I am thinking about installing a fan on my ranger 4x4 - how many mpgs can I get from it?.

 

IMHO you might not be able to measure it. The clutch fan only runs for a few seconds during start up and then drops to idle or almost stopped. In the winter, it might not come back on except for extended idle conditions. In the summer the fan will run a lot more, but only when it needs to run to keep the engine cool. Others have switched to electric fans and had measurable results in the summer. Lets hope one of them will tell us what mpg improvements to expect. What is your engine size? Do you have a/c and or a/t?

 

I doubt you will notice a big difference. It will relieve some of the strain on the engine, but not anything huge.

I'm planning on doing it next summer, the best ones to find are 2 speed Taurus fans from the junkyard or parts store

 

It has the 4.0 Pat-

 

If you spend a lot of time on the highway, you might get 1 mpg from it. In city traffic, the fan will come on more often, and the difference would be almost immeasurable.

If you switch to an efan, realize they are not cheap. You will need a fan that can move at least 3,000 cfm, complete with a controller and any mounting you need to fabricate. This will run you from $250 - $500. So unless you drive at least 20,000 miles per year, its not likely to pay off any time soon. You can buy a descent amount of fuel with that amount of money. When you consider that you may well have to upgrade the alternator to handle the load of an eFan, thats even more cost, and the load of the better alt may offset the advantages of the eFan.

I did this on my van and got 2 mpg better in the late fall, but again, largely highway mileage, the fan didn't have to come on often at speed. So it removed the load of a regular fan that would have robbed mpgs when the fan wasn't needed. Again, to do it right so that you don't overheat will cost some Ben Franklins.

 

Thanks alot for the info on the fan. In my work I spend maybe half city,half hwy so with what you said about the air flow I found one that moves air at 1,050cfm even if I could fit two into my ranger it still would not be enough! and it draws 11.5 amps.

 

Or you can take my advice and get the Taurus 2 speed fan like everyone else does and save yourself some money. They're usually around $100

 

ok I'll look it up, thanks

 

I had an electric fan in my 92 Explorer and it was more trouble than it was worth IMO. The throttle response seemed a little better when revving the engine but I didn't notice much on the road. The problems I had were more related to the temp switch since it was one of those that went into the fins of the radiator and it didn't want to stay. The electric fan didn't seem to do as good of a job at cooling the truck as the mechanical one did. I finally put the stock fan back on and it ended up getting totaled out a few weeks later.

 

Aside from cost and installation time, keep in mind that e-fans rely on switches and relays (not to mention wires and connectors) which means they are much more prone to problems than a mechanical fan setup. The result is a cooling system that is less reliable.

So you have to ask yourself whether it's really worth an extra mile or two (at best) per tankful.

 

I just happened to have a Taurus that crapped out so I took the fans off it and put one on my 2.5L. I really like the added throttle response. As for gas mileage the biggest improvement I've gotten out of anything was the 4 mpg I got when I installed a tonneau cover.

 

Life safety systems rely on relays and switches as well...

 

So what is your point? Life safety switches only need to work once. Fans and relays need to work all the time, and that causes them to wear out.

Think about it before saying something dumb. A mechanical fan is driven directly by the water pump pulley. Even if the clutch leaks its fluid, the fan still tends to spin. In fact, the only real failure point on a mechanical fan is the clutch. Most where the fluid had leaked out actually end up seizing, basically a fail safe.

But an electric fan, on the other hand, if you relay fails, the fan won't come on, if your temperature probe fails, the fan won't come on, if a fuse blows, the fan won't come on, if the connector corrodes, the fan won't come on, if the fan itself fails, the fan won't come on.

I have an efan on my van, but mine is also a fail safe setup, I have two fans with separate relays and fuses. If one fails, the other will still work. Maybe not as much cooling, but I will still get some. Never had to rely on it, but it is redundant. The one fan is the primary fan, it is set to come on at a lower temperature. The other fan is a pusher fan mounted on the condenser. It is also triggered my the AC clutch. This was to ensure nice cold AC when its over 100 degrees outside and the car isn't moving.

How much did this cost? Between the two fans and controllers, with me doing all the install, about $600. For me it will eventually pay for itself, I probably do 2 to 3 times more miles than the typical driver, mostly highway miles. The primary fan doesn't need to come on that often when I am at highway speeds, which reduces drag on the motor, which in turn does have a noticeable effect on mileage. Its still only about 1 mpg.

 

Are we all forgetting the emergency cooling system all vehicles have? The heater core can be used in an emergency over heating situation such as a fan clutch going out or a electric fan not working. If a belt breaks or a hose blows, whether you have an electric or manual fan, nothing is going to help. Oh, and my conversion cost me $14.00.

 

I'm going to call you on that. You had a Taurus you could pull the fan off, so it really cost you $14.00 plus your time and a Taurus, not counting any mounting or brackets you had to fabricate.