Anybody using a flex fan instead of the clutch fan???
 

Still looking for other (less noisey) options to the stock Clutch Fan....

Wondering if anybody's running a flex fan instead of the stock clutch fan.

Even in the cooler weather now, i tried the E-Fan again and the FMIC is just too much for the Black Magic to pull through, and with the s4's frone end, it's just barely keeping the car cool enough at 55MPH, going uphill it shoots up over 200, and i like that not.

The other resort is making some custom duct work to go from the sides of the opening (the ones that are blocked off on an s4) around the FMIC, through the belly pan and to the oil cooler and the Radiator.

Making the duct work is simple, but I'd rather just use a flex fan if it will work!!

Do your efan run over 15mph ?
Cause the fan is only used at low speed(stop, light, montreal trafic)...

Over 15mph, a spinning fan will restrain air flow.

Let me know if you want to try a flex fan- I have one I bought from summit that I will let go for the price of shipping. Its black

The E-Fan comes on whenever the temp gets to hot, and YES, it comes on over 15mph all the time. The FMIC is 3 1/2 inches thick and does a very good job of limiting airflow!!!

If its the same size diameter as the stock fan, good deal, PM me with the shipping costs and I can paypal ya.

Whats so bad about going over 200°F anyways? Operating temp is ~180. Overheat isnt until 250°F or higher. Ive a black magic fan with a koyo radiator and a thick FMIC too but but my temps rarely get above 200. Maybe you should try flushing your coolant first? Run less antifreeze?

Just put down the flex fan! hehe

Seriously, a flex fan is the noisiest piece of crap you will ever hear next to a car with the old style fixed metal fan. In the past couple muscle cars I've owned, they had flex fans in them. I yanked them out and put in a clutch type fan. Waaaay better! Plus, a clutch type fan will actually have less drag than a flex fan.

I also dont like the idea of a big spinning disk blocking airflow across my engine at higher rpms...

250°F?? i thought overheating was more around 230°F. i guess different people will say different things. i don't know what exact temps certain metals flex (bend, warp, etc).

Either way, you still have 30°F headroom.

If you had one of the cars that had stock e-fans they dont even turn on until 220°F-225°F.

Yeah, the only time a flex fan should be used is if someone doesn't want to replace the clutch for the clutch fan. I can't emphasise enough just how loud they really are. A working clutch fan is a thing of simple beauty. ;)

Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid.. but, with the stock fan, the car runs happily at 185-190 degreees, up to 195 under boost.... which is the way it ran stock before i did the upgrades.

with the E-fan... I'm fightin to keep it below 200 degrees, and the HEAT from the engine bay is REDICULOUS when you open the hood as compared to the clutch fan. Also, the motor ticks like a bitch after you shut it off with the E-Fan and it doesn't seem to do that with the clutch fan.

A cooler engine is going to last longer, I just don't want my annoyance at the noise of the stock fan to cause problems ion engine longevity.

Third gen fans don't come on till like 215.. however, the car was DESIGNED that way, and its a different motor. Our cars were designed with a clutch fan and therefore, were designed to run cooler. My Car is nowhere near stock anymore, but the radiator is still in the same place.. which may be part of the problem... third gens rads are way up front away from the engine and therefore, separated from its heat a little more than ours.

I'm just trying to cover my ass here.

You have to remeber, you guys are dealing with a very capable motor head, but I've only converted to rotary in the past two years, and being that i just rebuilt this motor, I really don't want to tear it out again cause I was a dumbass and ripped out the stock fan!

Just an FYI, With my 91 n/a I went to a local junk yard and purchased an electric fan off a 90 240sx, it fit's perfectly once the shroud is removed. There's almost no noise, frees up the engine, and it runs cooler.

when people make certain claims, such as "it runs cooler," most like to know how you come to this conclusion. i believe the S5's temp gauge setup only reads certain points and the gauge wont react to X degree temp change. in order to claim it runs cooler, its best to have an accurate temp gauge to read. also, turbo guys seem to have much more trouble than us n/a guys. i dont recall anyone ever having a cooling problem with an n/a (minus failing parts which are irrelevant here).

If the gauge shows it is running cooler, it is running cooler, it just might not be running as cool as the gauge claims.

I think the best fan to get would be this one I saw in a JEG's catologue that had fins that turned once the fan shut off so it had basically no airflow impedance. I believe it was a clutchtype.

you dont wanna run too cool, either. i'm not gonna go searching, but i've read about the S5s temp gauge (or sending unit; however the damn thing works). supposedly it has certain points that cause it to sit in a certain area. in other words, it shouldnt read "a little cooler," it should be a bit more dramatic i believe. and if shows it running _that_ much cooler, which i would doubt, than likely the car wouldnt be running at proper operating temp. i dont know what degrees cause the gauge to sit at certain points, but i doubt the increments are small enough to notice a temp change from a different fan, especially when the clutch fan, when working properly, is more than sufficient to cool water temps.

Will a fex fan be safe at high engine speeds ie: up to 8000 rpm?

don't know about you guys but i like the way my stock fan sounds in my na at high rpm's

I did a conversion with a fan that is WAYYYY TOO SMALL (and I plan on getting a scirroco dual in the future) but it still does fine as far as cooling goes and actually freed up alot (well, alot for N/A) of engine response and I've heard claims of up to 10 more flywheel hp. I'm no expert, but I say do an E-Fan like the one that I want to get and run a manual switch in your cabin and turn it on once your temp is about 1/2 way to operation temp. It'll warm up quicker and you'll definately not have to worry about that whining sound at 8,000rpms, unless of course that whining is from a giant turbo.

you mean quiet???

Regarding temperature gauges: The S4 gauge is fairly reasonable about showing actual differences. I'm not sure exactly how sensitive it is, since I don't have a proper water temp gauge in yet, but I was able to tell when my thermostat wasn't opening all the way and it was running warm - and could see the difference kicking the heater on made.

S5 gauges are apparently more along the lines of "Cold, warm, overheated 5 minutes ago."

To the original poster: Have you replaced/checked your thermostat recently? I was having problems with my NA running uncomfortably warm, and it turned out my thermostat wasn't opening all the way. Replacing it fixed the problem.

-=Russ=-

Is it just me or des the answer to your problem seem obvious... ;)

Seriously, the noise of the stock fan really doesn't bother me. I can barely hear it over all the other noises anyway. I would consider keeping temps under control far more important than a bit of fan noise.

Your NA has way less power and doesn't have a FMIC bocking the radiator, so this ain't gonna help.

From my experience, I have never seen an electric fan that cools better than a nice working stock clutch fan. I have friends with upgraded radiators and electric fans that run hotter than friends with stock radiators and stock fans...Both situations with FMICs...