Electric fans on a 5.0.. How come no one has em? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Electric fans on a 5.0.. How come no one has em?

dannytech_lt

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City, State
Union nj
Year, Model & Trim Level
2000 Eddie Bauer 5.0
I did a search like I always do and I always find many outdated opinions but as time goes on do those opinions remain true

ELECTRIC FANS!!

I see a lot of people have them on the 4.0... I haven't seen a 5.0 .. I see people say they took em from contours and Chevy hhrs

Can I just ask if they can be installed on my 5.0.. How do they work? Do I lose AC? Do I have a switch to control this? I don't get it but I want to learn , I'm honestly willing to buy but I can't buy something I kno a little about
 



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I know I just saw a thread on this try looking up fan controlers. I'll see if I can find the thread too.
 






yes it can be done. i have senn contour fans to hhr. i used a t-bird fan but it took a lot of work to make it fit due to the low clearence. before that i had a cheap advacne auto fan but it was a little on the weak side. as for the a\c if you get a good controler it will have a extra wire you hook up to the compressor cluich switch to turn on the fan for the a\c (the advance auto $20 fan controler kit has it also). there is so many fans and controllers to pick.
 






Probably Ill just get a contour fan , I want a dual fan , I did a lot of reading last night too , sounds simple , a contour fan with a controller from spal although idk which to buy .. What I don't get is I read to set it up so I run coolant temp at one tempature and and thermostat at another
 






And after you spend $200, you will probably found out that you save an average of... 0.01 mpg.
 






Gas mileage savings really depends on what is in there now (fan clutch) and how it is driven.

If its a city driven vehicle and the fan has to run often then yes, there won't be much gain in MPG..

If its a highway driven vehicle (at speed, no LA highways :) ) so the fan doesn't have to run you will see an increase in mileage. This is even more so if you run a tight fan clutch (like a hayden severe duty).

With the e-fan there is no load put on the motor from the e-fan when it is off which is how it should be if your at 45mph+. With the fan clutch (especially the severe duty ones) the fan is turning at 20%-30% of the shaft speed even when the fan isn't engaged. Most parts stores (at least out here) only sell non thermal and the severe duty.

For perspective, our 460 powered van got a 1 mpg increase on freeway driving (60 mph, no OD).

My friends f-150 got a 2mpg increase (302 motor) on his 70-75mph drives.

Both of us were running Hayden Severe duty fan clutches because of the southern Az heat and now we run Mark VIII fans.

In town there is no gain in mileage but there is a gain in engine response when the fan is off (its not on 100% of the time) compared to there being a belt driven fan.

~Mark
 






Also, consider if you are doing the same as I and replacing a fan with a worn out clutch with an e-fan. $100 into an e-fan or $100 into a new fan clutch... I'd say I've already beaten the break even mark.

The reason you don't see them, is they are WAY harder to fit.
 






the biggest reasion i did it was when i did my body lift i would need to move the shroud. i ended you breaking it so i went and put the e-fan in . i ended up taking it out and put my clutch fan back in. i just trust the clutch more. and with t-bird fan it would pull so much current and start up everything would dim for a second and i would go threw relays.
 






Both of us were running Hayden Severe duty fan clutches because of the southern Az heat and now we run Mark VIII fans.
~Mark
The OE fans are way less "tight" when cold than those severe duty - I had the opportunity to compare that myself. My OE is spinning easy when cold engine (takes two fingers), while another Hayden fan was barely spinning with the hand.
And no, I have no overheating issues, even at 98F in stop-and-go traffic (we had that last summer).
I agree that stored energy in the battery helps with truck response at sudden fan starts (battery will provide the extra short-term power, alternator will take some less power but on longer time).
 






electric fans are a pretty generic item. any auto parts store sells them. usually Haynes (or Hayes???) there are "pushers" and "pullers" and most times it just depends how you wire them as to whether they push or pull. you can put them on a switch, but a better way is to use a fan controller. auto parts stores also sell controllers. electric fans are available in a variety of sizes (diameters) like 13" or 17" and come with mounting hardware. to wire them a relay is necessary, as they pull quite a few amps. personally i wouldn't spend the money on an electric fan setup as it'll take quite a long time for it to pay for itself in fuel savings. you'll still have your A/C as long as the fan is running and moves enough air through the condenser. you might consider two small fans rather than one large one. if you can get some of the parts you need at the junk yard it would probably be cheaper, but you'll need to figure out your own mount and wiring.
 






I hate to. Say it but after reading what I've read and emailing some of you which I do thank u for all the help .. I just don't see enough of a gain ... I'm about 55% highway 45%city... Now if the gains were 3.5-5 mpg this be a no brainer ,but for 2mpg and that's with monitored driving I can't see myself doing this

The gains in mpg just aren't satisfying enough
 






If you had an average savings of 2mpg, you would be saving $200 a year... Even if this only got you 1mpg, this is a cost effective upgrade. As I said before, if you are doing this upgrade in the process of replacing worn parts, you are already money ahead.
 






If you had an average savings of 2mpg, you would be saving $200 a year... Even if this only got you 1mpg, this is a cost effective upgrade. As I said before, if you are doing this upgrade in the process of replacing worn parts, you are already money ahead.

really? 2 (or even 1) mpg increase by replacing your engine driven clutch fan with an electric one? i sincerely doubt that... i think, at best, you might achieve something in the 10ths of a mpg increase.
 






I can say that in the 2 vehicles we have installed (and watched the mileage change) there was a 1-2 mpg change..

The van went from 10-11 mpg to 11-12 mpg and the 302 in the f-150 went from avg of 15 to a consistent 16.5.

Keep in mind.. Neither had a Ford fan clutch.. Both were running a Hayden Severe duty clutches (pretty much what all auto parts stores sell around here).

If your already in need of a fan clutch then that is the perfect time to change to an e-fan. If not, and you don't drive many miles (or its mostly city or slower speed stuff) then its probably not worth it..

A side affect that was very noticeable was how the engine revs when accelerating.

My friend with the f-150 said that the vehicle feels to have the same power now with the a/c on as it used to with the a/c off.

On my 460 in the van it too feels different. Of course, I'm comparing the fan clutch being on the vehicle to the fan not running...

~Mark
 






really? 2 (or even 1) mpg increase by replacing your engine driven clutch fan with an electric one? i sincerely doubt that... i think, at best, you might achieve something in the 10ths of a mpg increase.

I got 1-2 consistently on the highway in a 4.0 first gen explorer, and 4 on a 4.0 with a bad fan clutch.
 






I tell ya im gonna do it to both my 5.0s and i hope I get some power and mileage gains but I think mostly im gonna do it cause the clutch fans are so freakin loud!
 






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