Dodge Ram fan?

I have a 1997 Dodge Ram extended cab with a 5.9. I would like to instal a electric fan to help with gas milage, and do away with the clutch fan. Has anyone done this?

Is it even a clutch fan? I think these fans are on all the time on these trucks...

to put an electric fan on, you will need an electric fan, a way to mount it, and a thermostatically controlled switch to operate the fan. hooked up properly, there is no reason that it would not work.

Why are you wasting money on electric fans?

Does it run hot?

Don't try to cure some other looming problem by scrapping a perfectly adequate fan and clutch.

Slant, the guy is talking about putting electric fans on to reduce the parasitic HP loss incurred when using a standard engine-driven fan setup.

It doesn't sound to me like a looming problem, more a solution, and hey, don't flame the way people do things, its better to appreciate the thought and effort.

As well, I like the way you word your reply using the term " scrapping a perfectly adequate fan and clutch." this is a common problem I have run into as well, where they are perfectly "adequate". However, I have also been known to upgrade all the fans on my vehicles, even the 01 dodge, as they just don't cut it in warm weather, when its getting a real workout. Adequate, in that case, just isn't.

So, in closing. raj, if you want to go to the electric fan, do some careful research, and knock yourself out. Anyone else out there in viewerland doing similar mods, same thing, be careful.

Good luck, happy motoring

One of my main problems is I replaced the bad clutch fan about a year ago and the new one is making a grawling sound now and sounds like a 747 taking off. I know this is killing my gas milage, I get 10 mpg town or highway, and I try to drive it like an old man. The new clutch fan is kinda expensive side. (around $120.00) Was over heating last year, thats why I replaced it.

How much horsepower does a parasite have? Maybe 1 at most? Not! LOL! That's about how much horsepower you'd save by getting rid of the fan. Like come on! Do you really think your power at the back wheels is gonna increase by putting an electric fan in? How about the draw on the alternator that makes it work harder to power that electric fan? You don't get something for nothing...

Well.......I never said anything about trying to increase my horsepower. If you will read my post I was talking about getting better gas milage. The clutch fan is seizing up causing the clutch fan to stay solid all the time, thus causing poor gas milage. If you have ever noticed that most all cars now use a electric fan instead of the clutch type fan. But thanks for your post anyways.

This is a Ram truck right? Every single Ram truck I've ever worked on has had solid continuous fans. Must be a States thing or something...

Why do you think it causes bad gas mileage? The crank has to turn anyways, it might as well have a belt around it to turn another pulley with a bearing in it. If you blow on the fan when it's not connected to the crank, it's gonna start turning. This has almost no resistance, and so it's gonna take almost no effort on the engine's behalf to turn it.

Come on, have some faith in your Dodge. It has enough power to turn a stupid fan without hurting its gas mileage. I can't believe you're worried about this, just get the fan fixed and that's all you have to do. That's my advice. Doesn't mean you have to take it though, it's your truck.

lol, to my knowledge all the newer dodge ram's from the factory have a clutch fan. But it is not conntected to the crank. As far as blowing on my fan you can blow all you want and it will not turn, its going bad again and is hard to turn hot or cold, a clutch fan is designed to "freewheel" when cold, allowing your engine to warm up. When the engine is warmed up the thermostat in the clutch fan will become more solid to pull more air in to cool the engine and maintain a normal operating temp. Does your late model dodge ram have a fixed fan instead of a clutch fan?

If it's not connected to the crank then what drives it? Mine is connected to the crank, and it's fixed. 1997.

lol, your fan is not connected to the crankshaft, it connects to the water pump. If your engine is off and you can turn the fan with your hands with ease then it has a clutch fan. If you can not turn the fan without turning the motor over someone has changed it to a flex type fan. You have a harmonic balancer attached to the front of your crankshaft (or better). All automotive manufacturers attach the fan to the water pump or use electric fans. A series of pullies used with a belt drives everything else i.e. a/c, power steering pump, alt., water pump.

Well thank you for telling me that my water pump is the means which drives the fan which cools my engine. Where does the main drive come from? THE CRANK!

Maybe it's the water pump that starts when I turn the key and runs the crankshaft among other things like THE FAN!

Whatever man. I thought I was helping, I guess I was wrong. I can't believe I even wasted my time.

Ok, this is fun!

The fan clutch doesn't rob you from appreciable horsepower.
It won't give you better gas mileage with an electric fan (or Fans).

Think smart. A fan and clutch, at your peak horsepower curve, causes a significant amount of drag(parasitic HP loss). Let say, for the purpose of demonstration, that it robs you of 20HP at the Peak of the curve (which it doesn't). Now lets put two average heavy duty fans on it. running at 12V, and approximately 5 (conservative)amps each. Thats a 10 amp draw on your battery, in addition to the current vehicle's operable current draw, let's say, only 5 amps.
You have an 85 (ok really about 50)amp alternator, running at a constant 15 amp load, which will reduce you HP by hmm... is that 20Hp?.... oh, and you have the A/C and the stereo (almost forgot the 400w amp too) on and you're charging your cell phone too? and it's nighttime? wow, now there's an overload... Let's put on a 125Amp alternator. What? More HP loss? Oh dear! how can I win?.....

When you think your gaining something(other than being cool.... hey that's funny..) using electric fans, think again.


I'm not flaming anyone. I asked Rajhauf why he would waste money on electric fans. Explaining that he didn't NEED electric fans is an OPINION.

Now, If you really wanted to Gain HP and the Fan was your choice, run the bastard on it's own separate electrical source. Hey, why not run the water pump too. now your saving some horsepower. But dang-it! theres that extra battery weight..... crap! you just can't win....!

so, should I Flame someone now....?

Slantsixness

lol, thanks for your post. I cant win! I guess I will consider trading it, 10 mpg is killing me. thanks.

Hey wait, what are you doing blaming this on the fan? There's probably something wrong with your truck if you're getting 10 mpg! Is your check engine light on? Does anything else act up with the truck?

Not blaming it all on my fan, no check engine light, runs great. I bought it with high milage and have had it for a couple of years now, 10 mpg from day one, I've changed tranny,fuel,oil,and air filters with no improvement with milage. I love the truck but the milage is killing me. Any ideas?

Let me clear this up.

Rajjhauf:
check your cam timing. I've seen a cam on a 5.9L magnum in a '93 ramcharger that, from the Factory, had a defective crank. The key slot for the cam gear was cut wrong in the crank, and left the cam 6 degrees retarded. This caused the truck to average 10Mpg or worse, but it ran smooth as silk. It also tended to run a little hot. After the cam/crank was dialed in (adjusted), the thing got 17Mpg with 3.91 gears on the highway. The cam ended up about 1 degree advanced, due to limitations with the offset keys, but what a difference it made. You might want to tear yours down and at least check true cam timing.

But I don't know how much you want to do. There is a post on ramchargercentral.com regarding a similar situation, but it was a power band issue, but I usually don't even recommend dialing in cams, if they're wrong, something is wrong, like my ramcharger was.
When my ramcharger was in this condition, it was still under warranty, it was fixed around the summer of '94 at 20Kmiles. I traded it in fall of '96, but I never got any more bad MPG, or any more trouble with it at all.

so try this if you like, or you can.

Slantsixness

I will have to look into this when I have time to tear it down. Thank you very much.