Before i get too carried away, i need to find whats out there that will fit my radiator. Secondly, ive heard alot of mixed reviews about whether or not electric fans will actually keep it cool enough. I dont do alot of heavy work, but when i do its stuff like driving 5mph for a couple hours to pulling a car and hauler with tools etc through the high desert. High altitude and hot temps will kill about any cooling system so i want this thing to WORK... at least as good as the factory fan. I hate having overheating problems. I dont really see the need for variable speed fans as long as they do the job when they come on, but why not. Also, i will have more power than your average IDI so even more heat to contend with. Not sure if it makes a difference but it will also be intercooled and has AC so bunch of stuff in front of the radiator. I am building a new bumper and core support that should help maximum flow through the rad. I may need a different radiator... but if this 4 core wont do it.. not sure what will besides something out of a peterbilt

 

I forgot to mention that I used the Windstar shroud. It was wide enough, just not quite tall enough to cover the entire radiator. I also had to turn it upside down due to a clearance problem with the P/S pump and one of the fan motors.

 

I dont have the same radiator. From what i remember of the diesel rad. mine is quite a bit taller, but narrower.

 

i know this is old but the flex a lite fan 294 puts out 6000cfm

 

Hey this is Marnin, known as dieselgiant at Oilburners. I've dione the Windstar E fan conversion this past spring and it has done exceptionally well over the summer. And in regaurds to Hp gains I've dynoed since the 137hp to 149.77hp. After the E fan convertion and a few other small modes it made 175.3 Hp on Beans diesel dyno. The engine also revs up faster. My 7.3 is still NA.

 

that helps show that freeing up power, is just as good as adding it.
great results! thanks for sharing.

 

have u all seen flex a lite 294 dual fan. it pushes 6000cfm!

 

I want to say thanks for joining up and sharing that, i really appreciate it.
I, for sake of simplicity, will more than likely end up using the diesel radiotor when it comes time to remodel the core support for the intercooler. Frees up a little room and no more oddball radiator hoses so i will check into the e-fans and hope they free up a little more room. Pleased to say, even with my no shroud setup, since changing the thermostat i no longer have over-heating problems, so this may not be as critical as i was thinking.

I need to re-read this thread it seems, i cant remember if there was a simple plug-n-play way to make it auto thermostat controlled. Low at 200 and high at 215 sounds kinda good to me.

 

On one of my forays to a junkyard, I found a device that plugged into the standard Ford EF setup that made it a 2 speed fan. It had three connections: Low, High & Ground. A temperature control similar to: eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices
would allow real accurate temp control.


PS:
I have no idea what model this item caqme from.

 

Just a quick calculation to add to the stock/electric fan debate: Supposing the stock fan does rob 20 hp from the engine, to get the same amount of cooling from an electric fan you would need at least 20 hp of electrical power at 13.8 volts to run the fan motor. Last time I checked, one HP equals 746 watts, so a 100% efficient 1 HP fan motor would draw 54 amps at 13.8 volts. And an equally efficient 20 HP motor would have to draw 1080 amps, and need some pretty heavy welding cables and an alternator the size of what's on a stationary generator set to keep up with the demand! Of course 20 HP is not needed to cool the radiator. I don't know what the current draw of an average electric radiator fan motor is, but I would suspect the motor is not over one HP. Probably more like a half HP or so.
I found this from a Corvette forum:

<HR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333; COLOR: #333333" SIZE=1> <!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->The fan motor draws 14 amps, but the startup transient current is much higher, around 21 amps. I have measured my 87's fan motor current but not the startup current. Rule of thumb for dc motors is 1 1/2 times the running current for the startup current. I recommend you get rid of the fuse and install the correct fusible link!<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
__________________________________________________ ____________

So at 14 amps that fan is consuming about 192 watts, or about 1/4 HP. This sounds more reasonable that 20 HP. So in conclusion, either the mechanical fan is way, way inefficient, or the 20 HP estimate is way to high.

Paul

"No matter where you go.. there you are!"
Bucakroo Banzai, Across The Eighth Dimension

 

Couple things you have to keep in mind with those calculations..

1) Mechanical fans are inefficent, not only do you have the drag of the fan blades you also have essentially a tranny with no locking TC so you have power loses there (speed at belt < speed of fan)

2) Electric motors generate 1/2-2/3 of their own power once started which is why you have a much larrger strtup draw then continues draw.

3) Electrics have 100% direct connection between motor and fan (locked TC in tranny form, motor speed=fan speed) as a rough indication of how much diffrence just that makes compare power loses between a C6 and E40D

4) How much air a fan moves has a lot more to do with blade sizes and design vs power draw

5) A Proper electric fan install should include a full sealed radiator shroud so all air the fan moves is forced to go through the radiator where as the stock mechanical fans (at least on every vehicle Ive ever seen) allow some air around the fan and shroud

 

mine are still working great.same as always.most of the time,they just sit there turned off.id never go back to a mechanical for anything.9 times out of 10 it seems,if my fans turn on,im probably going through a drive through getting a cup of joe lol.........ok,that's exaggerating a little. still,when my fans do spin,it's still mostly slow or medium and brief at that.unless im sitting in traffic (working of road etc.) then they'll just spin until i get going again.
i bet my dump trailer will finally put these things to work.just got it on the road,and it's cold out now,plus when i did use it,i didn't go over any hills.was pushing the upper limits of combined gross with that and my truck full of green sugar maple.will be a while until warm temps are back now to see what happens,but meanwhile i won't be loosing any sleep over it.

 

My e fans eat a lot of juice thats for sure, Im still waiting on my custom alternator, I had one built, but it had some problems, a stock 3g will only run the fans and nothing else, but in the cool part of the year, they almost never kick on except when stopped at lights for extended periods of time so I'm ok running around on the stock alt right now for a bit.