Hi All,
I recently purchased a '88 RX-7. Found this board and checked out some threads.
And I have a question. I found posts on adding an electric fan. So my question is this: my car's fan is driven off a drive belt - why would I need an electric fan???
Thanks, Gary

 

An electric fan only makes sense if (a) your stock mechanical fan is shot, and (b) a good majority of your driving is highway cruising that can be done with the elect fan off. Driving around with the e-fan on continuously will suck down more engine power than the stock fan ever will.

This, of course, is my educated opinion, and is sure to ignite some flames, lol...

 

So are you saying that the stock "belt driven" fan is removed/replaced by an electric fan? How many hp do you gain by doing this mod?
Thanks, Gary

 

my slightly uneducated opinion, e-fans are good, if they have a solid, reliable switching system, thermal or other, most don't, and have a much higher faiure rate than belt driven ones. I don't think I have ever read a thread saying " help engine overheated from stock fan failure" or somthing to that effect, but far too many f**ked up engines from e-fan failure.
All of the cars that I have had with e-fans, have had cooling torubles that were related to the fan not switching properly, and these were stock applications, and my other cars with belt drive, only once a fan related prob, a broken belt witch was easily noticed at the time of failure.
Personally I wouldn't recommend doing it, not worth the risk, but I'm sure others that have had experinces with them on 7's might be able to tell you different.

 

almost nothing, as the gain is generally offset by the higher load on the alternator and electrical system. In fact if you are considering going with an electric fan, then you probably want to upgrade your alternator to a FD alternator (with its increased weight and load).

The stock fan really only needs to be replaced if the viscous clutch has failed.

 

Cool. Thanks a lot. Makes sense to me. The only car I've ever had that benefited from a electric fan conversion was my bug - because it didn't have to pull the dog house fan anymore.

 

are the electric fan setups lighter than the whole factory belt driven fan setup?

 

generally about the same or electrics are slightly heavier (depending on shrounds)