Towing with the electric fan conversion kit's for '02

[thefox311]

So has anyone done any serious towing with the electric fan conversion kits that are on the market? I was thinking these would probably be the way to go since the viscous fan clutches aren't all that great. Just wondering it was worth the 650$

[diesel4life]

Pop the hood on any new diesel truck, they still run mechanical operated fans. Electric fans are fine for smaller cooling systems with less load demand being put on an engine but do not work very well in our application.What is your fan doing or not doing that your having issues with?

[MnTom]

About the only time you should need a fan is a slow speeds. The fan is pretty much useless over about 35 mph or so. You may need to pull your radiator and clean it out real good.

[flagmanruss]

The electric fans are not recommended for towing... I had installed a solid mounted fan with thin stainless flex blades on an earlier GMC gas truck & it worked good. The blades would flatten out after a certain RPM. I don't see Flexilite offering them anymore however.

[Mopar1973Man]

Mechanical fan will always pull more CFM's of air than any electric fan. As for mechanical fan they do not place a load on the engine until locked. Even with electric fans you now placing the fan load on the alternator which placed it load back on the belt anyways. So how was converting from mechanical to electric any improvement? Just to make you think a bit.

[mopartechnician]

Like said before the fans are only needed in slow speed/stop and go driving. I have also seen many times that electric fans can't meet the demand needed by a towing diesel truck. On my 01 that I just bought the mechanical fan went out so the guy had an electric fan out of a grand Cherokee that he rigged in there. I don't really think it pulls much air but I havn't tried it. If you wanna test is the fan is pulling air, I was always told to stick a dollar bill in front of the intercooler and if it holds it up, its pulling enough air. Just my two cents.

[thefox311]

Sorry it took me so long to get back with you all.Well it just seems my truck is having problems with the AC and keeping it cool, the fan clutch i have in there is an after market from Rock Auto. Sounds like a Jet for the first couple miles and then shuts off. But you would think living in phoenix, AZ that in stop and go traffic it would kick in, but it rarely does even with the a/c on. Towing my trailer it comes on and never goes off. Once i drove all the way from Payson to phoenix and it never shut off, roughly 85 miles some hills and lots of down hills. I have heard rumors that maybe 1 in 3 were good from the factory. My stock fan clutch gave up the ghost maybe 4-5 months ago and I can remember that fan clutch worked correctly at stop lights and while towing but knowing what the dealer wants for a fan clutch i opted for the cheaper parts. Ever since I got rid of that mopar fan clutch it just hasn't acted the way it should. At least from what i can tell. I will be pulling the radiator and intercooler to give them a thorough cleaning ( will post some pictures here )because after looking i can see the grime build up from the oil puke bottle. And while im at it i will do Mopar Man's mod for the puke bottle. As for the A/C it hasn't been right since I bought the truck which was back in 2007. I had it charged right after i bought it, which was in may, and that only lasted till mid august of that year. Every year since i just recharge it before the summer months hit. It was quite convenient to have friends that worked at car dealers haha. But now I want the darn thing to hold a charge longer than six months. I replaced the high side line, low side line, reciever dryer and thats it so far. I only have three components left (compressor, evap coil, condensor coil) to replace before I will have a completely rebuilt ac plus the switches. But wanting the a/c to work correctly is what is driving me to really spend some quality time trying to figure this out. i replaced the stuff mentioned above in May and here it is August and it's empty. If i were a betting man i bet the evap coil is bad (dont see any oil/dye coming out the drain tube tho). I bought gauges to check my problem, haven't used them yet since I already know it's low and or out of 134a and blowing 85 deg air, and compressor cycles a lot. When i disassembled the system, I did not see any black death. So right now it looks like process of elimination. But probably I will replace the condensor and evap at the same time. So what are your guy's thoughts? Should I go ahead and replace that cheapy fan clutch and put the mopar stuff back on? and am I headed down the right track as far as the ac and cooling system?-thefox311

[diesel4life]

First things first, if your rad is plugged I would remove it and degrease it. From the sounds of it your fan may be functioning fine. It's fairly normal to hear them engage momentarily upon start up. When you say it will run non stop while towing, how hot is your gauge showing? This could possibly go back to a plugged rad and the fan may be functioning as it should. As for the a/c maybe putting some dye in the system can help you pin point your leak. I found a good online source for a/c components, priced cheap, good warranty, and I've been very happy with everything I've bought from them. I'll dig up the link and post it up. http://www.discountacparts.com/ These guys offer reman, new in house brand, and new oem depending on your budget, with no cores and free shipping.

[thefox311]

First things first, if your rad is plugged I would remove it and degrease it. From the sounds of it your fan may be functioning fine. It's fairly normal to hear them engage momentarily upon start up. When you say it will run non stop while towing, how hot is your gauge showing? This could possibly go back to a plugged rad and the fan may be functioning as it should. As for the a/c maybe putting some dye in the system can help you pin point your leak. I found a good online source for a/c components, priced cheap, good warranty, and I've been very happy with everything I've bought from them. I'll dig up the link and post it up. http://www.discountacparts.com/ These guys offer reman, new in house brand, and new oem depending on your budget, with no cores and free shipping.

This last time towing it got to about 210-212 going up 6% grades. But you know the stock gauge isnt very accurate, but definetly cooler than before. Before it would hit the end white line before the gap between white and red. Mind you this last time i towed I had the new clutch on and "hosed out" the radiator. And as far as the A/C system it has had dye in and still has it. Thats the problem though I never see any dye leaking any where. Lol I even bought a UV light to try and find it and still nothing from the pipes, compressor, drier/accumulator, or condensor. But normal motor oil lights up pretty colors!

[stodg73]

Electric fans pull about 2500 - 3000 CFM, where the OEM fan can pull 25,000 CFM. Lots of HP behind the fan.I have driven the road from Payson to Phoenix multiple times and my fan never came on while driving, however, when I hit Mesa, the fan would come on in about 3 minutes. I know about the summers in Phoenix, I spent 4 years there working ambulance, and how hot they are and having a good A/C is a necessity, not a luxury.

[diesel4life]

This last time towing it got to about 210-212 going up 6% grades. But you know the stock gauge isnt very accurate, but definetly cooler than before. Before it would hit the end white line before the gap between white and red. Mind you this last time i towed I had the new clutch on and "hosed out" the radiator. And as far as the A/C system it has had dye in and still has it. Thats the problem though I never see any dye leaking any where. Lol I even bought a UV light to try and find it and still nothing from the pipes, compressor, drier/accumulator, or condensor. But normal motor oil lights up pretty colors!

Those temps sound normal for fan operation so I would guess at this point it's probably working fine as long as it isn't engaging below 200* I have checked my temp gauge against a manual and it was within 2 degrees. From the temps your reporting when the fan is engaged, I would wager yours is pretty close.