Several members have inquired about removing the stock fan shroud and installing a electric fan kit. In most cases you will not need to do this. A stock fan with a intact fan shroud is a very effective way of keeping your truck cool. Usually if there is a problem with cooling it is one of about 4 things:

1) Fan clutch is not engaging and so air is not being pulled through the radiator. With engine off, you should have difficulty in trying to turn the fan if it is ok.

2) A intact fan shroud that is molded around the fan. This helps pull air through the radiator instead of just sucking air inside the engine compartment.

3) A thermostat is going bad. You can remove it and place it in a pan of water with a thermometer to see at what temp it opens when you heat the water.

4) An old radiator that is plugged inside or needs some TLC to the outside (straighten fins, etc,.).

In some cases a front mounted pusher fan can be used to enhance a stock system. This would apply to someone with a big engine and does a lot of pulling or idling.

Installing a electric fan for horsepower reasons is subjective at best.

 

Dear ultramagdan on my 98 expedition 5.4 mod i removed the factory fan & fan clutch & replaced it with a setup from jdm engineering. This kit is very user
friendly in the sense that jdm has done all the home work required to do such an easy conversion. The seems to mix of all
factory parts so oem quality is all there.I live in west texas & WOW lately has it been consistantly hot 2 months now 100 degrees. I also travel thru the desert south west alot . Not even
under these gruling conditions is there a bit of trouble. Horsepower was very noticeable so were the miles per gallon
previous mpg was around 14.1in town after mod 15.9 to 16.0 in
town on the highway before mod 16.4 to 17.5 mpg after mod
18.2 to 19.8 mpg now in all fairness this is not all i have done .
But the single most important trick to any mod motor is making
them breath all they can this will raise your mpg & horsepower.
The add for jdm said there electric fan kit would remove 11 lbs of
rotating mass when i weighed the stuff i took off it was more like
13 lbs . All i can say is do it .
good luck TURBO TED.

 

Ultramagdan,
Thanks for the information on the fan cluch.

On my '96 bronco, i've considered a pusher fan - Here's why. I sit still in 96* outside temp just about every day and the a/c does not seem to remove the heat from the large cab. When i do get a chance to get out on the road, the a/c is ice cold. Is the turning the fan to test the cluch the only way to test or is it better to add the electric pusher fan for the sitting still better choice to keep the a/c colder. My engine temp never leaves the normal range and I don't think that's an issue.

Thanks,

 

3broncocrazy, most AC systems will struggle to keep things cool at idle speeds. There is only so much air that the fan can pull through the condenser and the radiator at idling speeds. I think a electric pusher would assist your stock system a great deal. I've seen a lot of systems where the front fins where folded over on the condenser. Taking the time to straighten those fins out and clean the condenser and the radiator with a garden hose often made a noticable difference. Air must flow through the system. If yours is okay, then a pusher is not a bad idea. You could easily wire it so that it only came on when the AC was on. Trying to turn the fan by hand is the only easy test I know of. Someone else may know a better way but when your truck is idling and at temp, you should be able to open the hood and notice the volume of air the fan is moving.

turbo Ted, I installed the dual Flex-Lite on my 98 F250 LD. I really couldn't tell a horsepower difference and I haven't had a chance to check the mpg. At the end of August I'll be taking a trip where I can check on it. Overall, I like my electric setup.

Update on mpg: I get a solid 14 mpg with my style of driving. I don't think I will ever see 16 unless it's downhill and with the wind.

 

Ultramagdan,
Thanks for the reply. I'm leaning towards the type refrigerant in the '96 is the reason - but have no plans to change freon.

With the hood up and engine running, the flow seems to be good, call it weird but sounds like the fan kicks on and off or maybe it's the rpm's changing when the cluch kicks in - ANYHOO - I keep delaying the elect. fan 'cause I've never installed one and the stock does very well at outside temp at say 90*. Another slight fear is that it would block air flow to the rad. and cond.

I'm spoiled to A/C and thats a fact

 

3broncocrazy, Yes you would see a definate cooling of the A/C with a pusher fan and no, it will not block the air flow through the rad. and cond. The 2 easist ways to hook it up are to; tie your power to the fan off the compressor relay, that way the fan comes on with the A/C. or just wire it up to a switch inside so you can turn it on only when you need it. Hopes this helps.

And lucky you, Im in the Nevada desert and no A/C..

 

XTREEM,
Thanks - I believe i'll move forward with the project. Think i'll wait 'till winter so i can work under the hood...........

Nevada desert and no A/C - Man

 

Alternate air flow test.
With engine hot and running at idle, spread a red shop cloth on front of your condensor (or radiator).
Rag stays 100% stuck = good airflow
Rag sticks but not all the way = poor (you be the judge)
rag falls off = you know the answer.

 

Ecuri,
Thanks for the tip - I'll give it a try

 

OK, I've heard the pros and cons And depending on who you talk to you will get 2 different answers. I have a 92 Explorer with the 4.0 and at converting to an electric fan, but where do I find the specs on the minimum CFM airflow needed? I've been told that as long as I choose a setup that will move at leat 2000CFM's I'll be ok, sugestions? I'm looking at the "Spal 16" high performance with 2360 CFM airflow. I'm open to sugestions if anyone has some.

 

That information may be hard to find since only a engineer that was designing the radiator for the motor would know how much CFM was needed. Most shops are not going to be checking for CFM. You also do not need that amount of airflow all the time for a number of reasons. I know my 5.4 can sit there idling a long time before the fans kick on and then it's only for a 10-15 second squirt.

 

Ultramagdan,
How much airflow are your fans putting out and how large is your radiator? I only have a 18"x18" area to work with and I do pull a bout on the weekends. Do you think the "Spal 16" high performance with 2360 CFM airflow is enough for the 4.0L? I do Appreciate your help. I'm still alittle puzzled as to why the new fan & cluch are draging the engine down so much, I've been told that it's because I did not buy a genuine ford pard. what do you think.

 

It's possible although I wouldn't think that.

My radiator is the huge 33 X 18 X 4 (not exact but close) aluminum radiator . Between the two fans I think they pull something like 4800/5000 CFM. I have the spec sheet someplace. I think you will be ok pulling a boat. Where you would run into trouble is if you are in stop and go traffic with the AC on, pulling the boat, on a 90+ degree day. Your AC performance would decline rapidly followed by a rising engine temp if the fan was not keeping up. What the electric fan does more than anything is make you very aware of your engine's temp. Quiet fan - everythings alright. Fan on - engine is warming up and you steal a look at the temp gauge. My temp gauge does not move from it's normal position when the fans come on - which means they are maintaining the correct temp for the engine.

You could always install the 16" puller and if that didn't do the job, I'd bet a small pusher added to the front would. The front would only come on when the 16" is not keeping up.

 

I have a 1996 4.0 V-6 Ranger with a 5.0 V-8 radiator and flex a lite black majic electric fan- factory says it pulls 2800 cfm. And i have found that it works perfect in the winter, of course, but with my 160 stat- it will run about 220 in the summer! And i have an auto gage mechanical water temp gauge, no reason to believe that isnt accurate- after all, it does perfect in the winter, or when i turn off the a/c. Obviously, if it is 100 degrees out- are you really interested in turning off the a/c???

So, i think electric fans are great. They make it much easier to work on trucks, they make for great heat in the winter (since the fan has a thermostat itself and doesnt turn on until the truck is warmed up) they save water pumps, on and on.

But if you care about the water temp of your 4.0- better to go get the 5.0 radiator so you have a chance to keep it cool if you want to run a/c in the summer. I am going to check into adding the auxiliary fan folks are talking about- its my next step. J.D.

 

I too am curious about elec fans, I have a 99 f350 v10 and would like to get rid of my clutch fan...I think its a cleaner setup and would let the engine breath better, but when I spoke with my mechanic he said to leave it alone, either he does not want to do it, or its not worth doing.

Anyone else have a v10 and has done this mod?

thanks