In doing so I've started a new category for the problem section. The annoyance category takes notice of items that in my opinion and quite possibly yours .. .... Chrysler needs to put a little more engineering into......or money....your pick.

In any case, at this time I can't regard them as being defective mechanically, I think of them...... as items that need a little more improvement.

It's Not Like Somebody Was Hiding It From You.

You know when you first drive your new vehicle off the lot to bring that baby home ... your so caught up in the excitement that you may have not got a chance to to go over all the details.

When I brought my "Puppy" home it was a beautiful may day (2000), since the weather was nice, it hadn't dawned on me to check the air/heat unit out.

Well summer was shortly around the corner and when I first used the climate control unit and cycled through the blower / fan settings, I recall saying to myself, ..."Gee, sounds ...... kinda healthy".

That's about where I left it.

Until owners continued sending mail making reference to the sound intensity their fan / blower units were making.

My Quads Fan Sound / Noise Level

Here's how my fan acts:

• 1st fan setting is reasonably quite, sound increases slightly when air volume is channeled to floor.
• 2nd fan setting is louder but normal talking is not disturbed, here again sound is louder when channeled to floor.
• 3rd fan setting begins to interfere with normal conversation by 1/3.
• 4th fan setting is with out a doubt.....loud, where you have to raise your voice in order to continue with conversation.

How loud is yours compared to mine....."I don't know". Is your working properly......it probably is, unless it' something other than a whoosh sound.

My Thoughts

Here's my take on the matter: I'm assuming that inside the front dash of our Quads you will find it to be crammed pack with electro / vacmatic / mechanical hardware (full of stuff that makes your car work).

Now depending on where the fan / blower was installed in dash area, depending if the duct tubing is insulated, depending if there are any sharp bends in the duct, depending on how close the vents are in proximity of your ear......will be dependent on how much sound you will hear from the system.

The more powerful the motor that drives the fan the louder the sound is going to be......wimpy motor.....wimpy sound, powerful motor......powerful sound.

As far as the sound level increasing when air is channeled to the floor area ...I can only guess that the cause is because the air is either making a sharp change in direction or their is some type of obstruction (flap of gate in air flow) or restriction ( duct shape or size changes) in the duct work.

If your hearing something other than a loud whoosh on the 3 or 4 th settings or if your hearing something that sounds like a whistle than it's possible that something came loose or wasn't assembled perfectly.

In this case I would guess that the high volume of air the fan is pushing throughout the duct (small?) won't allow for any assembly error (misalign fittings, gaps, or other anomalies) where as a lower velocity fan may not cause as much turbulence, hence noise to a less than perfect delivery (plumbing) system.

The Good Part

The way I see it ........ we got one hell of a powerful blower in our Quads. The air handling system is an excellent performer.

I found that whatever the temperature extreme the system handled the interior of the Quad (including the spacious rear seating area ) quickly and effectively.

One warm, rainy & humid evening my wife and I had got into the truck to leave the shopping store lot. The front windows were totally fogged up. I turned the car on, used the cool / air defroster setting put the fan on the 4 th setting, didn't have to wait long to hear my wife comment "Wow .. look how fast the windows cleared, I never saw such a thing". In a matter of seconds the windows were clear. A whimper fan could of not accomplished this as effectively.

Final Comments

Once your interior is up to cool or heat, I found that having the fan set to 1st speed to be perfect.........unless you prefer to drive around with the windows open in the middle of winter.

Is the fan / blower to loud.........maybe. But I really don't have a problem living with it. The only problem I can see, is when the bearings in the blower motor start to wear out............ your going to have one hell of a racket.

Now it's your turn to comment!

If you write in to comment on your fan sound / noise, be sure to specify whether the sound is loud but smooth, loud and a racket, etc. It's helpful to describe your sound exactly. Or if you got the time and are so inclined, tape record the sound, e-mail me and I'll tell you were to send it.

In closing this addition, I'd like to point out, it's you mail that makes this site what it is.

So if your having a problem with your Dakota pickup, don't hesitate to write in, the only way to find out if it's a manufacturing defect is if people start reporting the same problem.

Check the front page for the last update date.

By the way, my name is Nick, you can email me by clicking this => Mail