Hey all. I am new to this forum but not new to owning a dodge truck. This is my second dodge dakota and I have a question about it.

When I am towing my boat and gear (about 5,000lbs) on a hot day or uphill the trucks temp gauge really starts to move. It will go up quite a bit before I hear what I think is an auxilary fan kick on. This fan sounds like it goes faster the harder I press down on the pedal and helps cool the engine. It seems to work pretty well but I was wondering if there was a way for me to turn on this fan sooner or control it more. I am about to take a 300 mile trip through some bad heat for a boating excursion this month and am trying to ensure I don't get stuck on the side of the road.

Anybody have experience with these things or what is turning on in my truck?

thanks

 

what you are hearing is the engine fan which is controled by a clutch which operates off of heat coming off the radiator... the more heat there is = the faster the fan will spin, the only other thing you could really do is add an electric fan..

 

ya i have heard that the electric fan helps with the power too. i notice that when the engine fan turns on, the less power I have. I would like to keep my power and have the truck cool itself. will the electric fan do this?

 

i dont run one, yet... but there are a lot of others on here that do, i'm sure they get back to ya and let you know what is best.

 

The clutch fan runs off the engine (via a viscous clutch)...in day to day use, unless you are in slow moving and/or city traffic, the fan does not turn on. Most higher speed driving produces enough airflow over thh radiator to cool the engine.

In your case, if the engine is already under load and the fan is kicking on, then yes, it is 'robbing' you of power. An electric fan would cool the engine, the power is just coming from elsewhere i.e. your electrical system.

 

Well then I definitely want this electric fan. I saw a writeup on a ford taurus fan on here, but I don't feel confident enough in my skills to do something like that (daily driver and cannot afford to have down time). Is there a kit or shops that do this sort of thing? What $$ am I looking at here?

 

Eric... what do you have your fan set at temp. wise?


I am thinking this may be my next investment

 

Sounds like the fan is working OK, so maybe install an aux. trans cooler to help control the heat? That would help get some of the heat being transfered to the radiator from the transmission out of the radiator, reducing the cooling load on it?

 

not a bad thought, yet again, are there any recommended products to use for this?