You really don't need the DIY, though it does give you a better sense of what to do.

The fan will come with instructions, and so will the controller (for wiring). Its a pretty straight forward job.

It took me about 12 hours to do mine. I could have done it in two- but I was methodical and **** about routing of wires, soldered connections, and housing. I also used 2 fans- one in a push config, the other pulling. I reused the factory shroud so there were no issues relocating washer or overflow bottles. The 12 hours also included fabricating a spanner wrench to remove the clutch fan, and that (plus actual removal) took about three hours.

Its actually an easy job and won't take you near as long as it took me- like I said, maybe 2 hours if you work without goofing off.

I got fans from eBay- two 2750cfm rigs that draw 28a.. One is a pusher, as said, so I effectively reduced the flow to around 2400cfm (all of these ratings are based on no drag by the way)... Of four controllers I had, I selected the flexAlite as it seemed less gadgety. I pushed a probe through the rad for touching the system off, and put the thing about halfway (vertically) on the rad, as I read somewhere that a loss of fluid (high leak) might result in catastrophic oops.

Now to the good stuff:

The only reason I did it was because the only time I've got close to hot (when nothing mechanical was at fault) is while backing or maneuvering a trailer at slow speeds- read: no good flow. The morning after the mod, I backed a 6k# trailer up a driveway at least 200yds long, through twists and turns. It never broke the halfway mark on the temp gauge. Mission accomplished. BUT: the increase in off the line power is very noticeable. That was a nice lil bonus!!

Good luck!

 

In case you still want/need it

Installing an Electric Fan DIY

I used a Hayden 3647 controller I think

 

I have the same problem with my '03. The fan clutch ceased to be thermal, and runs fully engaged at idle speed up to right around 20 mph. It roars, and really feels like it's pulling down on the engine power. Unless I give it a lot more throttle, that is. So yeah, your best bet is to swap out to an efan rather than doing another clutch. I'm living with mine until spring so I can afford to put in a better fan.

 

i just started getting this problem out of no were today i didnt replace anything i was driving and it just started it would start and stop for awhile but now it just keeps making that loud roaring noise even after getting up tp higher speeds does anyone no wats going on my truck never made that noise before

 

sounds like the clutch is seized up, invest in an e-fan

 

Ok thank u

 

Here’s to REALLY beating a dead horse. Almost a decade late to the cooling system party, I’m sorry.

would you mind elaborating on the negative effects of improper blade size/weight/pitch?

it seems I’m experiencing extreme drag on my 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 with a 4.7l. First year model.

I have tried 3 different fan clutches that are supposed to be OEM quality to my year make model.
Your comment has lead me to believe that the thermal clutch isn’t bad at all. Rather, the fan itself could be out of wack?

I started the truck without the fan for a brief moment today and it sounded and responded like an entirely different truck. My truck RUNS TERRIBLE with the fan clutch assembly mounted.

am I missing something? Is this sort of drag typical for these motors? It’s incredibly worrisome.

 

I really doubt your going to get an answer from a thread that was last posted on 8 years ago. I can tell you that this was what I did to my 4.7. It made a difference in power and I got a adjustable temp switch so I could adjust the fan on what temp I wanted the fan to come on at.

https://www.flex-a-lite.com/direct-f...dodge-ram.html

 

Brought my stick to this dead horse necro session!

Change my mind: E-Fans can never replace clutch fans for heavy duty use. Clutch fans can move upwards of 20,000cfm

Find me an E-Fan that does the same for our application. I run a severe duty fan clutch that goes full lock at near operating temp and it screams when I'm "pulling the grade" (it's about 10 miles of 6%) but never crosses mid-way point on the gauge.

 

10 year revisit. I put in a cheap thermal clutch. No idea what one anymore, but it worked like OEM. I needed a water pump and didn't make it very long after I posted. e-fans were very expensive, and the best solution at the time was a junk yard fan from an old Taurus. Nothing else was really in the same ballpark as the CFMs by the clutch driven fan.