hondahater

iTrader: (2)

Thinking of putting in an electric fan to clear up engine bay however there seems to be some strong opinionated people here that think two opposite things. So this post is whether or not you would put in an electric fan

spunks

If you can get an electric fan with enough cfm's you could gain a bit more horsepower.The engine would have less work especially if you removed the ps and ac.

SureShot

Actually the answer is "all the above"

If your stock fan clutch is still good - keep it.
When it wears out - electric is cheaper, & works well if installed right.

Pinfield357

try to find a shroud if you do get and electric fan

hondahater

iTrader: (2)

so really its not worth the effort?

NZConvertible

That's because some people understand how thermoclutch and electric fans work, and some don't.

Some seem to think that the stock fan is driven constantly by the engine, and an electric fan is driven by some strange magic force that doesn't require engine power. Truth is both fans require engine power, and (assuming the e-fan is installed properly) both will only be drawing power from the engine when additional airflow through the radiator is reqired.

An electric fan only has two advantages. It takes up less space (but space for what?) and it costs less than replacing a worn-out thermoclutch. No electric fan can do a better cooling job than the stock fan, because a stock fan with a healthy clutch works perfectly.

TII7

Quick question for NZ. If the thermoclucth were to wear and become less effective could one just stick some straight bolts or something to connect the pulley to the fan? I think at higher rpms the clutch begins to slip a bit but if it were to be straight connected to the pulley and rotate at engine rpm would that be even better cooling than that of the stock thermoclutch?

hornbm

yeah but my black magic fan pulls WAY more air than my stock fan ever did.

ForsakenRX7

I have my 16" electric mounted to the radiator and that thing sucks air through the radiator like theres no tomorrow. No thermo switch to activate it. When the ignition is on, its on. I have seen a slight decrease in temperature. So it may be possible the stock fan clutch was wore out some but it looked and felt fairly good to me. I love my electric fan wouldnt go back to pulley driven.

Freaky Monkey007

Both fans take away from the engine either directly or indirectly. The eletric fan though uses the alternator(SP?) which is on either engine. So therefore if it is sized right it will save you some hp. Not only that but you can hook it up to ur ecu if its not stock and control it there by a various number of things.

Icemark

The problem with that is that then the stock fan is on all the time (as opposed to only when needed). On all the time will result in more draw on the engine.

See that is the big draw back to an electric fan installed improperly. Any fan should only be on when needed and at below 45 MPH. If it is on above 45 MPH or when the engine is not sufficently warm, then the electrical draw (on electric fans) is sizeable and HP is reduced (as well as engine wear is increased from operating too cool).

In addition if the fan is on all the time, and does not free wheel above 45 MPH then the fan acts as a drag inducing force and actually increases the aerodynamic drag on the car above 45 MPH. Effectivly slowing down the car, increasing load on the engine and increaseing overall temps on everything in the engine bay (leading to early failure of flexible parts and electronics).

TII7

Lol thanks for info. Was just a thought that popped in when i read about the thermo clutch.

Dak

I honestly can't say if by the butt-dyno that I could tell any difference between the stock clutch fan and my electric fan.I like the look of the engine bay with the electric fan and it's much easier to access the front of the engine.I would reccomend it if you set it up properly to only run when it's needed.

poor_red_neck

Ok, time for some assumptions:

Let's assume the thermoclutch goes bad.

Now I install a gooood e-fan, properly, with shroud (if needed). Now, the argument is that still needs power SOMEHOW... the alternator... more draw on the engine.

I hear alot about putting a FD's alternator on the FC, is the FD's alternator more efficient in regards to the amount of current made - with the used HP... Like, I know the FD's is probably going to need a bit more power to spin, it may not, but I'm assuming it is more efficient at making aperage. Am I right with this?

So, If you install the E-fan, add a FD's alternator, and remove PS pump.... would it be more effective (reason I bring up PS as that maybe resistance on the motor, that the FD's alternator uses... kinda balances it out, know what I mean? I plan on removing it anyways... just brought it up

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

I run an electric right now, and I like the looks and how it cleans the engine bay. But I also run a K2RD radiator, which, once I got the thermstat replaced, runs unbelievably cold.

But nothing beats the stock fan for pure cooling.

Jarrett

*edit* You should have added a 3rd option for those of use that see the merits of both the stock and electric fan. Basically, "Undecided"

JunpoweR

iTrader: (1)

Why wouldnt anyone want an electric fan???
well i dont wanna say anything bad about anyone but i will let you
NOOBZ!!!
know!!!

Get a Good Electric fan that dosent draw alot of current or AMPS from your battery..
also you noobz who dont know they have electronic thermostats for electric fans!!!what is that for you noobZ!!!
well it is a tempature sensor that will turn the fan on and off automaticaly just set the tempature you want it on at and the tempature you want it to turn off !!!
you noobz!!

lol
ok well also taking off your stock fan will reduce drag on your engine for sure..
and yes most of the time your car is moving so it wont turn on alot..especialy you people who live in San Francisco..

removing you air conditioning is a great idea if you dont have HOT weather in your HooD!!I did it on my GTUs..
also reducing weight and drag another belt gone!!..
power steering i say keep it!! i dont think it's worth the loss of steering control to feel and weight to do this..
and im a drifter and most drifters love their power steering =)Helps turn the wheels faster and keeps from whip back..

also i dont think you need a fan shroud is you get a fan big enough to strech across whatever short point of the radiator cooling sides (front or back)
and i say install it PULL style from the inside of the engine bay..to draw air so you dont block the air going to the radiator when the fan isnt moving..
trust me the fan dosent cause alot of DRAG because you got a oil cooler and a radiator in front of it and the fan causes less drag!!

i say get about a 1000cfm fan for street use but for racing get a adjustable speed fan that gets atleast 1800cfm..(cfm = cubic feet per minute)for the noobies..

JunpoweR

iTrader: (1)

also if a electric fan wasnt better why did the put it in all the newer cars????

hondahater

iTrader: (2)

I like that Thanks man! I'm not a "NOOB" to rx7's just a noob when it comes to mechanics Anyways what I have gathered is that if an e-fan is hooked up right it is worth doing the mod, so......how do you set it up correctly? Thanks

Mark'sMazda

If you can find one get the e-fan from the feiro. It's got a shroud that fitsl the stock FC rad perfectly.

Black13B

iTrader: (1)

Because all of the newer cars are FWD.

I'm not going to bother arguing over the difference anymore. The guys who say stick with the clutch fan are expecting you to also stick with your stock alternator when you do the e-fan, and wire it up something all ghetto.

I recommend doing the e-fan. Theres so many reasons it's better than the stock clutch fan. Just do it right if you do it. NZ said the stock one is perfect, and Icemark said if you run the e-fan all the time it will result in overcooling. Which means the e-fan obviously can do just as good as the stock clutch fan. Get a thermo switch, get an FD alternator conversion, and wire it up right. By then youll be laughing. Looks WAY better than the ugly thermoclutch fan, and clears up alot of room under the hood. It will also as stated by Icemark cool it just fine, if not better than your thermoclutch which could have possibly been wearing out. It happens, guys. Not everyone has a perfect thermoclutch fan out there.


BTW - There is no HP increase by switching fans. The drag on the water pump pulley is equivalent to that of the extra drag the alternator will make to pump out the extra amps for the e-fan. This mod isn't for HP, it's for cleaner look under the hood, or to cool your rad a little bit better if you are having thermoclutch problems..

petex

how can e-fan overcool the engine? Don't we all have thermostats????

Icemark

Electric fans on many newer cars are for packaging issues rather than efficency.

And the typical electric fan draws between 15 and 20 amps... that is as much or more than the rear defroster on, or your head lights on.

And I have deleted your useless posts in this thread, as I will do anytime I see bogus post ***** posts like that.

Dak

I think you want more cfm than that.My Perma-cool pulls 2850cfm and the Black Magic that is popular pulls 2800cfm.I'm not going to argue which is better.I like the e-fan for reasons I already stated.As for current draw if wired properly it doesn't run all the time so IMO I don't think it is as bad as some people make it sound unless it runs all the time, although an FD alternator may be whorthwhile.I don't have one and haven't had a problem,but I could be on borrowed time.I think Icemark and NZConvertible have pretty much hit the nail on the head on this one.Probably won't see any HP increases and at times more load on the alt.To me the easier access to the front of the engine is worth it.

NZConvertible

You realise your fan is now putting a greater load on the engine than the stock one ever did, as well as putting a large constant load on the alternator? You're probably over-cooling the engine too. Why not run a thermoswitch like you're supposed to?
Being newer, it may be a bit more efficient than the FC ones, but it wouldn't be a huge difference. If you upgrade from a 70A S4 alternator to a 100A FD one, it'll put ~40% more load on the engine. No getting around that.
It probably does, but I'm sure as hell not going to remove my PS just to have an electric fan.
Like how cold? You mean colder than before when it was running too hot, or colder than it really should be? Unless you were running too hot before, cooling system upgrades are not supposed to make the engine run colder. They're supposed to increase the cooling systems heat rejection capacity so that it can maintain the same temps as stock despite higher engine load.
All good electric fans draw a lot of current. If it doesn't it probably isn't moving enough air either.
Not me! I'm sure you've heard me harp on many times about doing the conversion the right way, not the ghetto way.
True, and an electric fan is a cost effectice replacement. But there are a lot of perfect thermoclutches being removed for no good reason.
Words of wisdom.

Freaky Monkey007

How easy is it to do the FD alt. swap?? And are there any other alts. that have a higher output that will work or would you even want them?