Horton Electric Clutch Fan

[patrickg]

Anybody out there in TBN land have knowlege of Horton electric clutch fans as installed in Dodge Rams with Cummins turbodiesel engines. Mine does not engage automaticaly or by the override switch on the dash. The override switch applies power to the pair of wires that goes to the fan but the fan does not engage. I disconnected the inline plug in the wires going to the fan clutch assy and measured the voltage coming to the conector, it was nominal batt volts. I measured the resistance between the wires on the side of the plug leading to the fan clutch and it was "open".

Unfortunately I have a critical need to use my truck. I would have been happy to "hot wire" the fan and control it from the driver's seat with a switch but alas, it gets power already and doesn't engage. Of course, the Dodge dealer and I thought the problem was a bad thermostat but with that changed the problem of heating remained so I investigated more thoroughly on my own and found the above sad facts.

Here is an excerpt from Horton's web site:

We want to keep our
customers' businesses
up and running.
Through the largest
dealer and distributor
network in the industry,
Horton has parts and
service availability 24
hours a day, seven days
a week.

But when you call the 800 number you get a recording telling you that there is no operator available.

Of course, I need to be in SOCAL Tuesday PM with the truck Wed at the latest or problems will ensue.
So I thought I would try to tap the braintrust here at the TBN, just in case.

Never let Murphy know you have a critical need!

Patrickg

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Horton Electric Clutch Fan-Thermal Cutoff?

Some of the fan motors {and most motors} will have a thermal cutoff located near or under the first couple windings. This being in series,normally opens before the winding... worse case scenerio just jumper it out... you may have to dig a little into the windings though... but at this stage you have nothing to lose...

 

[Anonymous Poster]

go get a universal electric fan that goes on the front of your radiator ( or intercooler or a/c condensor in your case) It wont take but a few precious minutes to install and you can kiss that other fan goodbye and be on your way. Maybe you should go for two of them according to how big your radiator is.

 

[bgott]

My Ram is a '98. It has a regular fan clutch. You can always call your local boneyard to see if they have a fan and fan clutch laying around. Are you a member of www.turbodieselregistry.com? You have to join to post but they have some dynamite forums that you can access.

 

[cp1969]

That seems like an odd failure mode. You would think that it would be designed such that if it failed, it wouldn't disengage, not the other way around.

I sounds as if you have a 'long' in your wiring and it will probably be faster to find a replacement unit rather than repair this one. Check with a Cummins shop in your area.