Thoughts on an electric fan?

[Ravewolf]

Just curious if anyone has ever got rid of their stock fan and went to electric? 

Also, would a Lincoln Mark VIII fan be up to snuff? They've been known to push upwards of 4500 cfm of air. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Not enough flow rate. There is no electric fan that can keep up for our trucks. Especial for towing. There has been a few try it but most end up going back to the mechanical fan. Fan is normal just free spinning on the truck. Fully warm truck. There is no engine load to a good clutch fan till the engine reaches closer to 210*F now it will lock up. Heck I ran even for a full 2 winter without a fan to even see if there is a change of MPG from loading ... NOPE! 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by Mopar1973Man

[That Guy]

There are guys who run a setup with 2 Lincoln fans, which would get you closer to the stock fans ~10,000cfm at 2000 rpm iirc. The newer plastic fans off the 3rd gen trucks flow even more.

 

Now, the Lincoln Mk VIII fans I have heard flow 5500cfm while the Taurus fans flow 4500cfm. They pull start amperage like the grid heaters. Upwards of 60 amps on high for starting.  

 

I personally ran with no fan at all for about 6 years. Never had any issues in the the occasional city or stop and go traffic. Light towing at highway speeds wasn't an issue. Pulled ~8k up a 6 mile 6% grade with no issues at all with 60* ambient. When I did my recent rebuild on a lot of things, I reinstalled the fan (still hunting a shroud). 

 

If I was just putting around doing daily driver things and racing v6 accords at the lights with no A/C, I wouldn't have worried. Since I put A/C back in and intend to use it as a farm truck, a fan is necessary.

 

 

So, how do you plan to use the truck?

 

 

 

 

[Tractorman]

12 hours ago, Ravewolf said:

Just curious if anyone has ever got rid of their stock fan and went to electric? 

 

In 1988 I installed a 4BTA Cummins engine in my Ford E150 van.  It was a kit provided by Cummins which included an electric fan.  After a year or so running with the electric fan, I removed it and installed a mechanical viscous fan and a shroud.  Cooling performance was much better.

 

No one has mentioned the fan shroud.  The shroud is equally important as the fan.  The combination fan and shroud on our trucks produce a laminar flow through the radiator and other components and use just about 100% of the radiator surface.  The depth the fan is positioned into the shroud is important as well for maintaining maximum air flow.

 

Some electric fans are suck through and some are push through.  In general, push through fans are less efficient because the air is turbulent and flowing in many directions after passing through the fan blades.  The turbulent air has to be redirected which causes resistance and reduced efficiency which means a push through fan will have to have a higher airflow rating to do the same job as a suck through fan.  

 

The stock mechanical viscous fan and shroud on our trucks does an excellent job - not sure why anyone would want to change that.

 

- John

 

 

 

[Ravewolf]

Thanks for all the information guys, I'll leave my stock fan on. I was just curious if anyone had switched to an electric cooling fan, and what it did. Glad I asked! Been very educational 

[Threadzy]

On 9/25/2020 at 4:57 AM, Mopar1973Man said:

Not enough flow rate. There is no electric fan that can keep up for our trucks. Especial for towing. There has been a few try it but most end up going back to the mechanical fan. Fan is normal just free spinning on the truck. Fully warm truck. There is no engine load to a good clutch fan till the engine reaches closer to 210*F now it will lock up. Heck I ran even for a full 2 winter without a fan to even see if there is a change of MPG from loading ... NOPE! 

 

 

When cold and not running should the fan spin easily or with stiffness? 

[That Guy]

Normally they start a little stiff. Will loosen up within the first 30-60 seconds.

[Mopar1973Man]

Cold mornings (< 32*F)... Mine will act like it locked up for about 30 seconds and then unlock and the oil moves to the reservoir in the hub. Normal spring,summer and fall it just spin loose. Still factory OEM fan clutch and still fully locked typically by 210*F. The rest of the time free spins.