weeks. Everything is great with it. The engine and transmission run perfect. I notice the engine has a "ram air" like sound to it. Its louder then what I am used to. I watch the RPM's it will be quite then have the "ram air" like sound with no change in the RPM's so I know its nothing to do with the engine or tran. Any thoughts

 

It's the fan clutch. It should only make the roaring sound when the engine is cold, and it can do it after you idle for a while without moving. The roaring sound should stop after you drive just a short distance, maybe 1/8th of a mile. If it is roaring more than that or even all the time, the fan clutch is locked up and needs to be replaced. Check it with the engine off. The fan should move a few inches when you try to spin it by hand and be fairly easy to turn by hand. If not, or it is stiff to move or won't move at all the fan clutch is locked up.

The fan clutch noise is a common problem. When my fan clutch locked up back in February I bought one at Autozone for $50.00. It howled even worse than the old factory clutch did, and it did it all the time and made my truck run bad. I returned it to Autozone, the store manager was very cool about it and gave me a full refund even though it was over 30 days old. A new fan clutch was $140.00 at the Dodge dealer. I bought a used one for $30.00 off a wrecked Dakota in a junk yard that had about 70,000 or 80,000 miles on it. I have had no problems at all with the junk yard fan clutch. If and when it fails, I will bite the bullet and get a new one from Dodge. If you need a new one, I would suggest using a factory fan clutch.

Jimmy

 

I am assuming you are talking about the large medal fan on the block. I will check it after I get out of work. It does'nt not do it all the time. I have noticed it when accelerating and also driving at a consistent highway speed, but other times it does not do it. Is this what we are talking about(Look at link)

http://c2c.activant.com/ctoc/index.j...JPVRp0AFwIGwAA

 

Yep, that's the fan clutch and the noise you described is the sound of the fan clutch not releasing like it should. A new fan clutch from the Dodge dealer or a Mopar parts website should fix the problem.

Jimmy

 

thanks