I've heard and felt my clutch fan kick in at 85+.........yaric008 said:
Electric Fans,...More Power...?
- Thread starter Darrin Tosh
- Start date
fiverpuller
Lizard Limo
But the clutch fan comes on based off the air temperature around it right? Unless it also uses heat transfered from the water pump? So if it comes on at 85mph maybe the radiator is keeping the engine cool from wind and the fan just engages from the waste heat? Either way I would think an electric fan setup would be more accurate if it was reading off the coolant temp coming out of the radiator. And also have it come on when the a/c is on. And my favorite part is not having blades zinging around to catch your knuckles...been there. 
I have driven around with the fan off. It's a bit quieter but no a huge difference in power. But I have yet to "feel" it engage so I am no sure of those power losses. I would do electric if someone figures it out...for the a/c if nothing else.
I have driven around with the fan off. It's a bit quieter but no a huge difference in power. But I have yet to "feel" it engage so I am no sure of those power losses. I would do electric if someone figures it out...for the a/c if nothing else.
What he said...the fan in my truck's only come on in stop-and-go driving in hot weather, but the fan on my old van came on a few times on high-speed runs on the I-5...OTOH, the days were 100°+ with high humidity...towcat said:I've heard and felt my clutch fan kick in at 85+.........
The fan in my truck does real well, though..it usually comes on when the gauge's reading between 200° and 210°; in fact, I've never seen the truck's coolant get hotter than 210°...
don't have quantified numbers on the power loss, but my feul consumption went from 150miles/tank to 225miles/tank when I got rid of the original fan that was locked solid when I first bought my f350fiverpuller said:But the clutch fan comes on based off the air temperature around it right? Unless it also uses heat transfered from the water pump? So if it comes on at 85mph maybe the radiator is keeping the engine cool from wind and the fan just engages from the waste heat? Either way I would think an electric fan setup would be more accurate if it was reading off the coolant temp coming out of the radiator. And also have it come on when the a/c is on. And my favorite part is not having blades zinging around to catch your knuckles...been there.
I have driven around with the fan off. It's a bit quieter but no a huge difference in power. But I have yet to "feel" it engage so I am no sure of those power losses. I would do electric if someone figures it out...for the a/c if nothing else.
towcat said:
Darrin Tosh
IDI Hound
Good discussion guys, there are a lot of good points.
The way I look at it is if electric fans don't work, then how did the truck that I drove get 345K miles on it WITH electric fans. Now I understand that there is no turbo dumping a bunch of fuel in it on a cooling system that wasn't designed for a turbo, but still, this one would have seemed to work. And the truck was RODE HARD!, and put away wet more than a few times.
As far as needing the fan going down the highway, I would say yes, when towing. If not towing then probablly not. I really am looking forward to pulling my 5th wheel this weekend to try out my new MS TEC Fan clutch and seeif it makes a dent in my cooling issues. I really don't think my old fan clutch was doing a lot.
So that said, I still would look into a proven electric fan setup, if it nets me some good HP numbers, but it sounds like that won't be for a while yet.
gotta go,
The way I look at it is if electric fans don't work, then how did the truck that I drove get 345K miles on it WITH electric fans. Now I understand that there is no turbo dumping a bunch of fuel in it on a cooling system that wasn't designed for a turbo, but still, this one would have seemed to work. And the truck was RODE HARD!, and put away wet more than a few times.
As far as needing the fan going down the highway, I would say yes, when towing. If not towing then probablly not. I really am looking forward to pulling my 5th wheel this weekend to try out my new MS TEC Fan clutch and seeif it makes a dent in my cooling issues. I really don't think my old fan clutch was doing a lot.
So that said, I still would look into a proven electric fan setup, if it nets me some good HP numbers, but it sounds like that won't be for a while yet.
gotta go,
Doggy Daddy
Registered User
As I recall when US Gear was marketing the Cyclone electric fan clutch they claimed up to 45 HP gain. I am guessing that was with the stock fan hot and engaged and the electric clutch disengaged. What bothered me about it was that it used the original fan blade which was never really intended to run at full speed (always some slippage in a stock fan clutch), so that when it engaged it really howled. It did have a decel feature that would engage the fan when you let off the accelerator to consume power and help with engine braking. Apparantly they didn't build it themselves and the company that made them quit (out of business or just stopped making that product).
On the bus: could the fans have been for the A/C condenser? Even pusher motorhomes use either a hydraulic fan motor or straight 1 to 1 belt driven on the rear mount radiators.
Quite a few years ago I had a '77 Chev 1/2 ton w/6cyl, 3 on the tree. The 4 blade fan was direct bolted to the pulley and I got the idea to remove it for performance and economy. It did seem peppier (no wheel spin, though) and as I remember the MPG did have a slight increase. All went well until I left it idling for a a while when I stopped to help a friend. Got back in to drive away and the temp gauge was near the Hot mark, had to listen to the wife complain the whole ride home.
On the bus: could the fans have been for the A/C condenser? Even pusher motorhomes use either a hydraulic fan motor or straight 1 to 1 belt driven on the rear mount radiators.
Quite a few years ago I had a '77 Chev 1/2 ton w/6cyl, 3 on the tree. The 4 blade fan was direct bolted to the pulley and I got the idea to remove it for performance and economy. It did seem peppier (no wheel spin, though) and as I remember the MPG did have a slight increase. All went well until I left it idling for a a while when I stopped to help a friend. Got back in to drive away and the temp gauge was near the Hot mark, had to listen to the wife complain the whole ride home.
i think it's sad that it's 2012 and we still lack this basic info lol.
as for more pep.yeah.i felt the difference instantly and my fan clutch never even locked.
i would describe the performance of my truck when you mash the throttle on take off as going like a ***** ape.apparently matching the description of the truck you drove back in '05.
taking the fan off,my custom exhaust,and my cowl intake,all felt close to the same amount of gain.non of them "holy crap" but all easily felt.combine them,and you freed up some good power already there,pretty effortlessly.
iv been running the dual windstar ford fans for over a year now with outstanding results.
mostly required when loaded up heavy and or towing slow through towns or on the hills.
ouch.
in final comment,
i find the lack of interest in e-fan conversions for this HD cooling system the most bizarre thing in the world.
it free's up power and improves economy.it doesn't cost much unless you buy a nice controller.but some HD relays will work.
i don't get it.too many closed minds i think.
if only someone could pull a fan off on one of their dyno runs some day.perhaps that would open up a few more minds?
hmm.perhaps in another 7 years..........
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Silver Burner
Burnin' Oil&Rubber
I'm in. Anything I can do to get more power I'm down for. Hate the big HUGE clutch fan anyway... My new neighbor is an engineer with a new to him 89 diesel. Maybe we'll make a project out of it!
sle2115
NRA LIFE MEMBER
Geo did an OBS fan setup, Mel did a IDI as well as others so the point that we can cool them has been proven.
A dyno run with and without would be cool though!
A dyno run with and without would be cool though!
FordGuy100
Registered User
I ran down here in Texas all summer with out a fan. This was in mostly city traffic as well (thank goodness for a semi short commute). There were times when my gauge was reading 210*, and the sender is in the top of the water pump (so it is actually hotter in the engine).
Didnt feel any power gains. Only thing I wished was I had the fan. There was definatly some uneasy times in traffic watching that temp climb knowing I couldnt do anything.
Once you get above 10-15mph, it cools well. Ambient temps during the above were 95-105* with high humidity and no AC.
Didnt feel any power gains. Only thing I wished was I had the fan. There was definatly some uneasy times in traffic watching that temp climb knowing I couldnt do anything.
Once you get above 10-15mph, it cools well. Ambient temps during the above were 95-105* with high humidity and no AC.
Dsl_Dog_Treat
I lost my face to the jaws of a poodle
Darrin Tosh
IDI Hound
Holy OLD THREAD Batman,...!
flareside_thun
Reviving The General Tao
I fully intend on doing an efan conversion on my truck in the near future. The efan doesn't need to be on all the time, that's what fan thermostats are for. I've done this conversion on a SBF before and noticed good improvement, hopefully the same can be said about this old rattletrap. If anyone is interested, efans off of Cougars, older Taurus', Mark VIII, and Tbirds are all the same. They flow at 3k cfm on the high speed setting and around 1800 cfm on low.
