I wouldlike the opinion of some in regards to engine fan. Is it better to run stock clutch fan or electric fan. thanks

 

Stock fan is fine, an electric one cleans up the engine bay a bit.

 

An electric fan would be considered an upgrade I'm going to do it eventually. Do a search, there are quite a few different e-fans from various cars over the years that work well with our cars. I believe the ford taurus is one of them.

 

the taurus fan is a popular choice and It does blow a huge amount of air but in one of my searches someone found it initially draws 67 amps or so and then settles to about 35 amps. I used to drive and take care of a taurus along time ago and the electical system comsumed itself. I went thru alternators like thowing out paper cups after drinking water.

I would like to find an efan or two with much lower current demands as it will only be needed in city driving. True in general I would expect more current to equal more air being moved. but more current means more drag on the engine too: dont get something for nothin. I am searching for a fan or two that will do the job without such a high demand rate on the alternator. I would rather have a fan run longer than at short bursts of on and off that the taurus fan will do and at 67 amps each time turned on ....ouch on any alternator.

as far as efan or clutch fan all I can say is on a parrallel to this I once had an alternator belt brake and I was about five miles away from home. so I turned everything off ( interior fan and radio ) so the only area requiring electric power was the engine. the engine felt much more peppy. I would expect the same for removal of the clutch fan but it needs to be proven by a test. But others ahve said clutch or efan make little if any difference to driveshaft output. all I know is if i am on the highway the fan wont be needed so why turn a fan then? certainly drivshaft output should be imporved for gas milage and a better seat of the pants feel at a minimum?


Personally I want to have an electrical system where the alternator can easily handle any peak load and not fry and melt it's rectifiers or blow the brushes out.

anybody have any sugestions on these points?
what other fans work for this application but require less current demand?

hope responces here will help paposwing14

 

the taurus fan is a popular choice and It does blow a huge amount of air but in one of my searches someone found it initially draws 67 amps or so and then settles to about 35 amps. I used to drive and take care of a taurus along time ago and the electical system comsumed itself. I went thru alternators like thowing out paper cups after drinking water.

I would like to find an efan or two with much lower current demands as it will only be needed in city driving. True in general I would expect more current to equal more air being moved. but more current means more drag on the engine too: dont get something for nothin. I am searching for a fan or two that will do the job without such a high demand rate on the alternator. I would rather have a fan run longer than at short bursts of on and off that the taurus fan will do and at 67 amps each time turned on ....ouch on any alternator.

as far as efan or clutch fan all I can say is on a parrallel to this I once had an alternator belt brake and I was about five miles away from home. so I turned everything off ( interior fan and radio ) so the only area requiring electric power was the engine. the engine felt much more peppy. I would expect the same for removal of the clutch fan but it needs to be proven by a test. But others ahve said clutch or efan make little if any difference to driveshaft output. all I know is if i am on the highway the fan wont be needed so why turn a fan then? certainly drivshaft output should be imporved for gas milage and a better seat of the pants feel at a minimum?


Personally I want to have an electrical system where the alternator can easily handle any peak load and not fry and melt it's rectifiers or blow the brushes out.

anybody have any sugestions on these points?
what other fans work for this application but require less current demand?

hope responces here will help paposwing14

 

^^^^ once is enough ^^^^

 

latin I agree but it was after 3 in the morning....

for that I deserve a gold star just for my attempt to offer some info at that hour

 

Clutch fan is more efficient, and pulls more air. I use them where I can.

For electric, some big ones pull upwards or 50 amps. That's either at startup or continuous. Probably startup. Kind of a lot for a 55amp stock alt.

 

i put an electric in mine, i'm happy withe the results. with the stock fan my car would get really hot when i let it idle for a while, with the electric i am always at operating temp once it reaches it. i got my fan from sneedspeedshop.com. they have it set up with a shroud so all u have to do is drill the holes and wire it.

 

I'm with Jeff, the clutch fan is an elegant design, it only works when it needs to and takes minimum power when it needs it directly from the engine, instead of routing it through the charging system and battery.

Look at the shrouding on the stock set up, it is built like a wind tunnel to deliver air to the rad with full efficiancy. Go with an electric fan and you toss this out, along with the fan clutch that you already own.

I think that most "problems" with the clutch fan can be attributed to other problems with the cooling system that aren't properly diagnosed. If you are having problems with overheating make sure everything else is up to par before doing major and expensive surgery.

Ray

 

Only time a clutch fan is really robbing power, is when it has malfunctioned. Otherwise, they just spin at a slower rate, creating minimal drag on the engine.
If you have a bad fan clutch, going to an e-fan *seems* to either help with cooling, or add pep to the engine, depending which way the clutch was bad.

 

I have run both. A taurus fan and a stock fan i like them both equally. Electric is nice at idle when guage is half way up electric will bring down temps quick. With stock in all my cases will have to be driven to bring down temps but wont overheat but still too close for me to not moniter at idle. With electric you have to pay attention to your gauge. Do a search for taurus fan in stock shroud. Thats how i did mine. the pics are on the Doc's thread he started.

 

Hey what ever happened to Doc anyway? Did he go on vacation? It's been two weeks, man I wish I had his job.

 

Like me, Doc's of the "older" variety. As such, sometimes we forgets things..............

 

In the 13 years I have owned/driven my 85 GSL-SE the stock clutch fan has always maintained a constant temp and this car has been driven in some trying conditions (CA deserts, AZ and FL summers with A/C on) without ever overheating. My 2 cent's.

 

I run Mr Gasket 16" fan and its awesome, no wories on power as I run a AC Delco 140 amp alternator.

 

Nice , this turned into a big topic well im staying with the stock for now and if it bothers me later I will assure that I buy a safe E-fan thanks guys for the helps.