Electric Fans revisited

[Agnem]

I'm seriously considering trying one of these out on the Bronco.

http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/html/chevy-diesel.html

Since I don't plan to turbo, saving a few HP in not driving accessories, and possibly picking up some milage is pretty attractive to me. Considering the weight of the truck, and the sucessfull cooling so far (without a shroud I should add), if this thing isn't a mint, it might be worth a shot.

 

[pafixitman]

Define "mint".
$499

 

[Agnem]

Hmmm... that might be lime. Very close to mint. Almost the price of a good used turbo.

 

[sle2115]

Mel, back when we had this conversation at the other place, I had seen this unit on TV. Anyway, I contacted two reps from flexolite and both, without hesitation, said this unit will not cool a 6.9 or 7.3 IDI.

One elaborated on his reasoning stating that the newer "stuff" can modify the fuel delivery to help in cooling. So my guess is that if you start getting the temps up there in the Chevy, it will retard fuel delivery to help the boiler cool down. Now that is just my guess and neither would go into great detail, but both seemed confident that this unit wouldn't cut it, almost as if it had been tried!

The first rep I contacted was the area rep, the second was the rep that was over the southeastern OH region when I was pushing parts, he is now in management. None the less, he ALWAYS steered me in the right direction with performance/drag car stuff while I was racing or while I was building race engines at the shop and the machine shop. If he says it won't do, I would bet he is correct. Just my .02! (I would really like to run one as well and offered to be a Guinea pig, no go!)

 

[Roland_Jenkins]

No electric fan will push / pull as much air as a belt driven fan. Only use I have for them is as an auxiliary fan with a shroud for a little extra cooling for those rare times I'm crawling along at 1.nuthin MPH and the wind is at my back JM2¢

 

[gunnie]

Mel i have tried several combinations of electric fans on my 94 idi, the max rating i have pulled was about 3800 so its quite a bit less than the 6000 you are looking at, only observation i can offer is they have not worked for me when the weather gets up in the high 80s and i'm checkin cows down in the back 40 with the a/c cranked

 

[Darrin Tosh]

I would love to try electric fans. But I can overheat mine pulling the 5ver on the highway. And I have the MS tec Fan Clutch, Holes in the bumper and a an air scoop. If I push it on the highway it gets too hot and I have to slow down to 60 or so, and let it cool back down.

I think the only way to correctly take care of the High output IDI Overheating is to get the rad that Travis had built for the Enterprise. Then try an electric fan setup on that. It is only money!

 

[icanfixall]

Now thats an expensive test. It may work but with a 5 row radiator only. I know when I'm running hot just letting off while getting off the freeway and on to the offramp I can see my motor cooling down with the 5 row and MS Tech fan clutch working in tandum. Give it a shot and post your results. Thats what this board is all about. :Sly

 

[82F100SWB]

I'm debating putting an e-fan on my truck, maybe a pair of Taurus e-fans(so, abou the tsame CFM movement as that d-max setup) or the like.
I don't tow very much in warm weather, and am running N/A, and have no cooling issues with just the stock heavy duty cooling rad, no fan...

 

[Agnem]

The horsepower to weight ratio is quite different with the Bronco, hence my interest. I'd never try it on one of the "heavy duty" rigs in my fleet. I am also a skeptic. So the key to trying it would be to find a vendor who wants to partner on testing the idea.

 

[typ4]

After running in to many cooling issues with the sandrails, turbo 1.8 jetta engine . The fan that pulls the best for us is the 3.3 cooling fan off of dodge minivans. The one with the 7 or so curvy blades,flat style motor. The other one is crap. Might be worth a try since they are 15 bucks at the u-yank it.
Just a thought
Russ

 

[f-two-fiddy]

I'm interested in the 5 row rad. Where to git one?

 

[OkieGringo]

For my 5-row core, I took it to a local rad shop. He called the supplier, had it done the next day. He took the top and bottom tanks off my old 4-row and soldered in the new 5-row. Works GREAT!!! In Baja, it cost me $372.00 US dollars. Maybe kinda expensive, but I don't worry about overheating anymore . OkieGringo