Well, it's in! Took about 3 hours altogether. Getting the old fan & shroud
out was way easier than I thought it would be. I used a 4 foot piece of wire
rope thru one of the holes in the w/p pulley tied around the frame
crossmember, then unscrewed the big nut with a pair of 18" ChannelLocks. BTW,
it unscrews CCW, in case anyone wasn't sure. Loosened 4 10mm bolts holding
the shroud, and removed both fan & shroud together.
The Black Magic mounts using a top & bottom plate that grab the lip of the
radiator itself and clamp together when you tighten the mounting nuts.
There's 4 threaded rods (2 top & bottom) that go into the fan housing, then
the plates mount to these rods. The plates needed trimming, and the rods are
so long that I cut 2 in half to make the 4 I needed, and still had to trim
them down with a hacksaw some more.
The wiring was a piece of cake! No messing with the sensor bulb, it's
built into the fan & touches the radiator when you tighten it up. I tapped
into the "trans/20amp" fuse in the underhood power center for my "switched"
power, which shuts the fan off with the key. No dead batteries for me, thank
you. I spliced into the a/c clutch hot lead (black w/white stripe) so it
comes on with the a/c.
Ok, now for the results: It's 87 & very humid right now, and with the a/c
on, my temp went to 210 mark, which it rarely did with the factory fan. I
have the t-stat set at about 190, and on initial start-up, the fan didn't
kick on until the needle was 1/2way between 130 & 210, and kept that temp for
10 minutes of idling. The truck DEFINITELY has more pick-up around town now,
no more "RRRROOOOAAARRR" from the clutch fan! I'm a little disturbed about
the 210 temp, though. Also felt a vibration in the steering wheel that wasn't
there before, nothing major, just noticed it. Now, this is all with the fan
mounted dead center in the radiator, which makes it off center to the engine!
I went back out and repositioned it to the right side, more in line with the
engine. Also turned the t-stat knob down a hair. Will see if that helps.
Final verdict: A big "we'll see". Easy installation with a hacksaw & a
little planning. I LIKE how the truck picks up now from a light, but I'm
leary of that 210 mark! Might try Redline Water Wetter to help the temps.
Would I recommend it? Yeah. Just for the elimination of the roaring clutch
fan, if not for the cooling.
Kevin/NJ
99 CC V8 2wd auto
always addin' more...
check it out: <A HREF="http://members.aol.com/quiktruk99/DARKDODGE.htm">THE
DARK DODGE</A>
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