Electric radiator fans?

84Furyus

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Thinking about going to electric fan setup on my 84 fury.
I measured and looks like the core on my rad is 26"x18" and wondering if anybody had found a junkyard efan setup that fits well.
 

Duke5A

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Late 90's V6 Ford Contour. Perfectly fits 26" and could suck a horse through the front of the radiator. Fans are two speed if you want to use the low speed with a multi speed controller.

Get a good alternator.

20140614_132202.jpg
 

84Furyus

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Late 90's V6 Ford Contour. Perfectly fits 26" and could suck a horse through the front of the radiator. Fans are two speed if you want to use the low speed with a multi speed controller.

Get a good alternator.

View attachment 33026
Funny you mentioned that fan, I have one in the garage (2001 cougar same fan) that I forgot about (technically it's a spare for my girls car but that looks like a winner to me.

Been trying to figure out a better alternator already but not sure what's out there, I know I'll want around 100A as I'd also like to put my subwoofer in later this year.
 

Duke5A

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My Dad made me some brackets to use a GM style 150 Amp Power Master. Internally regulated and I have a 150 amp breaker on the driver's fender for it. Works pretty good. Use a 60 amp maxi fuse for the power to the fans - this what was used from the factory for them.
 

84Furyus

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My Dad made me some brackets to use a GM style 150 Amp Power Master. Internally regulated and I have a 150 amp breaker on the driver's fender for it. Works pretty good.
Got pics, I was thinking GM 3 wire alt but hadn't had time to RIP into my car to see how much headache it would be
 

Rustyroger

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I regard adding electric fans with deep suspicion.
Why do you need electric fans?.
If your cooling system is in good order, not as new but no leaks, no bad gaskets, radiator not plugged, water pump working, then the clutch fan and shroud (if fitted) should be all you need.
The pics of the Contour assembly look to me like it would obstruct air flow at highway speeds, when you should never meed a fan anyway.
Is the original fan good?, does your get hot in traffic?. If so then bolting on a big fan is a band aid to mask an underlying problem imo.

Roger.
 

Duke5A

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I regard adding electric fans with deep suspicion.
Why do you need electric fans?.
If your cooling system is in good order, not as new but no leaks, no bad gaskets, radiator not plugged, water pump working, then the clutch fan and shroud (if fitted) should be all you need.
The pics of the Contour assembly look to me like it would obstruct air flow at highway speeds, when you should never meed a fan anyway.
Is the original fan good?, does your get hot in traffic?. If so then bolting on a big fan is a band aid to mask an underlying problem imo.

Roger.

I'll agree with you a lot of people look to electrics as solutions to problems they shouldn't. Probably why electrics are met with suspicion to begin with.

For me the radiator needed to be replaced and I decided to do it all at once (not that a clutch fan wouldn't have worked for me). It frees up about 10HP over a clutch fan, I got to dump the lousy factory charging system in the process and freed up a ton of space in the engine bay. In the end I'm glad I did it because when I went big block there isn't enough space for a clutch fan and noway was I going to bolt a flex fan in place.
 

84Furyus

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My clutch fan is dying (half of the time it sounds like a supercharger wine) is the big reason why I'm looking at just going electric fans on top of the fact that belt driven fans can rob up to 30hp easily and an e fan typically only robs 1-2hp via alternator and on a 130hp engine that's a big difference.
 

Duke5A

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My clutch fan is dying (half of the time it sounds like a supercharger wine) is the big reason why I'm looking at just going electric fans on top of the fact that belt driven fans can rob up to 30hp easily and an e fan typically only robs 1-2hp via alternator and on a 130hp engine that's a big difference.

That 30HP figure is for flex fans (never use that junk). You're looking for at 10HP for a clutch type fan. Engine Masters had an episode on this. It was really good.
 

84Furyus

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That 30HP figure is for flex fans (never use that junk). You're looking for at 10HP for a clutch type fan. Engine Masters had an episode on this. It was really good.
Yes I recall that episode, just said up to 30hp for belt driven to cover the range.
My clutch fan is in very sad shape, when I turn it by hand it makes disturbing sounds and when the car is running it wines bad. I haven't had any issues with coolant temp as of yet but keeping an eye on it because idk if the fan will freewheel or stick and act like a solid fan when it fails.
 

Duke5A

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Is this car just a driver and not really a project? If it is I would just replace the clutch. You'll be into an alternator and brackets for at least $200 and the controller on the cheap side will be $40 (that's for a junk one).
 

84Furyus

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Is this car just a driver and not really a project? If it is I would just replace the clutch. You'll be into an alternator and brackets for at least $200 and the controller on the cheap side will be $40 (that's for a junk one).
It's a driving project. I have a controller already on my shelf (from a project that is no more) and either way I'll need at least a 100A alternator to be able to install my amp and sub.
I have a 4bbl airgap intake, 1406 carb, new ignition all on my shelf as well as new poly motor and tranny mounts. Just collecting parts and will be installing them when weather is nicer.
 

Aspen500

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For reference on fans. My summer DD is a 2008 Mustang V-6 and the fan/shroud assy is exactly 18" tall and 26" wide. It's a single fan type.

Just another possible donor anyways. Might be easier to find than a V-6 Contour or Intrepid anymore since most of them are long gone. Sort of photo, hard to see though.
DSC00186.JPG
 

Oldiron440

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With all the wizards it's hard to believe that its jumped on as a negative idea to remove parasitic power loss, the OEM has been going it for years. Use that thinking during a engine build and you can find an extra 10% in horse power with the same cam compression and carb.
 

AJ/FormS

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After about 35 mph, your vehicle should be operating on the ram-air principle. Meaning the clutch fan is freewheeling. How much power does it take to freewheel?
Thirty five mph in third gear-drive, is how much rpm? Lets say 1300 with 3.23s. If that fan took say just 5hp to run, at 1300, the engine should certainly slow down every time the clutch engaged. What about in first gear? maybe 3500, and if the power increase was linear, now it would take 13.5hp. It seems to me if that was true, my car would speed up and slow down in cadence with the fan, as the T-clutch cycled.
I tell you what, I can't tell when my Thermostatic clutch cut's in/out except by the change in wind-noise.
I believe the results of HR's testing. but
I don't believe anyone would ever drive a big fan directly, so the tests IMO prove nothing as may regard real world applications, yet the powerloss is the first thing everyone remembers.
Put a T-clutch on there from an early 2000's Ford pick-up truck and forget about it.Mine is 14 years old and has likely got over 85,000 miles on it, and AFAIK is still working the same as it ever did,lol, namely automatically; no relays, no controller no additional wiring, no HD alternator.
BTW, electricity costs horsepower too, namely each 746 watts is rated 1 hp. But what they don't tell you is that the electricity is only about 10% efficient at the best of times, so it takes 10crank hp to make 1 electrical hp. So, if your fan draws 10 amps at 14.2 volts, that comes to 142 watts or nearly 2/10 hp but it is gonna cost you at least 10x.2=20 crank horsepower to create the electricity
The way it does this tho is over time, so your engine doesn't stall. In the meantime you burn the gas to crank the alternator to push the electrons round and round. If I learned just one thing in physics class it was that this is an expensive way to do business.
 
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