so i did a tuneup on my kinda new to me 186000 mile truck (Motorcraft wires, champion plugs, napa dist. cap and rotor, timing adjustment, fuel filter, tranny filter gasket and flush, oil/filter change). the truck runs much much better than when i first got it. thanks to all of you on this and other forums for being so frkn helpful. i'm really happy, except that the trailer i want to pull to baja (3000 miles RT) is 5000lbs dry. i think i'll be really close to the truck's limit.
so i think i want to free up some hps by converting to an e-fan. after much reading and thought, i think i'm going to go with a lincoln mark viii conversion. it looks like i already have a "3G" alternator and my local pick n pull has a bunch of mark viii's. what i want to know is:
-are there any other considerations, besides the need for a 3G alt., that i need to be aware of to make this work reliably?
-what controller kit does everyone suggest i use? while i consider myself to be pretty good at following instructions, i have very little wiring experience and good instructions with a lot of pictures would be great. i read that the dc controllers are the best. how comprehensive are the instructions included? i would call them if their website wasnt' down, but in all honesty i'd rather have the opinion of someone not trying to sell them. are there any other controllers out there worth the money?
-and in the end, i'm looking to spend $150-$200 in parts. is there any other place i can get 10-20 HP and .5-2.5 MPG for that amount of money?

thanks, mike

 

I'f you're looking to spend that much in parts, NPD sells an electric fan kit with a bracket, preset controller, and all the wiring for under $200.

 

dc delta controls are VERY nice.
Brian builds these most likely in his spare time.so order ahead of time.its well worth the wait man!
you wont have any trouble hooking her up.
spend the $ and get the variable rate controller.you'll have no regrets,and wont have to deal with relay's burning out.
this alone will eat up most of your budget though (did i mention it was worth every penny though? ) you'll still need to hit up ebay/local yard for your fan.

what are you working with for a truck?

 

Any horsepower you free up with an electric cooling fan will be an added load to the alternator.. Unless you have a high amp alt you WILL need one.. And high amp alt's add more load to the engine than a stock alt..

I know I am going to be flamed for this statement, but all I ask is to just think about the load, whether it is fan or extra load on alternator...

BTW I am comparing a properly functioning clutch fan to elec. fan.. If it's solid mounted fan or a flex fan then all bets are off..
.

 

I am not going to flame you but felt like I was reading another post where someone said this and got hammered by the top gurus. Get your suit on and don't forget the booties too caz I feel its coming. GL lol

 

Maybe so, but any fan is not needed after 25 or 30 miles an hour IF the cooling system is functioning as it should... A properly functioning THERMAL clutch fan will only ramp up and use HP if the engine is hot enough to need cooling..

So where the load is on the water pump pulley or the alternator pulley it's about a wash.. there is load no matter which pulley it's applied to.

I was referring to the OP about getting extra HP for towing, a good tune up and a free flowing exhaust will give him lots more power for towing...

 

f150 351W e4od 4x4.

i'm hoping to score a used lincoln mark viii fan for around $30 at the pick n pull (the one in oakland has like 15 on their lot). i already have a 3G alternator, so the i'm down with what i read about dc controllers. so it takes some time to get 'em, huh... his website's down too, so... it looks like you've got a dc controller. do you still have his contact info so that i may call him and get this going?

thanks!

 

i don't know enough about comparing a mechanical load on the engine to the electrical load on an alternator. what i'm told, and what i've read is that the elec fan frees up a good number of hps. my stock fan is heavy, and it is always turning.
regarding the tune up, i did that, and it helped, a lot.
regarding the free flowing exhaust, i'm in california (emissions...) i thought that would set me back closer to $1500.

 

bikeymikey,
support@dccontrol.com

White 97 xlt,
it's not a wash.here's why.
when you don't need a fan,there is no load.-this is much,much,much more often than you might think.where as even with a clutched fan,there is always some load when no engaged.
the load taken from the crank and simply transferred to the alternator at a ratio of 1:1 like your thinking,is not correct.see firstly,an electric motor is MUCH more efficient than the internal combustion engine is.an electric motor will generate some of it's own power while spinning.
to top this off,the variable rate controller spoken of above,will slowly turn the fans on and spin them drawing low amps to keep the engine cool before it can get hot.
when a stock fan clutch kicks on,its all or nothing.much less efficient.
for example,this time of year my e-fans never turn on at all unless im fully warmed up and go through a drive through.then the variable rate controller will spin them on very low.once i get going again,that's it.they're right back off.
even during the summer loaded up to 16k gross.the only time i see them turn on,is when im going up a large long hill.and even then,this is only for well under a minute at that.
they also turn on when im backing in to dump a load or cruising through 25 mph zones etc.but for the most part,they mostly seem to be there "in case" more than anything.
there are also other benefits of swapping to electric cooling fans,such as reduced water pump ware,and faster warm up time during winter months,and reduced noise from the engine bay.

for one example using my truck;
(im running dual e-fans,with otherwise the stock cooling system.)
idi diesel owners claim they can feel a major hit in towing power while going uphill and the fan kicks on.
i feel nothing at all,and had to instal an indicator light to let me know when my fans turn on.
if swapping to electric cooling fans was simply a wash (at the little time spent turned on at that) then id feel this power reduction too,instead the power is going for forward motion to take me up the hill instead of wasted on trying to cool my engine.

today,
(my truck is 8k lbs empty) i hauled about a full cord of wood home from about 40 miles away.if i where to tell you my e-fans ran for a total of 2 full minutes and drew approx 20 amps during those 2 minutes, during this trip, id probably be over estimating.

 

now my main concern is the cooling capacity of e-fans. i'm going to be going over a couple of passes on my trip. which fan (mark viii, troyer, etc.) pulls the most air? any of these match the capacity of the mechanical fan?

 

Mark VIII, Thunderturd, Windstar or Taurus fans will be more than enough.

FordF250HDXLT: Reps for your post.

 

even for pulling 6000lbs over passes? in what i hope to be 90 degree weather? i have a gasoline engine, and i understand that they don't like to run as hot as diesels. so while all of FordF250HDXLT's post are super helpful (i read a lot of them, thanks man!) i don't know if it really applies to my situation.
i apologize for sounding stupid, but i'm dead scared of overheating but also need the extra power. rock*me*hard place.