Are Hayden/Imperial fan clutches garbage?

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My friend has a 1999 3.9L Dodge Dakota and the original clutch failed, so he replaced it with a Hayden. This one was locked up so the fan ran at full-blast all the time. At least the engine didn't overheat.

Then he replaced it with an Imperial. This one doesn't seem to lock up enough and allows the engine to overheat at idle and when driving at low speeds. At idle, the air coming off the fan is VERY HOT, but the fan clutch does not appear to engage as it should to speed up the fan. Turning on the heat at full-blast is enough to keep the engine from overheating.

The Hayden and the Imperial look identical except for a 2-digit number cast into the housing. I expect they're made by the same company in the same factory.

I found a thread on dieselstop where someone was complaining about their experiences with Hayden fan clutches..the first one they got was locked up, the second one didn't engage right, neither did the third one so they gave up and reinstalled the OEM clutch (which they replaced because they thought it was engaging too much at lower temperatures).

My friend is going to return the Imperial clutch and get another Hayden one. I suspect he'll end up getting the same one he got the first time, they had exactly one on the shelf when he called and I bet it's the one he returned as defective the first time (this is NAPA by the way).
 
I don't have anything to offer on Hayden fan clutches ..but I want to know how your friend defined "overheat". At low speeds or idling my Wrangler will gain temp, but it won't "run away" and boil over. It just stabilizes at a slightly higher temp.
 
It's going over 220F and once it starts it continues to run hotter and hotter. What makes me think it's the fan clutch is that there is no "roar" like you get at startup. It's like the fan clutch just doesn't respond properly to the heat from the radiator. And there is heat from the radiator--plenty of hot air coming off that fan.
 
Hayden is about the only game in town. If you get a good one it will work well. We put 4 on my boss's Blazer before we got one that worked right.

Quite often we will put on a new one that won't hook up. Never seen one that wouldn't unhook. If the center of the Radiator is plugged the fan clutch won't hook up right. It will be getting cooler air instead of hot to make the spring turn.
 
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For many models Hayden has two application levels. Economy usually ok for most vehicles, as by the time original goes out economy version will last as long as the rest of the vehicle. Better grade is more like original with better thermostatic reaction.

'bout time for someone to jump in with "I only use OEM on MY marvel of engineering"!

Bob
 
Looks like the 4th one is the charm. This one apparently had a bit of silicone oil on it, was it leaking?

I guess the customer truly is the final quality control inspector...and in the case of these things, the ONLY quality control inspector.
 
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