Is An Electric Fan That Much Better Then The Original Belt Fan
 

If been reading and looking at alot of FB's on the form. And i noticed that alot of people do tons of upgrades but rarely change the fan to an electric one. is there any diffrence such as more horsepower or revs up faster????? between the two. what im trying to do is get my car to rev a bit faster. :balls:

There are actually a lot of people on here who have electric fans. I doubt they will help you rev faster, but they cool a lot better. One person that comes to my mind is kentetsu. He's got two mr2(not sure what year) electric fans on his first gen. There's a lot more though. Check out signatures. If you want faster revs, then get exhaust and intake. Oh ya, People mostly use ford tarus fans for being pretty much straight in install. Search electric fan in the search button and you should get some stuff.

thanks for the info. ill hit the junk yard this week. also i did the exhaust (straight pipe. and my 7 is carburated so i have a k&n filter. whats the best way to connect the electric (direct, switched, or do i need a temp sender

I'd suggest a temp sensor that will automatically turn it on and off as needed, thats how mine are setup, they work great.

did u just run like a universal temp sender and do u have any pics how to set up

Ya, I dont know all that stuff, because I dont have one, but if you keep thisthread updated I probably will. Make sure to keep searching and talk to some people.

Nobody has shown that converting to electric fan adds one horsepower, IIRC.

so could i go out and strip a ford tauros any year, and put the electric fan on my stock 80rx7?

and VPTuning, from what I've heard it helps cool down faster.
i dunno i can imagine it helps your rev a little bit, but i cant imagine you seeing a big difference.

Also there is serious doubt they move more air, the clutch fans are actually very efficient and reliable

and unlike an electric fan, when a belt driven fan goes bad, it usually locks up and keeps spinning all the time.

so i may be better of leaving it the way it is???? the reason i tought it would make a little more power not much, is because u elminate stress on the motor if u remove the fan clutch. that fan clutch has to slow down the rev a bit ?????

I'd go Electronic if your trying to tune,
it would relieve stress of your engine, and the less stress is better.
but if your just keeping it farely stock, your best bet is mechanical.

I don't see how they can cool significantly better than the stock fan and shroud either, considering the sheer size of the blades on a stock fan compared to the average electric blades. I still have a stock clutch fan and S2 short radiator cooling the modded 13BT motor in my car, and temps never get above 1/2 way on the gauge, sitting in traffic during the summer. Yet when I switched to a 15" e-fan on my almost stock SE, it had problems keeping up. Didn't notice any real difference in revs/ response either.

The only way I can see better cooling from e-fans is going high dollar with dual fans and custom shroud or a $$ Black Magic set-up. Then you end up using more amps to power them, so you upgrade the alternator, spend more money etc. I just don't think the cost can be justified unless you have a custom radiator set-up, or want more space in the engine bay (it does make replacing belts easier). As for faster revs, you'd get much more noticable response from intake/exhaust mods and a lightened flywheel.

I was looking at this upgrade as well. I have asked plenty of people and I have had mixed responses. Some people swear by it and some say it is the devil. I would say that the number one enemy of rotary is overheat. I like what aussie said about it failing to an on all the time status. I personally won't mess with it. I talked to the local rotary specialist and he said that Mazda put alot of effort into making the clutch fan work so you should just leave it alone. The only reason I would seriously consider removing the clutch fan is for space. Clutch fan is kind of clunky and the electric fans, if done nicely, can free up a bit of space under the bonnet. Another thing to consider is that the electric fan taxes the electrical system. I wonder how much you would really be freeing up if you switched to an E-fan and then had to upgrade to a high performance alternator to keep the electrical system happy. I have heard that the DLIDFIS upgrade is a better way to get some throttle response. OR if you are serious, you could buy one of those light weight flywheel.

^ Haha someone posted just about the same thing I did at the same time. I agree with Matsuda

first just wanna say thanks for the advise and knowledge u guys are giving me. on my car right now cooling isnt a big issue, she stays well below half ways. but i was trying to get here to spool up a little quicker. and remove some stress on the engine. but like matsuda said it might be better cooling the way it is now. mmmmmmm

Yes you are on the right path asking around. IMO I am not convinced an e-fan is better for any type of horsepower gain because I'm thinking that you would put more of a drain on the alternator to drive that e-fan....which will make the alternator harder to spin, thus negating any potential resistance saved from doing away with the clutch fan. To me it just doesn't add up to convert mechanical energy to electricity, and then convert it right back again!

If quicker revs are what you want then I'd suggest going with the lighter flywheel. That doesn't make more horsepower but it would help to spool up a turbo quicker if that's where you're headed with this.

When I had my 85 RX-7 I had an electric fan so I just want to state something in regards to the extra stress from the alternator.

The fan was temp controlled and would only come on when stopped for a few minutes. Air coming in the front of the car from driving +25mph was more then enough to keep the temps low, thus not putting any need for the alternator to stress the engine more. I'd bet that the stock fan isn't doing much to aid in cooling when your actually moving, so the benefit of the e-fan is its only drawing horsepower when it needs to.

The clutch fan does the same thing, engaging and disengaging depending on temps.

The only thing I hate about the mechanical fan is the noise it makes :wallbash:
But Ever since I change to E fan I had tempeture Problems so I when back to Mechanical again and just put the music louder. :celebrate

There are many pros and cons on E-fans.
The stock fan clutches do provide alot of CFM to cool our engines. If you get the correct E-fan they will provide more than enough CFM also.
Do E-fans add HP? No. But they do free up some available HP when not in use.
And as others have stated E-fans only need to be on at speeds below 25mph or in stop and go traffic. Which means most of the time there is no extra amp draw from the electrical system.
They do reduce rotational mass by eliminating the fan and fan clutch.
Even though the stock fan clutch does not engage until it senses a predetermined temp it still has drag on the engine at all times. It may be a small amount, but drag is drag.
The other benefit of a E-fan is that by eliminating the fan clutch you are taking some of the strain off of the water pump bearing. Which ultimately could result in the pump lasting longer.
You would have to look at the type of driving you do the most. If it is alot of lower speed driving or you have to drive in stop and go driving or have very hot summers I would tend to lean towards the stock fan clutch system.
If you do alot of freeway driving or are in a mild climate the E-fan would be a better choice.

And as others have stated. If you really want to "Free" up the available HP then the lightened steel flywheel is the ticket. It's not so much the reduced weight but the overall reduced rotational mass that is eliminated.

I ALWAYS LISTEN TO THE DOC. his knowlegde is priceless thanks doc

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^^^ lol becareful using that ( PLUS ONE) symbole because "I SURE LOV THAT ANAL SEX" come up when you type it lol

well guys here's my input on this dead horse, I currently have ALL the previous mods mentioned...exhaust, carb, light weight ALUMINUM flywheel...etc. snd when I put my E-Fan on i noticed a difference in throttle response and aceleration... stellar difference?? no.. noticable difference?? yes.. but if you're going to go e-fan, then in my oppinion this is the best bang for the buck, and where i got mine... http://www.sneedspeedshop.com/store/...idProduct=1040

comes with aluminum shroud and all.... you need a shroud to make the fan cool the car more effeciently....

but just to chime in with everyone else... get a lightweight flywheel... HUGE difference in throttle response and acceleration...

have fun!!

Just wanted to add to Docs notes here, Some people just take the fan clutch out for either sheer looks (it does give a cleaner look in the engine bay), and also for the people that do engine swaps, because of how thick the fan clutch system is, sometimes you can't put it in there so you optout for a slim fan type.