I’ve kept the stator off for years, and even with a pickup it makes things so much easier.

There have been a good number of opinions on why the stator was designed. The only thing I’ve noticed is that in cold weather I see a drop in motor temp, and a good 2-3°F drop in oil temperature. Considering over the years old Powerstroke ownership since 2001, documenting for most of that time mpg of every tankfull of fuel, engine temp has a good effect of fuel economy. And without the stator I see it more. My compensation for the lack of a stator was careful use of blocking the radiator for those periods of the year when temps were below 20°F. Considering the tales of what a van owner goes through, I’d remove it and there is an alternative if temperature causes grief.

So my opinion is it was designed for emissions/fuel economy.

 

I wouldn't have guessed temps would go down.
Great info. Thanks!

 

I'm firmly in the stator doesn't matter camp, but also only from experience with trucks. I've checked against all the theories I've heard and found them to not be true on my own vehicles (so take a test sample of 1 as far as you like).

I hadn't heard the idea that it actually prevents over-cooling before, and I can say that my vehicle does run cold, so that's actually the only theory I've ever heard that does correlate with observation.

My theory has always been that it's simply the rear hand guard for a mechanical fan. You'll notice starting in the mid 90's as vehicles moved from mechanical fans with exposed shrouds to electric fans the electric fan housings have rear hand guards on them so you can't stick your fingers in where the blades spin. I expect someone decided the mechanical fans should probably have that too, so they put one on. It obviously can't be self contained when it's mechanical so you get a clamshell design and in comes the stator.

 

For a minute there I was wondering how you guys were getting your alternators to work without the stator.

 

hahahahaha

 

Donald,

This application though is the only one I’ve seen which fully blocks any airflow direct on the motor. I too went through all the explanations of its purpose, including how detrimental it might be to radiator cooling if it was removed. So once I did remove it I kept checking coolant temp under all different conditions, and it really didn’t show an issue. But as someone who had a partially clogged oil cooler, oil temp was something always up on the display.

Since I was tracking fuel mpg all the time, and noticed winter temps brought it down, much less then the summer/winter blend effect, having it off was one tell. And my winter “Delta” being reduced too. As soon as I blocked some radiator air flow the oil temp came back up to normal excessive, fuel mpg came back up, and the minor coolant temp came up too. So I’m calling emissions. There’s just too much engineering and tooling expense into that to be a simple reason.

Removing it not an improvement for a clogging oil cooler, it just alters the “Delta” differential.

 

Besides covering the motor as many said, I think the outside of the stator directs air back to the back of the engine. So it is intended to improve the fan's efficiency. If not, air would recirculate back. But that's by reasoning, not experimental.

For those that don't experience any difference, I think the fan can do a good job a not so high temperature, and not a high load like hill and hot.

To test that theory would need someone doing that. Towing high load under hot temp up the mountain.

I followed Diesel tech Ron and it pops up very easily. It's a bit scary at first. I tried to pull it, but later, I lose my patient and used a smooth flat pry bar (tire bar), it did come out. Just need to take out the screws, move front inter battery cable out of the way, push radiator back and pop it up.

I followed srmastertech, but it was hard to remove that top plastic round thing, while I didn't need to remove it at all.
One mistake I made much earlier on was that once it's pop up, I was excited and for the moment, forgot the electric connector was in the way.

 

I'm not pulling mine off, and I have the arm cuts to prove it...

I have seen what a completely under thought, and under engineered cooling stacks on a modern (sort of now) diesel is. That would be a GM Duramax circa mid 2000s. I owned one, I suffered through their lack of knowledge of airflow through the stack or even cool air into the intake.

Ford builds trucks a bit differently and I wouldn't put it past them to have thrown ours, or even later ones, in a wind tunnel, and what all gets affected (because you aren't making a brick more aerodynamic).

Emissions? No...

So what could you affect with reverse vanes and a bullet front after a fan?

Sound...

Airflow in the engine bay (maybe they were the first ones thinking of this, they did put high vents on the sides of the '08s).

Can't say myself either, other than my alternator does get a healthy blast of air off that deflector...

This is Ford... Not GM... Not Dodge 'er Fiat...

Somebody spent some time thinking about this...

My $.02
Scott

 

God I don’t want to get into another stator discussion. 99.9% of the time I never have any sounds on, and I've not noticed any difference in the sound of air or fan. Temp was the only Delta. Maybe I don't tow heavy enough to have a raging fan.

 

Interesting, I might have to experiment with blocking the radiator some on my own.

Here is how mine basically always runs, after the replacing the thermostat with a new Ford one. It really should have 10-15 more degrees of coolant temp I think, and the oil would stay cleaner running at 215 too.

 

I was trying to get it back to stock spec during the real cold. As I mentioned in another thread, I grabbed plastic corrugated signage board to hang in front of the radiator, lifting up on the rubber seal to get access.

 

I loosened it when I replaced the glow plug harness. I must not have tightened when I completed the project. Not a good thing! The little ear kept it from coming all the way off.

 

This sounds like a good idea. I am paying someone to install the alternator because I don't want to pull all the stuff out myself. I will leave the stator out.

At first, I thought you were talking about removing the alternator stator!

 

Thanks. I’ve not seen those fasteners (self threading) loosen on their own so I was curious.

 

Jack, I know you don't want to get into another thread on why all that stator is there directing air flow. Since I haven't been in on one of those threads, maybe you could answer whether or not it has been brought up that its purpose is for even air flow distribution around the engine.

Why? My theory would be they were entering an age where a ton of electronics from sensors to controllers are mounted all around this "new" 6.0. Many of the electronics albeit help pollution control (so maybe your theory is partially right but for another reason); there are also a ton of components for just basically operating this sophisticated machine that are air cooled.

I doubt they put it there to just tick off mechanics - somebody engineered the air flow and this is part of that engineering.

In contrast I'd love to bore you with more talk about the extreme LACK of thought, or even testing of a mid 2000s LLY Duramax, where the cooling stack wasn't sealed, they had reduced engine thermal transfer with the newly designed heads and injector system, they moved the intake into the hot engine bay. And on and on - and btw: those units were therefore DESIGNED (by lack of) to overheat.

Boy even when I say I won't, I do...

Scott