I was looking into getting a Flex-a-lite Black Magic Electric Fan #150 for my 89 auto vert, and I SEARCHED and I hear that the stock fan is sufficient enough. Basically I wanted to free up some hp, open up the engine well, and hopefully bring my temps down. So is it worth the 219.00 or not, and no I don’t want to go diving in the junk yard!

-also the reason i want to bring my temp down is because I heard someone say they are running 1/4 on the gage when I’m normally at 1/2. What’s up with that?

 

If you need the room for something yes, but whats the point if it gives you little to no extra performance!! http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/ro...ectricfan.html

 

IMO I like using efans because it cleans up the engine bay.. I hate the stock fan and the shroud..regardless of there being nothing beneficial at all.

 

efan

+ cleaner engine bay, easier to work on
+ highway crusing its off, with big radiator and proper ducting car says cool (better economy)

i have black magic for 5 years now, and i like it.....

 

reading what rotoryres has to say about the efan, I might just do it. What the hell doesnt look that hard to do, was expecting a project.

 

man that engine bay is really open!

-they say a e fan can free up 17hp is that really true?

 

No there is almost no power difference at all...

 

http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/efanmyth.htm
http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/efaninstall.htm

 

Eh.. Thats an opinion.

A properly set up fan wont even turn on during highway operation, where as the stock clutch fan is still drawing some air.

 

S5's temp guage is supposed to read about 1/2, S4 is 1/4

 

i used a ford escort fan. it fit over the radiator perfect. There is no gain in HP, all it does is make your engine bay look cleaner and gives you more room to work.

 

some of my old mustang mags did dyno's with and with out e-fans on stock cars.... they gained 7hp with the e-fan........ but i belive when the fan is on and running it draws hp.... on club 4ag a person lost 3hp on the dyno when the e-fan was on

 

This is no different a thermoclutch fan. Under the same circumstances the thermoclutch fan will be basically freewheeling in the breeze. The amount of engine power it's consuming is small enough to be considered negligible. At highway speeds the fan (no matter what type) is playing no part is cooling the engine.

That's not the recommended way to run an e-fan. Read Aaron's links.

Only in your wildest dreams. Stock FC's make 146-200hp. Don't you think a 9-12% gain is ridiculously far-fetched from just a fan?

They were probably also using fixed fans, i.e. fans bolted direct to the water pump pulley. FC's (and most modern cars with mechanical fans) use a thermoclutch so that the fan's speed (and hence the power drawn from the engine) is dependant on the radiator's temp.

 

Whoever said an efan will improve your car's performance is smoking some good crack... A properly setup efan will do the same thing as a clutch fan... Cool the engine... That's like thinking you'll see a horsepower gain from running aftermarket radiator hoses...

You have reliability mods, and power mods... The efan is simply a reliability mod (although no better than the stock fan), except it just saves a little space...

 

Slightly off topic, Didnt some S4 GXLs come with "secondary" Efans in the front of the rad to help pull air through? I say that would be a good setup... +1 for Clutch Fan

 

So... when the clutch fan fails, does it just spin all the time? Cuz that's what mine does... it can be 30 degrees outside and the car can be completely cold, but the fan will spin full speed... is that normal? I wouldn't be suprised if the fan was worn out... it does have over 180k miles on it.

 

The clutch fan will either spin constantly, or not at all upon failure...

 

Also, with switching to an E-fan, I heard it frees some HP since the fan is no longer running
off of the mechanical power of the engine. Instead, it puts more strain on the alternator
since it's running electrically. So in the end, there's no power gain at all. The power the
fan is running off of goes from mechanical to electrical power.

 

^pretty much^
im for keeping the stock fan. cleaning up the engine bay is always good, but i go by the saying 'if it isnt broken, dont fix it.'
...and im cheap

 

Technically, a fan running off the alternator should be less efficient than a clutch fan because there are more energy conversions involved and energy conversions are never 100% efficient.

However, running an E-fan off a battery for short durations could conceivably free up horsepower. As a counterpoint, though, the clutch fan freewheels (just like the E-fan) whenever it would be necessary for you to free up horsepower (at speed).

 

Exactly... The ONLY reason for removing the clutch fan is to free up space...

 

OK, how many freaking times can we cover this? Seriously, this thread has happend 10,000 times and the info is even in the FAQ because of it.

Closing thread.