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electric cooling fan kits

Agree. For that kind of money, I'd go with an OEM solution like Windstar. Cheap, works, easily found.

Of course, the clutch driven fan is better in pretty much every regard, only/unless you need to be able to shut a fan off for water crossings.
 
dyeager535 said:
Of course, the clutch driven fan is better in pretty much every regard, only/unless you need to be able to shut a fan off for water crossings.
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Not sure I agree with that completely as my clutch driven fan failed to keep the truck cool in slow speed rock crawling with my AC on and my Taurus fan does and excellent job of it :D

Another vote for the junkyard fan though, Windstar is easier to fit/wire but I love my Taurus fan too.
 
There are a bunch of variables to engine cooling, there are so many varieties of engine driven fans alone that what works or doesn't work on one, won't perform the same on the next. Same with the electric fans, go with aftermarket, you may or may not end up with adequate cooling, which is why the OEM electric fans are so popular...they work.

The fact that there are no actual flow numbers to compare the factory fan against doesn't help. Yes, it's somewhat an opinion, but electrics introduce a whole bunch of failure points to boot.

Counter point, looks like the new Silverado's run electric fans, so GM must see benefit to them for a reason.

Edit: I guess my point is, unless you NEED electric fans, switching to them is pointless. If you have a need for them, go for it.
 
dyeager535 said:
Edit: I guess my point is, unless you NEED electric fans, switching to them is pointless. If you have a need for them, go for it.
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Good point. I hate inducing complication ( in this case a fan AND a controller) but the gain was worth it for me.

Side note: i still carry a clutch/fan combo in my spare parts bin when on the trail just in case : )
 
You bring a good point. On my current setup I can get away with using one fan (vs. both) so if something fails, I'm still good to go. If I downsize (as I plan) then if one of two fans dies, cooling may suffer enough to be a real issue.

At least with a clutch fan, carrying a spare clutch isn't a huge deal. Again, depends on what you are doing. If you are just cruising around the freeway, failure isn't an issue. Offroad miles from anywhere, fan failure could be a huge issue.
 
dyeager535 said:
Of course, the clutch driven fan is better in pretty much every regard, only/unless you need to be able to shut a fan off for water crossings.
Click to expand...
No way. Sure the mechanical fan can move GOBS of air at high RPM, it is inferior to the electric fans when the engine is at idle. And I don't know anybody who has cooling problems on the highway, but none at idle. For A/C, the electrics win.

For pure simplicity, the mechanical fan wins - assuming the clutch isn't worn out. The electric fans and relays don't wear out really. They just work or don't.

I don't know why anybody drops a few hundred on electric fans unless it is a show car. I have worked in the automotive industry and OEM validation and even high $$ aftermarket parts struggle to have the quality of OEM - mostly because they can't spend 6-7 digit$ to validate/re-design/retool their low-volume parts.
 
No ones got the numbers for the clutch fans. You can't effectively compare without knowing what the flow numbers are. I've NEVER seen them. The fan will be most efficient at X RPM, and we don't know the flow numbers, nor at what speed they are reached.

That being said, even if an electric cooled better, with a proper electric fan setup you have massively increased the draw from the alternator, and multiplied cooling system failure points exponentially over a stock clutch fan.

Without being able to flow test the stock fan, IMO the best test would be a comparison of the AC outlet temperatures at idle, exact same vehicle, before/after a fan swap, with the same ambient temp. Every other "example" (towing, hot weather, etc) has too many variables to make the assertion that one is better than another.
 
Basically, electric fans offer a few advantages:

1) Potentially better cooling at idle
2) Some offer more compact packaging
3) Reduced load on engine can result in a power gain

However, there are also issues:

1) Considerably increased electrical draw. You may find yourself having to upgrade the electrical system on an older truck
2) Another potential failure point.

Electric fans are a modern convenience, and often a necessity as newer cars employ more powerful engines in tighter engine bays. I think you have to look at vehicle and driving situation, and not assume that it will fix an existing cooling issue.
 
Well...

Even at crawling speeds I can see a potential advantage to electric(s), if the engine driven fan is most efficient at say 2500RPM (and that is just a guess, because we don't know) and you are crawling uphill at 15-2000RPM, then cooling will not be optimal, where an electric fan doesn't care about engine RPM. *But* that assumes the electric is properly sized. From all accounts, the Windstar fans will handle at least a SBC nicely.

I've run both, and currently have electrics. They work fine. But I don't need them. It was a lot of expense (relatively), complexity, and hassle to install them, for no benefit I can see or feel, other than being able to control when the fans shut on and off. It IS kind of nice not having a fan shroud/fan in the way when I'm underhood, but realistically how often does that matter to me? Not very.

If I was having cooling problems at idle, and I knew everything else was in order in the stock setup, I would consider electrics, particularly if AC was in the picture. Same for water crossings.
 
When I built my C10 I decided to go electric to pull more air at idle. I ended up purchasing some factory second, name brand 14" fans off eBay for $30 a piece. They were seconds because they were chrome and the finish was flawed, nothing a little piss can couldn't handle! I had a setup that pulled 4000 cfm for under $100.
 
I put a Windstar setup in mine just for fun. I agree it adds complexity and I had to upgrade my electrical. It was a fun little project though, it opened up the front of the engine area, and it will probably be better for driving slow in AZ. I don't know why someone would do it, other than for a project, on a vehicle that is not having any issues though.
 
Yeah, I wouldn't try an electric fan swap as a fix for an overheating vehicle.
 
Usually there is something else wrong - like air in the system or a rad that's just too small. A good clutch and mechanical fan should move tons of air when the engine is under the biggest loads. If it only overheated at idle the electric fans might help, but why should an engine overheat at idle?
 
Blue85 said:
Usually there is something else wrong - like air in the system or a rad that's just too small. A good clutch and mechanical fan should move tons of air when the engine is under the biggest loads. If it only overheated at idle the electric fans might help, but why should an engine overheat at idle?
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Bingo. An electric fan swap for an overheating motor would be a band aid IMO. That's not to say that putting one in to just get a handle on the occasional inconvenient overheat wouldn't be an acceptable solution, it just depends on if you are really addressing the ROOT cause..

I wired in a pair of electric fans that I stole from an IROC-Z that I lost interest in. I made a new harness for it all and wired it right to avoid having any potential issues with the old wiring. (Plus no wiring really to speak of for it in the truck already anyway!) I agree that it adds some degree of complexity to the electrical and room for error, but like Mastiff said earlier it was a fun project. :thumb:
 
I love my Windstar fans, one of the easiest and best mods I have done.

Turn them on when I am crawling, turn them off when I am cruising down the freeway.

Drove to ID in January doing 75 had them off the whole way.
 
I was just thinking it would be sweet to put a float switch in series with the fan control relays. You could probably cut up a junkyard washer fluid tank to get one. Mount it under the rad support so as water gets up close to the fans they turn off. Then once you climb out of the water they would kick back in.
 
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