E-Fan Equipped

[Big Green]

Well ladies and gents, you can add me to the list of E-Fan equipped Rams. I decided to tackle it today, but was not going to get too involved in it unless I knew I could get the clutch fan off.

I started off trying it by my lonesome with a 12" crescent wrench. When that failed, I grabbed a good buddy of mine called Liquid Wrench. Made sure not to get it on the belt and a few minutes later... off like a prom dress! Rest of the tear down/install went real smooth. I opted to dremel away the fan frame edges that we've recently discovered can cut into the upper radiator hose as time goes by. A big thanks to retiredfireman for making us aware of the upper hose issue!

I took some pics of where I dremeled to give y'all a better idea of how much material I removed. Obviously didn't want to take off too much, but also wanted to make sure I wouldn't have to worry about any rubbing. Would have possibly gone with the weatherstripping, but wanted something more permanent that didn't make contact with the hose. BTW. The last picture is just a gratuitous pic of the honeycomb insert I installed in my chrome grill. I honestly think the insert swap was more of a pain in the ass than the fan swap lol. Those clips were a nightmare!

View One:


View Two:


My Ram's New Grill:

So much better looking than the chrome slats! Breaks it up nicely in my opinion.

 

[09SMOKINHEMI]

good job man!! you can definitely hear when that thing turns on! did you already set it to the temp you want?

 

[Big Green]

good job man!! you can definitely hear when that thing turns on! did you already set it to the temp you want?

Thanks! And yes, I set the fans to kick on at 210*. Still rocking the factory 203* thermostat so I think that should work well for me. Don't want them kicking on all the time, but not wanting to get anywhere close to the factory fan setting of 223*. I should also add that I used a phillips head screwdriver to secure the water pump pulley while using the crescent wrench. Prior to that I was just circulating coolant through the system lol.

 

[AceBlackRam]

Good job, great grill!! Im leaning toward open mouth honeycomb grill but cant seem to find one...

Nice truck, enjoy!

 

[Big Green]

Good job, great grill!! Im leaning toward open mouth honeycomb grill but cant seem to find one...

Nice truck, enjoy!

Thanks! I have yet to see an open mouth design for the fourth gens, but I'm very pleased with mine.

 

[2012 R/T Joe]

Welcome to the club!

 

[Big Green]

Welcome to the club!

Thanks man!

 

[TylerB]

It's so nice getting rid of the huge shroud and the noise of the airplane of cold start-up isn't it?

BTW you trimmed away at the wrong frame edge, you need to to do the closest one to you in your second picturee.

 

[AceBlackRam]

I did, but its plastic :/ maybe ill go for it..

2009 2012 Dodge RAM 1500 Mesh Grill Grille Black ABS | eBay

 

[S2kiHemi]

Nice job!

 

[Big Green]

It's so nice getting rid of the huge shroud and the noise of the airplane of cold start-up isn't it?

BTW you trimmed away at the wrong frame edge, you need to to do the closest one to you in your second picturee.

No, I got that one too. It's the one you can see the best out of the first pic. The other one I trimmed kind of blends in with the one closest to the hose mount in the first pic. Thanks for making sure I hadn't missed anything though. Would hate to lose a hose going down the road.

You're right, it was nice cleaning up the engine bay and shedding some weight at the same time. Thanks to everyone for the kind words!

 

[TylerB]

I see it now and no problem.

 

[Big Green]

Granted the temps were the low 50s, I was watching my coolant temp like a hawk. Temp reached 208 then dropped into the mid 190s with a quickness and rose back to 203 and stayed right on the money. I set my e-fan to come on at 210 and it never kicked on. I really like how quiet the truck is on start up. The only thing I'm curious about is for those of you who have towed with the e-fan. I have yet to tow anything with my truck (don't hate lol), but wanted to see if anyone has had issues.

 

[Big Green]

Can I take the lack of comments as a testament to the lack of issues towing with just the e-fan to cool down the radiator?

 

[1500ram12]

I've only seen one person on another forum say he's having issues. His fan only works when the ac is on.

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[Big Green]

Thanks for chiming in! I guess I'll put it on max AC just to make sure the unit is functioning. On the way into work this morning it was the same deal as yesterday. Hit 208 as the thermostat popped open the first time, temp dropped, then got no warmer than 203 and with my fans set to 210, I've yet to have the fan kick on. Of course I don't want to have the fan engaging constantly so I am quite pleased with the install so far. Just waiting to see if my mileage improves any.

 

[1500ram12]

Where did you get your e-fan from?

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[Big Green]

Where did you get your e-fan from?

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Bought the TYC version off of Amazon. The part#'s are listed in the E-Fan DIY thread. Factory Mopar sells the OEM v6 fan for a little bit more. If I'd have known how close their price was to Amazon's, I'd have probably gone with them to stay all Mopar and support our vendors.

 

[1500ram12]

Thanks. I do remember reading that thread. Something I'll have to look into doing.

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[Big Green]

You're welcome! I do recommend having some liquid wrench for the clutch fan nut, a Philips head screwdriver to secure the water pump pulley, and at least a 12" crescent wrench to get that little ******* off of there. I even plasti-dipped the handle of the crescent wrench for a better grip lol. Once you get the nut loosened up several turns, that's when you want to start dismantling everything else. I did the fan nut portion from on top of the engine bay and wanted to make sure I wouldn't have to throw her back together just to run somewhere to have them remove it. Hope this helps! Also, regardless of whatever anyone tells you, that nut is reverse-threaded! Righty-loosey, lefty-tighty.