Electric Fans

[WarWagon]

I realize that some may be removing the stock fan to save on RPM's or to find something more reliable, but on my jeep I have a three core radiator in front of a 304 V8 and I was worried about cooling. Instead of replacing the fan with an efan, I tied the efan behind my grill and use both at the same time (well, I turn off the efan in high water if I remember). If cooling is the issue - There may be enough room to squeeze a fan behind the grill of the truck...at least to one side...maybe??

Yes. There is a factory electric pusher fan available that fits perfect Pickups/Surburbans/Tahoe. Some, esp the R-134A 1994 Surburbans, had them from the factory. SS Diesel and Rock auto have them in stock. SS Diesel has the plug as well.

 

[treegump]

and just FYI - me being the fool that I was/am - tried to attach the electric fan to my radiator using bolts...needless to say after 4-8 containers of JB weld, I got myself a new radiator. That's fine though because my old radiator was a 2 core with one side painted john deere yellow. My new one is clean (well minus some mud stains) and 3 core.

 

[6.5quest]

I had a custom setup made a few years back that pushes around 5500 cfm and works great under all driving conditions unless you have a large load pulling a grade on a hot day. That was the only time I ever saw it hit 210*. I am selling the entire setup for $200 if anyone is interested. It only uses 3 relays and turns on and off via a temp sensor you install in your thermostat crossover. System kicks on at 195* but you can buy a 180* sensor for it which I would recommend. The guy who built these for me used to build all the custom systems for Boyd Cottington. It is built to fit the 6.5 radiator perfectly and has air holes for extra through flow. Let me know if you have any questions.

Ian

 

[Acesneights1]

Put a flexfan on, then it will sound REALLY COOL like it has a blower....:rofl:

 

[6.5quest]

Trust me, you can hear these fans when they kick on!

 

[mr_goodwrench_06]

Why are you getting rid of that setup?

Bill

 

[6.5quest]

Why are you getting rid of that setup?

Bill

I am joining the Navy and have been selling all the performance parts on my truck. Since I already had a heavy duty fan and clutch I figured I didn't need the electric ones anymore. I had them built as a potential product to sell and for use on my truck when I went for the HP record. Now they are just sitting in my garage taking up space.

 

[Matt Bachand]

Thats a steal guys, some systems are in the 500 dollar range just for the fans... If this was summertime, that would be gonzo the second I saw that post. But its not........

Plus once you have that, you can name drop when people ask you about it!

 

[Franko914]

wow this is a great thread! Just wanna say to both Franko and Rob, thank you for your input on your different projects. Rob for your 3" body lift idea and Franko for the P/N's and pictures. Franko for yours those Volvo fans appear to be no more than 2" thick from computer screen. Is this about right?

For an electric fan to do 3000+cfm @18 amps thats very impressive. I'll have to write down these P/N's and info for later use ):h

Hello BigBlueChevy,

The electric fan shroud measures about 1" thick at the edges and gradually increases towards the center. The back of the electric motor sticks out 3" from the surface of the radiator.

I modified the fans to be conjoined in a way that they fit with no clearance in between the radiator's header tanks. Actually, I had to carefully heat one side with a propane torch to soften it enough so it would fit without any pounding/forcing.

I tried to maintain as much airtightness as possible to make the setup as efficient as possible. So efficient, I had to unmask some of the flapper-vent holes at the rear of the shrouds because of the large startup amp draw that would blow the fuses (I blew 5 or 6 before I figured out what the flappers were for).

I chose the twin fan design for redundancy (in case one fails, or fails to activate) and the combined oomph when it is needed.

Because the blades are spinning VERRRY close to the radiator fins, because the blades are of the high speed/high efficiency S-design, and because the shrouds do not allow any "leakage" (i.e., air pulled by the blades come only through the front of the radiator and not from behind), the combined 6,000 cfm rating is inherently "more efficient" (I'm not saying "better" or "just as good as") than the stock setup.

Because of the engine's movements relative to the frame (pitching up and down, and yawing side to side, as examples), there is a pretty large gap between the tips of engine-mounted fan blades and the frame-mounted fan shroud for clearance. Hence, GM engineers over-engineered the fan/clutch setup to compensate for the inefficiencies of the design, i.e., the clearance gap. They had to or tow beasts would be overheating all over the place.

Driving over 35 mph with the fans not activated, the blades are being turned by the air being rammed through the radiator to the point where the permanent magnet motors are generating voltage (the red LEDs I installed to indicate when they are receiving battery/alternator power start to glow and get brighter as the road speed increases).

With the push to drive more fuel-efficient vehicles, an electric cooling fan set up is, really, quite low hanging fruit for very easy picking. Case in point, our 2006 Avalanche (picked up slightly used late summer of 2008) has, virtually, the same setup. At over 7,300 lbs, we get 20 to 21 mpg on the highway with the Flex-fuel 5.3 gasser.

Regards,
Franko

 

[dragogt]

Lincoln Mark IIIV...What years are they? I'd like to start getting parts to do this for my Burb. I don't know how the 3" BL will effect my cooling yet, but there is no harm in being ready for summer.

Bill

The taurus fan used in the mid 90's also flows about 5000 CFM on high speed, they are made by seiman's for Ford... 2 will fit side by side, and with some work, you could make a 4 stage system with the right sensors and relays. Derale makes an adjustable switch to throw the relays

Taurus!? REALLY?!! The next door neighbor kid's Taurus just got totaled.. Hmmmm

From the Ford cars your looking for a

93-98 mark viii/ t-bird
86-98 taurus v6
95-00 contor v6
99-02 cougar v6

Any one of the above will work..

 

[mr_goodwrench_06]

Good info, everyone!

Thanks!!

 

[Matt Bachand]

Guybb3 showed me the one he got from a MachVIII, we jumped it live and it sure did start making wind fast....

I'd feel good installing that.