If you can hear the fan "roaring" then the clutch is doing its job. It's engaging the fan. That's all. It doesn't cool the engine itself, the fan does.

If your temps are still going up then you may have another problem. How is the rest of the cooling system? When was it flushed last? Your radiator may not be flowing as well as it should.

Are all the shrouds in place?

 

I am wrong again. This is my fault, in a way I guess. I checked my truck out further today, my temp gauge was still too high just idling in the driveway after a short one mile trip to McDonald's today. I checked the radiator fan and it was not turning at all. I pulled the rad fan relay, jumped 12 volts to terminal 30 and still the fan was dead. I had code P1491, radiator fan relay curcuit stored after that so I removed the fan shroud and plastic panel under the front of the truck to get to the wiring for the fan to check it there. What I found is a mystery to me. The fan was unplugged from its electrical connector pigtail in the wire harness under the truck. The wiring from the fan side of the connector was caught back up under the radiator and wedged between the bottom of the radiator, condenser and the metal cross member underneath the radiator cradle/lower half of the radiiator fan shroud. I had to wrestle the connector plug out form under the radiator, plugged it in and lo and behold, the e-fan works again. I also jumped 12 volts and ground to the fan by itself just to be sure it was OK, which it was.

Truck ran for 10 or 15 minutes in the driveway, temp gauge is normal, just a hair above the first hash mark, it aLways runs cool because I have a 180 dgeree thermostat. My AC is nice and chilly now too. It was so cold in my truck while it ran in the driveway that when I turned it off and got out of the cab, condensation formed on my keys and key ring.

I have never unplugged or removed my e-fan. I was in a wreck last March, the body shop replaced the radiator, condenser and some other stuff up front. They had to have been the ones to leave the fan unplugged. That was their fault. It was my fault for not noticing the efan was not running all this time since the wreck. How the truck ran for 17 months with no e-fan without overheating is a complete mystery to me. I know some guys here run with no fan clutch at all and no secondary e-fan either, they have no trouble with that I guess. So I guess you can do it the other way around too, run only with your fan clutch and fan by itself. I am sorry I was bashing the Mopar fan clutch, I need to take a test drive to be sure all is well while driving but I am pretty sure it will work fine now. I will post here again if not.

Dodges are tough trucks. If you need a new fan clutch, the smaller, thicker one at the deraler is the one to use. It works great.

Jimmy

 

That was why your clutch fan was kicking on all the time because it had nothing else to cool the motor. Being in Florida, I can't believe you got away with no electric fan since that is what handles most of the cooling.

 

Good find! Glad you got it fixed.

 

Thanks I am glad it's fixed too. Also glad that it didn't cost me anything and very glad my truck never overheated. My radiator, AC condenser, overflow reservoir, water pump, both radiator hoses and radiator cap are all new or replaced last year from the wreck. I just did my water pump in February, actually had to do it twice but that is another story, but my coolant is new since then. In 145,000 miles that was the 4th time the coolant has been changed/flushed out. Maybe that is how I got away with no e-fan for this long. The Dakota Gods gave me some good luck I guess.

I drove the truck tonight on a good test drive, it ran cool just like it is supposed to, and the fan clutch did not engage at all. I will drive it up to Advance tomorrow on my lunch break in the blistering heat of the day and see how the fan clutch does from a cold start and running/idling in 100+ degree heat. I was too lazy today and kind of pressed for time to do a hard reset and clear the CEL and fan relay code. I also need to buy some of the plastic retainer fasteners for the panel under the radiator cradle and I will get Advance to clear the code for me with their scanner while I am there.

I am very grateful this problem did not cause anything more serious. It was partly the body shop's fault and partly my own fault for not checking it out better after I got my truck back from the wreck last year. I just never noticed and never heard that the e-fan was not on. Down here you use the AC a lot and it masks the noise from the e-fan. It's not like the e-fan is very loud to begin with. But you can bet from now on out if anyone else does any work at all on my truck I will go over it with a fine tooth comb to be sure everything is OK.

Jimmy

 

I noticed that yesterday, normally in Texas Heat even with the 180 stat the damn thing would sit between (195-210) somewhere.. Even driving down the road at highway speed.. kick off the AC and boom.. temp goes down 180ish..

ROFL.. I'll be investing in an e-fan for sure. im sick of this clutch..

 

So far so good on my e-fan and fan clutch. I went out at lunch to go up to Advance to clear the code and CEL, the CEL was already off. Temps were in the 90s today, not so hot because it was overcast and threatening to rain all day. I did go for a drive anyway and my truck ran just fine and the AC was freezing cold about one minute after I turned it on.

I had a little bit of the normal fan clutch roaring noise when I first started out, it lasted maybe 200 yards and went away. The Mopar fan clutch definitely is a lot better than any aftermarket clutch. There might be some online Mopar parts sites that sell it cheaper than the dealer. It was money well spent if you ask me.

Jimmy