I have to give credit to Autozone. This past February I replaced the fan clutch on my Dakota with a Torqflo clutch form Autozone, $49.99. Then I started having problems with it not disengaging a few weeks ago. It howled pretty bad in the morning and would let go but not until I drove for about a mile, nailing the throttle the whole way. It sounded like a jet engine under my hood and felt like I was towing a school bus.
I did some research and found that aftermarket fan clutches are more agressive and are prone to plroblems like that, and the factory clutch is the best one to use. A clutch from the Dodge dealer is $140.00, they said they could discount it to $114.00, which is still too expensive right now. I needed to fix the problem, so this past Wednesday I got a used fan clutch from a 2001 Dakota at the junk yard, it had the same engine as mine and about 70 or 80,000 miles on it. The price was $30.00. My original fan clutch had lasted to about 125,000 miles so I figure $30.00 is a really good price on the used one. I installed the used clutch Wednesday night and have had absolutely no problems with it at all. It doesn't lock up after sitting at a red light for 30 seconds like the Torqflo clutch did, and my truck runs better on a cold start, has more power and seems to be doing a little better on MPG.
This morning I took the fan clutch I had bought from Autozone back to Autozone and told the manager how it was locking up in hot weather and all. I told him I didn't expect a refund because I understood it was 6 months old, and asked for just a store credit for the 50 bucks the fan clutch had cost, but he gave me a refund in cash anyway. He didn't have to do that, but I am very glad he did. There were a lot of people in the store at the counter at the time and maybe that's why he refunded it, because a refund takes less time than doing a store credit or gift card.
Autozone did me right today, and come to think of it I never really had much problem with them on returns or exchanges anyway. I have had very few, if any problems with Autozone and Duralast parts either. So I really came out ahead by getting the used fan clutch at the junk yard. If my junk yard fan clutch ever fails, I know I will need to budget and find the best price I can on an OE Dodge fan clutch, but for now I couldn't be happier with this situation.
Thanks, Autozone!
I did some research and found that aftermarket fan clutches are more agressive and are prone to plroblems like that, and the factory clutch is the best one to use. A clutch from the Dodge dealer is $140.00, they said they could discount it to $114.00, which is still too expensive right now. I needed to fix the problem, so this past Wednesday I got a used fan clutch from a 2001 Dakota at the junk yard, it had the same engine as mine and about 70 or 80,000 miles on it. The price was $30.00. My original fan clutch had lasted to about 125,000 miles so I figure $30.00 is a really good price on the used one. I installed the used clutch Wednesday night and have had absolutely no problems with it at all. It doesn't lock up after sitting at a red light for 30 seconds like the Torqflo clutch did, and my truck runs better on a cold start, has more power and seems to be doing a little better on MPG.
This morning I took the fan clutch I had bought from Autozone back to Autozone and told the manager how it was locking up in hot weather and all. I told him I didn't expect a refund because I understood it was 6 months old, and asked for just a store credit for the 50 bucks the fan clutch had cost, but he gave me a refund in cash anyway. He didn't have to do that, but I am very glad he did. There were a lot of people in the store at the counter at the time and maybe that's why he refunded it, because a refund takes less time than doing a store credit or gift card.
Autozone did me right today, and come to think of it I never really had much problem with them on returns or exchanges anyway. I have had very few, if any problems with Autozone and Duralast parts either. So I really came out ahead by getting the used fan clutch at the junk yard. If my junk yard fan clutch ever fails, I know I will need to budget and find the best price I can on an OE Dodge fan clutch, but for now I couldn't be happier with this situation.
Thanks, Autozone!
