1995 F-150 5.0 thinking of replacing the mechanical fan with an electric fan setup. One or two fans, do I need a different alternator, etc. What do you all think/what have you all done?

 

It's hard to find a fan big enough to do the job. I did this years ago on my 1990 F150 with 5.0L and I got the biggest fan they had at that time and it still overheated in traffic in the summer in Texas. I put the mechanical fan back on. There was no discernible difference in MPG or power if that's what you are after.

 

Unless you've got packaging issues (which with a stock drivetrain, I doubt), I can't think of any valid reason to switch to electric fans.

 

I added a fan for a 5.0liter mustang to my 90 F150 302. It seemed fine at first and then I noticed it would get hot in traffic with the AC running wide open in the middle of the summer. The factory 65amp?? alternator just couldn't spin the fan fast enough to keep it cool. I did the alternator upgrade and now have the later generation alternator from a 94 mustang on it. Seems like it is rated at like 130 amps. No problems with cooling now. I noticed a good bump in power at the rear wheels. Also, it is much quieter at startup and idle without that noisy belt driven fan. I wouldn't change it back.

There is a double fan kit that is made specifically for the F150s, but seems like it is in the $400+ range. The one I have is in the $130 range I think.

Broncobasher

 

I put in an electric fan when I did my engine swap this fall. It hasn't gotten really hot here yet, so the real test will be this summer when the temperature hits 100+ degrees, BUT so far it's been great. Really, it only kicks on if I'm sitting still idling. (i.e. when I'm rolling down the road there's enough ram-air moving through the radiator to keep cool without a fan).

The '95 amp alternator (stock for the '95 5.8L I swapped into my truck) is plenty to run everything in my truck.
When everything is off and only the engine and fan is running it keeps it at about 14.3 volts. When I have on the headlights, fan, a/c, radio, and wipers it drops down to about 13.5 volts, which is still plenty.

This is the fan I used.
I mounted it in my I6 fan shroud (from pre-engine-swap), which is not as deep as the V8 shroud. Scndsin mounted his in his V8 shroud.
Either one should work fine, but I like the extra clearance the shallow I6 shroud leaves in front of the engine.

 

Mikulh, can you take a picture of it and post it?

 

Sure. I'll snap one tonight and post it tomorrow.

 

Save yourself a headache and use the V8 shroud. I built a fan conversion using an I6 shroud with Scndsins help. I didnt get 5 miles before it overheated. We redid it with my 5.8 shroud (just like his) and it works great!

 

I completely took the shroud off mine. Only using the shroud that came with the fan. Makes it much easier to work in there also.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/p.../model/mustang
Looks like the price went up since I bought the last one.

Broncobasher

 

I say this almost every time, electric is not for everybody. Proper power, shrouding, control, wiring etc. is critical. Some people can't make it work for their application.

Below is a 92-94 Taurus 3.8, 2 speed fan (the whole thing, trimmed to set flat) mounted in my stock 5.8 shroud.

When I first put it in & deleted the air-pump, it felt like 20+ HP. Engine ran smoother, revved freer, warmed quicker & stayed more stable than ever before.

It saves the water-pump bearings. Since it's stock, 2 bolts & you can remove the whole thing in under 5 minuets to work on the engine.

I run without ( turned off ) it half the year & average temps here run 95+ in the summer.

I've been running this for a bit over 10 years.

Just because I can & have a spare shroud, I think I may do a Mrk VII version.

 

Scndsin, that is a great idea. I considered using the factory shroud, but didn't know how to mount the fan to it. That works and forces air over the entire radiator instead of just the area where my fan fit. If I had to do it again....Not sure where the factory shroud is now. I did my conversion 15 years ago.

Broncobasher

 

Here's a picture of my fan, mounted in my 6-cylinder fan shroud. This is my daily driver and I've no issues with overheating. My temp gauge stays around the "O" in normal, which is around 200 degrees according to my PimpX ECU.

I mounted it to the shroud in similar fashion to how Scndsin mounted his, except I cut a ring of wood to fill in the gap between the fan and the shroud and to force it to suck air across the entire surface of the radiator.

 

I purchased one of the aluminum shroud kits available one ebay that comes with two 14" fans. I have not installed it yet because the two 14" fans cause about 3/8" overhang on each side. my solution to this is to trim the fans by .250 on the inside where the two fans meet and .125" on the outside of each fan, I just haven't found a table saw to use yet. The fans appear to be he exact same as those sold by american volt and claim to move 1800 cfm each... american volt has a much higher claim for both their 120 watt and there 180 watt fans. the seller i bought the unit from says they consume 14 amps... 14 amps x 12 volts = 168 watts, right? so I don't exactly know which spec to believe and I do not know how much air at a given rpm the stock mechanical fan moves, but i believe that even the low number of 3600 cfm is more than enough. I will have tis controlled by a 180 on 165 off ground switch in the thermostat housing with a 195 stant superstat. I can send picture of the uninstalled unit if you like. I hope to add a 3 or 4 core aluminum radiator in the future, but I am getting mixed reviews on the units sold on ebay and I don't really feel like paying the $600 for the frostbite or whatever sold by summit.
Oh, i should add I have never had any overheating problems with the stock setup, I am just doing this in the hopes to free up a few extra hp... which I have also gotten mixed revies on... we will see.

 

If you use 12.8V * 14 amps, you get 180 watts. Most alternators push 13.2V or more when running. You won't have a cooling problem with those fans. Just make sure your alternator can keep up.

Broncobasher

 

I got the biggest stock alternaator I could at NAPA, a whole whopping 85 amps... I am definitely going for 170 or 200 once i get subwoofer.
What do you think the minimum is that I could get away with, without the sub that is?
do you know if I need the 6 and 13 oclock , what is it, g3 conversion? I am currently setup for 2 and 6 Oclock but it looks like I have provisions for noon and 6