Has anyone converted or thought about converting to an electric fan. I found one online but it was around 600 bucks but it said you could get something like 27 hp by converting. There has to be a way to build a twin fan setup with cheap or junk yard fans that would work just as good? What would need to be done to the shaft that the fan is on now, if anything? I would be able to fabricate a bracket for the fans. How much air would they need to move to do the job of the factory one. What kind of temperature control should i use to control when the fans come on? What kinds of fans should i use? Any good places to get them? Thanks for any advice, i would like to put this together and then post everything i used and the demensions for the bracket so anyone that wanted to could switch to electric fans and i will see how much it improves as far as hp.

 

It would completly remove any towing or hauling ability that you might want. When you work a diesel it makes a LOT of heat that must be carried away by the cooling system and an electric fan is under rated. Or a get a huge one that is rated and then the alternator is not up to the task.
It would be ok for a pavement princess truck that never has to do any work.

 

Thanks for the reply kwik. Does anyone know how much air the factory fan moves? I would've thought two electric fans would be enough to replace the factory fan but i don't know much about this. I will do some research and see how many amps two fans would take to run. If anyone knows how much air i need to move(cfm) to equal the factory fan so i can then see how many amps that would take. Thanks

 

I just did some checking and i can get two 3000 cfm fans that draw 8 amps a piece. How often would these fans need to be running? constantly? Thanks

 

Again, it depends on engine load. If you are planning on pulling a trailer up a mountain pass, then this is not for you.
I'll tell you what used to happen on my old VW Dasher in hopes to communicate how much heat a diesel engine will make under load.
Engine configuration was 1.6l IDI with a VW Quantum 5 speed transmission installed. Engine RPM at 60mph = 2200 rpm. I could drive at 75 mph and get 43 mpg. Coolant needle would never rise above half. The radiator fan was controlled by a temperature switch located on the bottom (cold) side of the radiator.
I would come up to a slower vehicle that would slow me down to about 60 mph and I would start to pass. Now on a non turbo 1.6l engine, this could take a while and I would have to firewall the throttle, especially with passengers in the car. But there was enough power to get the job done if I had enough room. About halfway through the passing maneuver the temperature needle would have risen to about 2/3 where the cooling fan would have to come on because there was just too much heat being generated by the engine at WOT. And I am going 70 mph at the time with a good clean radiator and none of the air ducting is missing for the radiator.
The fan still had to come on to keep the engine from overheating. It would do this whether I shifted down or not. If I shifted down the fan would simply come on sooner.
That was with a 1.6 liter engine.
Now consider how much heat that your 7.3 is going to make. My little VW could come equipped with either a 65 amp or a 90 amp alternator. It was ok for that little fan.
I don't think that dual 200 amp alternators could keep up with the demand required for the 7.3 under load.
Have you opened the hood and actually studied how big the radiator and fan is on our trucks?

After typing all this, I remember that there was an electrically operated fan clutch that was installed in place of the viscous clutch. That setup would have a lot less electrical demand than a fan motor.
Is that what you were looking at?

 

I also want to upgrade too. I've pulled a trailer once, for fun. Now that im 7" higher than stock in the rear, i dont think i will be pulling anything anytime soon. I've never had the fan come on. Cookie said one time ago that the fan moves 7500 CFM, and that would equate to sucking down 50hp at full lock.

 

I have one on the dual electric fans on my Suburban 6.5 diesel. They work ok, but as for any hp or mpg gains, I haven't seen anything significant. It pulls 6000 cfm and draws 29 amps. The claim from manufacture was 2-3 mpg and up 25 hp- my biggest gain was 1 mpg and that isn't consistant. I think the 29 amp draw has something to do with it.

 

7500 cfm, I can't see 6000 cfm making that much of a difference that the truck is going to overheat unless your at max pulling jweight going up a big hill? I could be wrond but i would think that 6000 cfm would be fine for normal driving and most towing? Does anyone know of a cheap place to get electric fans from, i looked on jegs before real quick and the 3000 cfm fans a found where 90 bucks. Does anyone know of a stock electric fan from any vehicle that would put out around 3000 cfm that would be able to be found at the junk yard for cheap? If i can find some fans cheap enough i will switch over and find out if they will work or overheat right away. PBRman, do you have any problem overheating under normal driving or when pulling anything? Thanks

 

Before you even consider doing this the first thing you should do is gauges, I see it says you have isspro gauges but if you don't have a mechanical coolant temp gauge get one, so you know when to shut it down. Just like before doing mods you should have a min of a pyrometer this will be a minimum requirement before taking off the stock fan. you are totally going to be shocked at how much heat that motor can and will build in a big ole hurry. I drive a semi they use a electric over air fan clutch, loaded at 65,000 (about the minimum I carry) pulling a 3% grade up an on ramp (I make this run everyday so I have a feel for this particular area) the motor runs at a constant 180deg normally and before i can get up to 45mph the motor has gone from 180 to 210 and kicked on the fan, then before it starts to cool back off the temp raises another 10degrees, it will then cool the engine back down to 190 where the fan kicks back off and before I can get up to 65mph it's back up to 210+ and climbing. all within a half mile on a not that steep of a grade. and trust me the radiator in that truck is huge. That motor is also a 465hp engine. As Dan said Diesels make a massive amount of heat under load. I really recommend going out and getting the coolant temp gauge put on (don't trust the stock gauge it doesn't work worth a you know what) and then just go drive the truck and watch that gauge and then make a decission as to whether or not you want to do a conversion thats at best going to gain you 10-12hp, drag racers make the conversion looking to gain .01 seconds maybe on a good day if that tells you how much of a gain your going to make.

 

Good point monster, I have pyro, trans, and boost already but will need to get a coolant temp gauge. I have been thinking about getting an a piller gauge setup(my three are above the mirror) so looks like it's a perfect time to get some gauges. Thanks

 

I have had some overheating issues but not related to the fans. I had a head crack on my way back from Minnesota with an 8K trailer in tow. If I got over 1800 rpms it would pressurize the radiator and overheat. With the electric fans I could keep my rpms down and still keep cool. If I would have had the engine driven fan I would have been in trouble because to get the airflow up, the high rpms would have created too much pressure in the cracked head. So they did help in that situation but as far as enough mpg gains to offset the 500 bucks, I didn't see the benefit. As for now, I am leaving them in the rig because they are working and I don't see any reason to change back.