I am still amazed the Alternator myth is still out there when Efans are talked about. I've never run a dyno on mine but you could easily feel the extra power after the Efans, the only other mod I could feel the power with was a tuner. As for the 1.8mpg increase I got, I keep track of every single tank of gas and fill every single one to the exact same level and over the 100K+ miles I have been running the fans I have a 1.8mpg increase and I drive it just as hard if not harder than before I had them.

I do agree people who add tornado's, Acetone and all the other BS either have no idea how to calculate mileage or got an increase once and therefore it is always getting better mileage.

 

Well then, I cant install it myself I know that...how many hours expected for a mech to install this?

 

It depends on the fan you get. I had mine in less than an hour. It fit right in and it was just a matter of wiring it up.

 

OK, I just read the thread linked above claiming "factual information-not assumptions" and there is no more factual information about gains than there is in this thread.

The dyno chart game works both ways. When there are pulls showing no gain, there is no gain regardless of what someone else's chart shows. I am not the only one that got that result:

http://www.nloc.net/vbforum/gen-2-li...tml#post602468

And there are more out there. There aren't many that claim a gain was made that didn't do another mod at the same time, or used different dynos for the pulls, etc. There are peope who have made mileage gains with fans, but there is no way to prove one way or the other if the gains came from the fans or different driving habits. There are also those with power claims. Not everything works the same on every vehicle.

I am well aware of when an electric fan does and does not run. When it is running it probably consumes as much power as a comparable clutch fan. When it isn't running it does nothing but generate wind resistance. I have yet to see one that uses vehicle speed as a paramter to shut off, but Ken knows that because he said so in the next line of his post. If you are going 70 mph with the AC on or the temp is over the set point the fan is still on.

I have my doubts about the argument of parasitic losses. The fan is not working against stationary air when you are travelling down the road. If the fan has a 24" pitch and is spinnng at 3000 rpm is is trying to pull air at about 70 mph. Those numbers aren't exact, but I suspect that if anyone wanted to do measurements and calculations they would find them reasonable. Guess how fast a truck is going with the fan spinning about 3000 rpm. Around 70. It will vary with gear ratio and tire size, but it isn't like the fan is working all that hard when the truck is moving. If the clutch is free wheeling it is negligible.

We've all had different experiences with this mod. Some have made gains, most that I have seen have not. I'll leave you with one closing thought: Ford spent millions of dollars developing these trucks. During development they are very interested in improving power and mileage. If Ford could have added 20 hp and 2 mpg (gains of roughly 8% and 15% respectively) to their ratings by adding a $100 part, don't you think they would have?

 

The answer to that is often "no." It took Toyota's competition with the new Tundra for Ford to add "headers" and reduce weight on the 2007 F150 in order to boost the tow rating. The new F150, when it came out, was an average of $500 more to produce than a compariable prior model. Ford caught some flack from the press on that, with reporters from major publications at the reveil questioning how that would impact sales and profitability (I was there). Another $100 would have made it worse. If mileage was a huge concern at design time the bed height would not have been increased 4 inches, and the suspension as beefy (the strongest and heaviest of any 1/2 ton). At the time mileage wasn't the primary concern when buying a pickup... times have changed. In cars, where mileage numbers have a much higher impact on sales, electric fans have been used for years.

 

i know electric fans are used on cars with the motor setting sideways and front wheel drive. there is a reason for that. how many rear wheel drive cars with the motor setting front to rear in the car have electric fans? i dont know, im asking. my 5.4 F150 has the clutch fan and i dont hear it running unless it is 90 degrres out and i am pulling a trailer on the highway. normal day to day driving i dont hear it. i get 16.5-17 MPG on the highway at 65 mph constant. hard to believe the electric fan would help me much.---- i got to agree with streak on one thing. i see quite a bit of "add this age get 2 mpg", "add that and get 2 mpg". you got to believe most of this is BS. i wish there was a way to really know what DID work and what dont. for the guys taht get the 2 mpg, what were you getting before and what mods were also done. maybe a good tuneup would help most trucks? not argueing, just wish i had better information input.

 

Let's use some math and not probablys...
An alternator function on the same magnetic field principles as an electric motor.
HP can be calculated easily for an electric motor,and therefore you can also calculate the load in HP that a given item draws on the alternator if you know the amperage,or wattage that the item in question draws.
The Tbird fan I use draws just over 30 amps running.We'll say 35 amps just to prove my point. The charging system on a vehicle is rated at 14.4V.
Simple Ohms law states that Watts=Amperage x Voltage.
So,the fan I'm using draws 504 Watts of power from the charging system.
768 watts = 1 HP
So...the 35Amps of current that my electric fan draws is equivalent to a .65 HP motor. Even if you give the charging system a dismal and unrealistic 50% efficiency rating,that fan is only drawing a measly 1.3HP when running.

I know for a fact that the speed parameters are in the PCM for e-fan control-I have the full blown tuning package from SCT and can see all parameters in every processor code,so I'm not just guessing that.Several truck strategies have the coding in them for fan control-it's just disabled. My Tbird and every other production Ford with an E-fan also drops out the E-Fan at the mph setpoint even when the A/C is on because the airflow through the radiator at speed is more than sufficient to cool the engine and the condenser for proper operation. The only time it comes on is when the high ECT setpoint to prevent overheating,which is not very often under normal driving conditions.
Even when the clutched fan is "freewheeling",it's consuming power-if you don't believe me,feel free to open the hood with the engine running when cold, reach down and grab it to stop it. If it's not drawing that much from the crank to put that object into motion,then it should stop easily without injury.
JL

 

ALL RWD Ford based cars have used e-fans since 2000 or 2001. This includes Crown Vic/Marquis/Towncar, Thunderbird/Cougar('94-'97),etc.
My truck is a 2WD '98 F150 supercab 4.6L/4R70W with a Leer shell on the back. It's got a 3.73 locker in the rear,a dual in/out Magnaflow muffler with dual exit exhaust before the rear passenger tire,and a custom tune by me.
It got a consistent 17-18 mpg before the E-fan with all of those other things. I changed only the fan ONLY THE FAN,and mileage increased to 19-21mpg. I keep all of my vehicles in a perfect state of tune via plug changes,etc...so there's no tune upgains seen in any of this.
This is simple fact. Most aftermarket items are BS with claims of up to 10hp and 2mpg. notice the words up to that are used in those claims-that's the key to sorting ou the BS from the facts.
EVERY modular powered F150 that I've installed or assisted in installing an E-fan on has gained 2-3 mpg consistently. PERIOD.ALL OF THEM.
JL

 

Johnny,

What version of Advantage does SCT supply with the Pro Racer package? I'm curious if its the same III version the dealers like I get or if Pro Racer uses version II?

 

I know some guys that have version III,and some have version II. The Pro Racer packages are sold through dealers,and they export the database for the buyer from their own dealer software,so I'd say it's probably safe to say all of them should now be using version III.
JL

 

thats the kind of info im looking for Johnny. what kind/ brand of fan do you use on the F150 installations? what kind of cost are you talking? i assume you are saying the milage increase is normal everyday driving and not only when the AC is on, pulling a trailer, and the fan is locked up?

 

I used a '94-'97 OEM Tbird fan on mine-they're around $90 new from a good Ford dealer for the entire assembly. We've also used an '01 Crown Vic fan seembly and a '99 mustang fan assembly. The Crown Vic and Tbird fans move more air than the Mustang unit due to better blade design-the Tbird unit is a dual wound 2-speed fan,and that can be used to an advantage-low speed for most all uses and then setup the high speed winding for overtemp or high ECT situations.For the best effectiveness,you want to retain the OEM truck shroud,and mount the E-fan inside truck shroud.This allows full converage of the radiator for the movement of air.
The mileage gains are there all of the time,they're just not as high if you use the fan in a constant on configuration. That also wears the fan motor out from excessive use.
JL

 

I don't normally post in this particular forum but I've been thinking of converting my 95 bronco xlt to electric fans and I came across this electric fan set up advertised as suitable for a full size bronco in the bronco graveyard site.
http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-...ectric_fan.htm

 

Hey Johnny, do you have any pictures of how you mounted your fan? Also I have a taurus that just died. Would it be worth useing the fan out of it?

 

I had some at one time,but it's been about 4 years, 90K miles and about 4 different Windows installs ago since I installed it,so I dunno where they all went to be honest. I'm going to do the same on the Navi soon,so I'll get a few shots when I do it.
JL