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2022 6.4L Fan Roar Above 6000 Feet

rylwal22

rylwal22

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First post here so bear with me. I have a 2022 2500 6.4L Bighorn which just turned over 19,000 miles, first vehicle I have bought new, and all in all I'm not thrilled with the build quality. Since I bought it, it went in for 2 recalls, and 3 times for warranty repairs, (mainly for the driver seat, which was a whole other issue that after 3 trips I ended up diagnosing and fixing myself). Tailgate wasn't aligned causing it to not latch property and dropped on our travel trailer jack leaving a nice dent right above the handle.

However on to the newest issue: This last weekend we took a drive from the phoenix area (about 1400ft) to Flagstaff in northern AZ (stayed at 7000ft but drove up to 9500ft both days.) The drive up there was fine, no issues or abnormal driving, but once we got right around 6500 feet the engine started to sound like a jet taking off, It sounded like it has when we were driving straight up a hill with a 10K trailer behind us but at that time we were not towing anything. Didn't think much of it right away but the issue persisted through town even on the flat roads. Another note, exterior temp ranged from 40-50 degrees F so not super cold and not super warm. We got unloaded where we were staying and went out to eat and it seemed like the cooling fan never turned off. we drove about 8 different times in the weekend and every time we had the same issue, very loud fan, loud enough to interrupt a conversation, dropped about 2 MPG under what I would have expected; Truck seemed like it did not want to shift, and rarely went above 6th gear even cruising around 45-50mph; and engine temps after 2 miles of driving would still sometimes fluctuate from 180-210 then back down to 180.
Now for the kicker, we left yesterday evening, drove 2 hours back, home and the issue went away soon after we dropped under 6500ft. Woke up this morning (back at 1400ft) and drove my S/O to work and it was operating as it was before, fan kicks on for first half a mile down the road and then quiet as a mouse the rest of the way. When we were having issues, we got a couple videos of the sound in case it did have something to do with elevation, but called the dealer this morning and they pretty much said they have to hear it for themselves and if the issue doesn't present itself to the tech then there's nothing they can do. So his suggestion was to have me drive back up there and find a dealer who can see the problem for themselves.

Has anyone had issues like this at similar elevations? I know in previous years the fan clutches have been known to go bad defaulting to always on. Is this issue consistent with the behavior of one prior to total failure? or is it possible there is something else (bad fuel, faulty sensor) etc. which caused it stay "stuck" on. Any help or info is appreciated.
 
There is a recall on the tailgate not latching right. Get it checked out then call Ram Care to see if they can reimburse you for the damages on the tailgate. My tailgate self opened onto the trailer jack as well.

Ive heard of my fan sounding like a jet taking off but never thought it was being abnormal. Come to think about it, it happened when i was in high altitude passes too. There is an electric fan and a mechanical fan in front of these engines. I figured it was the electric fan just trying to pull more air
 
I live at 3300 feet and my 2020 does that quite often When i pull it out of the garage sounds like a jet turbine. I have 30000 miles
 
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Mine has lived about 90% of its life above 6,000' and I have heard the turbine sound 3 times that I can recall. Once for the first 1/4 mile leaving my house, the other two above 10,000' while towing.

I do know that when I have recirculate going (with A/C or heat) that when the engine works a little harder it definitely gets louder in the cab than without recirc going, but not quite to the same level as the jet engine sound.
 
I camp quite a bit above 6k and I've had my fan run loud from startup until it got to operating temp on a few occasions. This winter I can't recall a time that it has come on. My buddy has the same engine and under the same conditions said his fan never comes on.
My Duramax did it too so I just assumed it was normal. It has only done it at high elevation as you describe.
 
Chris85xlt said:
There is a recall on the tailgate not latching right. Get it checked out then call Ram Care to see if they can reimburse you for the damages on the tailgate. My tailgate self opened onto the trailer jack as well.

Ive heard of my fan sounding like a jet taking off but never thought it was being abnormal. Come to think about it, it happened when i was in high altitude passes too. There is an electric fan and a mechanical fan in front of these engines. I figured it was the electric fan just trying to pull more air
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I did have the recall work done. however I don't think the dealer even did anything as I still had the issue after the fact. Adjusted the pins myself and haven't had a problem since. Is there a best number to call for Ram Cares, haven't had to do anything like that yet. As for the fan it definitely seemed like it just kept trying to suck more and more air. Day 2 now and haven't had the problem come back yet so maybe was a fluke, still gonna be a bit of a concern in the back of my head though.

flan said:
Was your ac or defroster on?
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No it was not. Cycled through all settings, heat, a/c, defrost, etc. didn't make any difference.

LateToTheParty said:
Mine has lived about 90% of its life above 6,000' and I have heard the turbine sound 3 times that I can recall. Once for the first 1/4 mile leaving my house, the other two above 10,000' while towing.

I do know that when I have recirculate going (with A/C or heat) that when the engine works a little harder it definitely gets louder in the cab than without recirc going, but not quite to the same level as the jet engine sound.
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I typically hear it for the first 1/4 mile down the road as well, I believe it has something to do with regulating other systems.
 
The “roar” you’re hearing is the mechanical clutch fan. It has a thermostatic clutch (basically a spring that changes shape with temperature). When the clutch gets hot enough the fan engages and spins at engine speed.

At high altitude there’s less air to cool things and that can cause the fan to come on at lower temperatures.
 
jsalbre said:
The “roar” you’re hearing is the mechanical clutch fan. It has a thermostatic clutch (basically a spring that changes shape with temperature). When the clutch gets hot enough the fan engages and spins at engine speed.

At high altitude there’s less air to cool things and that can cause the fan to come on at lower temperatures.
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Interesting, I was pretty sure it was a mechanical clutch of some sort but was unaware of the specifics. with this in mind, why would it always turn on on start up when the engine is cold? theoretically it would then be disengaged due to the cold temp?
 
rylwal22 said:
Interesting, I was pretty sure it was a mechanical clutch of some sort but was unaware of the specifics. with this in mind, why would it always turn on on start up when the engine is cold? theoretically it would then be disengaged due to the cold temp?
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So the clutch action itself on the fan is performed by a fluid (the spring acts as a gate for the fluid). When the vehicle sits the fluid drains down and causes the clutch to engage. As it spins up the fluid goes back to its normal location and the clutch unlocks.

If you’re really curious about how a mechanical clutch fan works you can read more here: https://www.haydenauto.com/media/5670/fan-clutch_operations-ts_6980012.pdf
 
jsalbre said:
So the clutch action itself on the fan is performed by a fluid (the spring acts as a gate for the fluid). When the vehicle sits the fluid drains down and causes the clutch to engage. As it spins up the fluid goes back to its normal location and the clutch unlocks.

If you’re really curious about how a mechanical clutch fan works you can read more here: https://www.haydenauto.com/media/5670/fan-clutch_operations-ts_6980012.pdf
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Do the 4.5 gen Ram 6.4 have an Electronic - Viscous EV Fan Clutch?
 
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