wanted to know if replacing engine fan with elec, fan would work?
search not working right, has any one trided this , hp incres-mpg's
any thought's on this.
thank's al

 

Danny Elmore (goes as Imelmo on some other forums) tried electric fans on his old orange truck and hated it with a passion. For racing it was fine, but anything beyond that it was pretty much useless.

That's all I've ever heard about electric fans on these trucks.

 

I wanted to do this last year. I decided against it but don't remember the details what changed my mind. Bad for towing?

 

They will work at increasing hp and mpgs, but have a limit on towing. They are not recommended if you do any heavy towing. I thought about installing the electric fan set up, but the cooling is not sufficient under heavy load. Most all electric fan kits come with this disclaimer. I don't recall, either, the GVWR limits they quoted.

 

thanks guys, been useing thremo. controld gluch fans on simi's for years though
maybe this might work ,
al

 

Those work great because they are connected to the engine for driving the fan.
They connect and disconnect in a manner similar in theory to the AC pump with an electric clutch.
I think it would be a good way to go.
.
Most electric fans that are sold today are different in that they eliminate the direct connection to the engine.
Basically the same setup that is on a car, just an electric motor with a fan.
Pretty much useless if you are towing.

 

I'm not clear on how the fan being attached to the engine with rev/min being dependent upon rpm, would be better than a fan that when thermostatically activated and would presumably rotate at an optimum speed. Once the electric fan is activated (having reached the activation temperature), it would continue to be active until the thermostat opens the circuit after the temperature declines to the deactivation temperature.

Am I missing something?

 

No fan setup has enough CFM to match what the oem clutch fan delivers. If your clutch fan ever has engaged (and you would know it, it actually bogs the engine some, and has a significant amount of "whirr") I think things would start to make sense. I forget the exact, but I thought I saw one time, that it takes almost 40 horsepower to drive the engine fan, while its engaged. 40hp X 768 watts/hp (assuming 100% efficiency) = 30,720 watts of power to equal what the oem fan does. Translate that to 14.2 volts (avg summer voltage, and once again assuming 100% efficiency) 30,720 watts / 14.2 volts = 2,163 amps of current draw reqiuired for the fans. The average electric fan, probably runs in the range of 25-75 amps. Times two is upto 150 amps. Which is just a little shy.

The theory of them coming on when the radiator is at the appropriate temperature, and turning off when the desired temperature is good. If you have time to pull over, while towing, or while going up a long steep grade, and wait for it to cool the radiator off. They just do not pull enough CFM through the intercooler, transcooler, then radiator. I think I also remember Kris (powerstrokejunkie) actually removed his fan completely as a test, notice no mpg change, and elevated temperatures while not moving, or slow moving, normal driving. Granted that is with no fan, and an electric fan probably could surfice with normal driving, and no towing, but the electric fans do not provide enough CFM, if you tow, or hotrod alot.

 

This says it all right here.

 

Plus that much draw will tax the stock electrical system big time. Now you need a bigger alternator just to support the fans. Not a bargain IMHO.

I rarely see my fan come on, but when I was in Iraq, the 6.0s we had would blow a huge dust cloud out from under the truck because they were activated just about all the time (I was there in the summer -- every day was over 110 with few exceptions).

 

Thanx for the more detailed explanation gents.

To take the explanation a step further...what is it that triggers the clutch to start to lock up to pull that kind of CFM? I assume it is a certain temperature range that is reached. Does anyone have a knowledge as to what that temp range is?