I have been toying with this idea and was curious if anyone had actually done it.

I have a 94 F-250 4WD with a 460 and standard transmission and I am thinking of removing the factory viscous fan and installing an electric cooling fan in it's place. As everyone knows, the viscous fan robs a ton of horses from the engine and bt removing it and installing an electric cooling fan the truck would regain those lost ponies.

I also believe that the temp would be more accurate.

Has anyone done this and if so what type of fan did you use and what other mods did you have to perform i.e. installing a different temperature snesor and such..

Hope there is someone out there that has already taken the plunge.

Thanks

Dave

 

An electric fan will draw a fair amount of electrical power & place an added load on the alternator etc . If a fan clutch is working properly then it only engages when in stop & go traffic or anytime when airflow thru the radiator is reduced . Im not saying the electric fan is a bad idea , But factor in the cost of the electric , the time it takes to install it & make any nessecary modifications before you decide to install it . The fan clutch really doesnt reduce the Hp enough to measure it . With a 460 it would be less than 1% of the engine Hp . Im not sure what an electric fan would use current wise , 20 , 30 Amps , Im guessing . I think it would place more of a load on the alternator & thus the engine than the fan clutch would .

 

valid points about the added draw on the alternator but where do you come up with the power loss percentage from a clutch fan?

 

Nothing official or scientific , I cant see a fan clutch reducing an engines Hp , esp a 460 , enough to make much of a difference , If you have some numbers or specs etc , Post them . Im basing my thoughts on a fan clutch thats working properly , One that isnt will place an added load on the engine . Its up to you , I was just tossing out an idea . Id say if you did a lot of low speed towing , hauling etc , an electric fan may be more efficient , But Id also upgrade the alternator if its one with a lower rating .

 

Not trying to be a smart guy I was just curious if you had any figures. I suspect a faulty clutch fan would ROAR all the time like it does when you first start it up on cold days.

Let me ask you another question. Replacement shocks...any recommendations? I tow a two horse tag along that probably weighs 5500 to 6000 lbs with two horses aboard. I have an equalizing hitch so the rear end doesn't really sag but the shocks are factory and I suspect they are getting a bit tired although none of them are leaking

I did put a flowmaster cat back exhaust system on the truck and swapped out the factory air cleaner with a K&N FIPK.

This is my second Ford and I really like this truck

 

Heck no , I didnt think you were being a smart *** . What I have seen a lot of times is the fan clutch wont engage when it should , More running hot problems than anything if the fan clutch dies . Ive still got the factory shocks on my F150 thats 12 yrs old , they are fine . Shocks dont support the weight of the vehicle , springs , torsion bars do , whatever the case may be . If the shocks show no signs of leakage & still control the rebound then I wouldnt replace them .

 

I appreciate all the information and look forward to chatting with you again.

thanks

 

For what it's worth, I just replaced my shot factory clutch (and fan) on my '85 302EFI with the dual electric fan setup from Flex-A-Lite.

The fans were a perfect fit for the radiator, but I can't give you any numbers in terms of temperature / cooling / or amperage draw yet. (I'm still running the stock, non-specific gauges). Several thoughts / comments / observations:

The engine is quieter, and access to the front accessories is awesome without the fan and shroud. I considered going with a single electric fan (18") in the factory shroud, but I chickened out. The majority of what I read recommended 2500CFM for a V8, and I was afraid of going too small for when summer rolls around. I went with the highest rated thing they had, which was the dual setup.

Current draw is supposed to be around 20A. It is significant. When I turn on the fan, I definitely see it on my ammeter. Unfortunately, I'll probably be swapping out a close to new 65A alternator for the big one by summer. Guess I'll have to add a couple of more fog lights to help justify it!

I do feel the freed up power, though slightly. The truck pulls up to speed better when accelerating in a higher gear. No MPG tests even attempted. It's still cold as %@!*&%! outside, and I warm the truck up at least ten mins. each morning. On this subject, the truck does warm up MUCH quicker. It doesn't overheat, but the temp gauge starts creeping rightward a lot quicker than before. With the cooler weather we're having up north, if you can believe it, my fan has only cycled on twice in the past 4 weeks. At all other times, the needle stays right on the "O" in normal. The cold air circulating around the radiator has been enough to cool things down, for the most part. As much as the reduced drag must improve MPG, so must the quicker times in getting the engine up to operating temperature.

A little while back, Flex-A-Lite supposedly swapped out the engine-driven fan on a Suburban and dyno-tested it. I think they're claiming they picked up 2 MPG and 17 hp from the switch. I can't tell you what mine has done, but this is their claim.

Hope some of this may help you out......

 

I put a Perma-cool 16" on my 93 4.9. I had also installed an adjustable thermostat, which I tested , and found to be bad. Since it's winter I left it as is, and up to this point no problems. It runs at the same temp it always did. I'll leave it this way until I notice the temp running above normal. As far as performance I have not noticed an increase. Same mpg also.

 

17 HP gain from adding an electric fan...?

I absolutely don't believe that. I occasionally work on an industrial facility that has a lot of heat-generating machinery; it's ventilated with a four-*foot* through-wall fan that's driven with a 1-1/2 HP motor. Something like 20,000 CFM of air per minute.
And they claim it takes 17 HP to drive a, what, 18" diameter fan???

I own a '87 Ford Ranger with a little 125 horse engine and a clutch driven fan not too much smaller in size, you'd sure feel it if that fan used that sort of power when it kicked in...but you don't.

It takes 2 MPG to run an engine cooling fan? That's completely ridiculous. Think about it- If it did, Ford would have long gone to electric cooling fans in *all* their new trucks by now in order to meet federal corporate fuel economy standards- There's millions of dollars at stake. Apparently, Ford can't find the missing 2 MPG and "free" 17 HP that someone else could "find" so easily..

I've seen some seriously inflated performance gains from aftermarket manufacturers, those are really off the wall, IMO.

Almost as good as the JC Whitney magic pellets that triple your horespower and double your gas mileage, "Verified by an independent testing lab".

Don't you believe it for a minute...well, you're free to do so, but I don't.

 

Guys got a good point. I don't believe 17hp either, but it is a chevy so who knows! My mom's Cougar has elec. fan from the factory, hardly ever turns on though.


Primary rig is:
95' F-150 EB 300/6 5 spd with 4" Superlift, MSD, Ram Air, Gibson Exhaust, 32" BFG Muds

Then theres:
88' F-250 Superduty 351 + c6
92' Thunderbird 3.8L V-6 FOR SALE!
95' Mercury Cougar 4.6L V-8
80' E-350 300/6 and a
3 spd column shifter baby.

The newest addition to the Ford family is a 99' Mustang GT 4.6L

 

 

Okay, I double-checked the figure. I WAS off by 5 hp. Their claim was 12 hp, not 17. They still claim 16 lb. ft. of torque and 2-3 MPG. Do I feel 12 extra hp out of my 302? No. Nor do I expect the extra MPG. I thought about the EPA / MPG thing, also, when I read their claim. I agree, it doesn't make much since to leave that much low hanging fruit when electrics would be easy enough to add at the factory. Oh, well. With a bad stock clutch, anyway, I was happy enough to make the switch for the other benefits (not necessarily power or MPG). Just my $0.02..... Oh, by the way, here's the site that mentions their dyno test: http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/Application%20Guide/fulltruck.htm, and here's a clip from their page:

#250 Dyno test results
"Before and after" dyno tests were done at Austin's ProMaxx in Tacoma, Washington on a stock 1992 Chevy Suburban with a stock 5.7 L engine. By replacing the stock fan and fan clutch with a Model 250 fan, the power to the wheels increased by 12 horsepower and 16ft-lb torque. Follow-up records indicate an increase of 2 mpg, as well. We could feel the improvement in acceleration, and we noticed improved warm-up and cool-down response. The engine even ran quieter. That's enough reason for anybody to trash their O.E. setup in favor of a Flex-a-lite Big Truck Fan.

Keep on truckin'