I don't imagine the ac clutch would like the axial load, I mean our fans would probably do to pull an ultralite through the air they have to put a real pull on that shaft

 

Well, I have read over the last year or so that electric fans won't cool the engine enough. But a lot of the posts are what people have read, and took it as gospel, and now that's the rule. That's ok, I do the same thing.

I don't hear many posts that say "I have tried that and it didn't work". And after my truck overheated two different times, I decided I had to do something. Here are some facts I feel are reasonably true;

The original clutch fan works well, but is sometimes a little late to come on. It usually comes on at the last minute and cools the engine, but it gets a little scary till it does. Some people modify the spring on the front of the clutch to make them come on sooner, but;
The biggest problem with the clutch fan is buying on that will work and last. With the aftermarket clutches that are sold for $140-150, there is a high failure rate. Some don't work right out of the box, and some do not last very long at all. There are a lot of posts saying "I went and bought one and it didn't work".

So I was weighing in on my options, with the money I had available, and I do the very thing that is not recommended. I bought two aftermarket 16 inch fans. These are not Taurus or any other stock type fan, these are $70 fans right off the local parts store shelf. I made a bracket, and mounted both, they cover the whole width of the radiator, and about 75% vertically. I mounted the fans toward the top, since that's where the hot water enters.

They draw about 20 amps each according to the specs, and my volt gauge tells me my stock alternator seems to handle both fans fine with no power loss. I can't remember exactly, but I believe each fan draws 1600-2000 cfm. This cfm is not enough according to previous conversations on the boards, but we will see. I have been running the truck, and it's running cooler than it did with the broken fan clutch, but I haven't had a long hard pull on it on a hot day. When I give it with what I feel is a hard enough pull where it should overheat, I will get back on here and tell you for sure, yes it works great, yes it works but barely, or no it does not cool the truck sufficiently at all.

 

I'm no genius when it comes to this at all but I do know two things:

1. I've run without a fan at all because my mechanical fan decided to come off, anyway I went two weeks without it and I could only barely tell it was gone as far as power was concerned and I had the 166 hp version of the 7.3 that was WORE WORE out. The only time I got in trouble was when I was in the city, highway was no problem at all. I have no MPG reports cuz the 88 had no speedometer.

2. When you get on the highway the fan doesn't matter at all because there aint a fan in the world that can keep up with a 70 mph wind.

 

There are at least 2 trucks over on oilburners that have used electric fans for a few years now and they have no issues at all. If you read through the tech article you will find they only thing surprising about the results was how rare the fans even came on. Just because you can calculate the max CFM on paper of what the stock fan can deliver doesn't mean you need that much all the time.

The reason I like using OEM fans is they are usually german designed siemens brushless DC motors in late model cars. Motors like that are about as reliable as computer fans and have no reason to fail or wear out.

 

Some people use their trucks differently. I am not going to say the electric fans work, when I am not using the engine to it's full capacity. Putt-putting around empty or with a small "pickup" load of something on the truck is not a full blown fair test. In these situations, yes I can see where you probably could get away without a fan.

What I am talking about is going up a mountain with at least 5000 lbs + behind with a trailer, pedal to the floor, and you are trying to keep it at 45mph. That's when it's going to get hot, and you need all the air flow and radiator you can get.

 

05-31-2010, 10:17 PM
how she been treating ya Franklin?

 

May I chime in a question? should the fan turn all the time? mine always has,I dont know any thing about fan clutches,,

 

What year Lincoln or "T" bird is best to use if converting to the electric fan on the IDI?

 

The fan will allways spin due to the fluid transfering some of the motion but it isn't spinning at engine speed. to see if it's actualy ingaged all the time when its cold and the engine is off grab it and see if you can turn it if you can it's no good.

 

I can remember it does when its cold,,,another part on the list.........

 

when the engines OFF that is, of course.

hey,you never know who might be reading.

 

Hear that Joe...?????????

 

if its cold and you turn the fan, if it turns its no good? That doesnt make sense.

 

look for any t-bird or any taurus with the 3.8 engine,and you've hit the jackpot.

if your about to do this,try running just one would ya.i really don't think two is needed.but then again,i don't believe in bigfoot,i don't believe in the loch ness monster,and i don't believe the idi's fan ever "loch"s up either LOL.

 

Bigfoot is REAL......She lives down the road from me...........