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I have a 1994 F150 302 4x4 with the stock mehanical fan with a clutch. I would like to replace this with an electric fan. Does anyone have any suggestions on which one will work best? I don't want to lose any cooling effectiveness. Will an electric work good enough? Thanks for the help.
When I swapped in my 351W I took some good advice from Slikness and installed an electric fan. Slik uses 2 fans on his rig, but I went with one 16" Permacool fan as a puller (mounts behind the radiator). I haven't seen any real hot weather yet but sittin in traffic it keeps the truck at a very respectable 170 degrees. It's a mod I'd definitely do again. Summit racing or Jeg's both carry a full line of electric fans.
I have an electric fan in my truck with a Hayden temp. controller. The temp controller cost about $20 and is adjustable. I got the fan from a junkyard out of a Pontiac Bonneville. Early 90's. It measures 17" acrossed the blades and keeps my 351 nice and cool. Fan cost $25. I mounted it to the stock fan shroud. If it stops snowing today, I will go out and take some pictures. That is right, it is snowing in NH today. May 18th.
I saw Ron's setup last night. He's got an awesome truck and he also put one of those nice aluminum radiators in. I went with dual 14" PermaCool's. They pull about 2700 cfm each...make sure you run your fan through a relay to keep the maximum current running to the fans...I purchased a manual switch for the cab and a thermostat switch to mount in the intake, but I haven't gotten around to mounting the thermo switch....I've run mine in 100 degree NC heat and humidity, towing our race car, and kept the engine between 160-190...
I suppose there are more than one way. The one I have (and most of the ones I have seen in Jeg's and Summit's catalogs) use 4 plastic ties that you run between the fins of your radiator to hold the fan in place. One end of the tie is a plastic square that is about an inch or so in diameter. There is another square the same size that slips on the other side and locks everything in place. They supply foam cushions to keep the plastic from digging into the radiator. The wiring depends on how you run your fan. I bought a kit that uses a thermostat to turn it on as well as a by-pass switch for the cab so that you can turn it manually. They're very easy to do and takes maybe an hour to install.
Hotwhlz85 - the truck looks great. Just got a glimpse of your gallery.
I have the same thermostat control as Hotwhlz85, it is controlled by the temp of the radiator and can be manually turned on by a switch in the cab. The thermostat is adjustable. Mine is made by Hayden and cost around $20. I got it at a local parts store. Here is their website: http://www.haydenauto.com/elecfans.html
I wired my power off of the windshield wiper motor. That way it would only be on when the ignition was on. Some people wire it so that it has power all the time, but it will drain the battery if it runs when the truck is not running. Your choice.
Would one of you guys with an electric fan setup mind taking a picture and posting it for me to see? I know a couple of your pics in your galleries got close but none focused on the fan setup. Thanks!
Edit:
For whatever reason it won't create this as a link. Cutting and pasting the web address brings up the document though.
Waldreps, you'll notice my fan shroud isn't on. The shroud that was on my six was too little to fit this bigger radiator so I just left it off. I'm probably a little less efficient than I might be with a shroud, but with the fan blades so close to the radiator I doubt I would see too much difference. I can tell you it does a really nice job.
I cut and pasted the link but what it brought up was 316 pages of unreadable characters and empty space. You sure it works? Would you mind emailing the picture to me? My email address is waldreps@702com.net. Thanks! Sorry for the trouble.
Stacy,
I did this at work Friday and I guess it's cause I did it in Word and sent it that way. My computer at home has Word and it worked ok. I've sent the pic and the details by email. Let me know if it doesn't work.
Nice set-up. Thanks for the pics. Nice fan and radiator. You haven't had any problems with the draw on the battery or alternator? Removing the stock fan shroud really makes the fan look small and frees up space.
Thanks for the kind words. The extra space is nice and really gives the engine bay a nice clean look. Since you only need the fan at speeds less than 35 mph, I don't run it that much. I've had no problems so far with the alternator keeping up. I'm still using the stock alternator that was on the truck when I bought it in 88 (crossing fingers), and when that goes I plan to replace it with a 100 amp, but for now it works fine.
I just recently replaced my stock fan, clutch and shroud w/ a pair of Hayden 3690s. They keep the temp right where it was w/ the stock setup. I've got they on a relay and an in dash switch for full control. They're only really needed up to about 30mph then I turn 'em off on the hwy. They pull about 1200 cfm each and like Ron said, give the engine compartment a nice clean look w/ all the extra space. It was oh so nice to get rid of the severe duty clutch I had acting like a super blower up to 30mph. As for drain on the battery; I've got a dual battery setup and a 130-140 amp alternator I got from O'Reillys so it doesnt give me any kind of problems. Only thing I would say to watch out for is what happens w/ your upper radiator hose w/o the shroud. On mine the shroud held the hose up off the belt but i found that out the hard way. Had to get a new upper hose w/ my new fans too :-p