Electric Radiator Fan, Yes or No?

[wade3570]

ok guys, still working on tryin gto get the supie running, but in the meantime, i was wondering if it would be worth my time to look into replacing my
belt-driven radiator fan with an electric fan. i've heard of this being done, freeing up a couple of horsepower. But is the cost and work involved really worth a couple of horsepower??? ---wanna run cooler

 

[CRE]

On an N/A it'd probably make a bigger difference than it would for a turbo engine, though. It can be done relatively inexpensively if you go with a used fan(s).

The primary issue most seem to some up with is wiring failure and no warning system to let you know the fan's not operational. It shouldn't be too hard to come up with a small circuit to warn of failure.

How cool it runs is going to depend on the fan setup and flow, whether the fans are cowled, and your radiator's airflow.

 

[wade3570]

good points. thanks. i often see radiator shrouds removed. But i've heard it's best to leave 'em place. ?? as far as the wiring, r there any threads or write-ups on how to do that or is it just simply tying it into the temp senor circuit?? worst scenario, just wire 'em to a switch on the dash...(just remeber to flip it everytime you drive--lame..ha ha)

 

[CRE]

Actually, on a switch setup you'll need to turn them on everytime the car stops... less passive airflow through the rad.

A few people have posted with the details of their wiring setup on here and SF. Try doing a search for "electric fan".

Shrouds usually make a HUGE difference. 10º is a big difference, and our temp guages aren't accurate enough to show you where the system is really at. If you really want to know where the system temps are swap in an aftermarket temp guage.

 

[7MA61]

Does 3/5ths of fuck all for power. Just frees up a little space which means replacing other belts is easier.

I run 2 SPAL 12inch fans, they work well, pretty noisy bastards though. I aslo have a 57mm core radiator though so they basically never come on except in stop start traffic.

Get an electronic sender for the fans, goes into a bung in the radiator drain cock or thermostat housing, then they'll just turn on and off at the set temp of the switch.

I have an aftermarket ecu to control mine though.

 

[wade3570]

hmmmm, sounds like too much work for the benefit. there's no hurry, i was just curious. my first priority is to get the car running. thanks guys. i'll keep everyone posted on my progress. still scratching my head about why she won't start, but ...that's another thread that's already out there.

 

[7MA61]

its actually not hard to do, I have very little mechanical know how and with the help of a mate we replaced my old thermo setup and wired the new ones in.

If I can do it anyone can.

 

[wade3570]

i'll keep it mind...thanks.

 

[cuel]

Use the dual fan setup off of a 98 Ford Contour. They have their own shroud built in, and, if you get the stock harness with them, its easy to wire in. Use a temp switch with the low speed resistor, and a relay and switch for the high speed. That's how I have mine set up, and it cools VERY well on the low speed. The high speed will get it so cool it'll go back into open loop if you don't shut it off.

 

[SupraN/Asty]

The 2 speed fan of a 95 taurus moves a lot of air and is cheap off line. It is worth upgrading to electric fans, if you dont have them don't take off your stock shroud. You will over heat to many times and end up with a spun bearing. cooler is better, electric is worth the money, not for power, but for peace of MIND

 

[mkIIIman089]

The high speed will get it so cool it'll go back into open loop if you don't shut it off.

Get a new thermostat, yours is not working.

 

[jetjock]

Colin, a bit off topic but here's some interesting stuff regarding the stock cooling system. I have gear that can directly measure pressure and temperature in the cooling system and have done so many times under varying conditions. I can also acurrately tell what the t-stat is doing.

Starting with a warm engine using a 195 F t-stat and removing a bit of coolant to avoid expansion a closed system will, at an ambient of 65 F, run all day long at zero pressure and under the t-sat's opening temperature while at 2500 rpm. The thermostat will remain closed and the system will eventually reach an equilibrium of about 160-170 F at zero pressure. Keep in mind the system is fully closed in this condition ie; the radiator neck is completely plugged.

The stock coolant gage will not rise above normal with the t-stat closed. In fact it's common for it to indicate normal with the t-start closed or long before it opens. People who equate normal gage indication with t-stat opening or the system being up to normal temperature are mistaken because since the gage sensor is located on the engine side of the housing it's correlation to t-stat condition is meaningless.

The point is a healthy cooling system will run indefinitely in a parked engine at 2500 rpm on a 65 F day with the t-stat closed and at zero pressure. It will not over heat or show a higher than normal temp. The temp of the coolant will actually be less than normal in spite of the t-stat being closed and very little flow through the radiator. The fan, coolant bypass, and opened hood alone are enough to remove the heat load generated under these conditions.

Every MKIII I've tested does this. I recently did it again to show an owner who didn't believe it was possible on his car. After about 45 minutes at 2500 rpm I quickly opened the radiator without the slightest danger or loss of coolant because the system had remained well below 195 F with a closed t-stat and zero pressure. The fan clutch was never locked and the t-sat never opened during that time. The heater was on with the blower set to low but on my car it does the same with the heater valve closed. Although the engine is unloaded at 2500 rpm it's still an interesting thing to observe.

 

[Nick M]

That is an interesting observation.

 

[mkIIIman089]

That's an interesting bit of information, to me it indicates what the true integrity of the cooling system is. Even if it is unloaded, thats a tiny fraction of what its normal capacity is, and still it can keep itself BELOW operating temp.

I can just imagine you having a separate building somewhere for storing all you're measuring and testing stuff.

 

[hottscennessey]

The 2 speed fan of a 95 taurus moves a lot of air and is cheap off line. It is worth upgrading to electric fans, if you dont have them don't take off your stock shroud. You will over heat to many times and end up with a spun bearing. cooler is better, electric is worth the money, not for power, but for peace of MIND

Interesting you say the taurus fan, I found this walk-through for installing the taurus fan on a Mustang using a local autostore's eletrical wiring kit, and an upgraded bosch relay. Appearantly the most common reason for electric fans to fail is because of the relay burning out, by paying the extra $25 for the bosch relay (got mine from ebay) there should be no eletrical fan failure. I agree there is some peace of mine in eletric fans, even if many disagree.. look at how many vehicles come standard with eletric fans.

http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2003/02/electricfan/index.php

 

[supramacist]

Sorry to bother but..., I'm gonna anyhow. I just finished an ac delete on my 91. I bet I removed around 40lbs of crap from underneath the hood. My point is, now I only have the radiator taking on the air from the nose of the auto. Bad Ass mod for those of you that can go without the ac. Because after this......, the stock fans should be more than capable of cooling the engine bay, no problems. Just my 2 cents.

 

[bwest]

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11217