Recommendations for electric fan for a 5.0

[expobronc]

The stock fan in my 98 is going south, there is a terrible buzz coming from it and i would like to replace it before a blade goes through my hood. I'd like to run an electric fan or fans. So the quetstion is what size should I look for? How many CFM? its a stock truck, no HP goodies yet, but it does its fair share of pulling from time to time. Im in the midwest so it doesnt see any EXTREME temps. also how the duece to i get the stock fan off? what size nut is that and how do i hold the pump/fan to loosen it? TIA


Jason

 

[aldive]

Take a look at Dead Link Removed

Good luck ......

 

[IAmTodd]

Heard a 3.8 Taurus fan works for a mustang. Not sure about fitting on an Explorer though.

 

[Glacier991]

I had initially posted the link to that Taurus fan.... a great article.... even if you don't use one the tech info was useful for other conversions..... but the concensus was there was a clearance problem on the water pump snout....(sigh)

 

[410Fortune]

I would think a good dual 5.0L electric fan package would be up to the task. The problem is fitting the factory radiator, its really tall and narrow, so you might have to stagger the fans = custom shroud.

My rad is wide and short, like a Mustang, ron davis (built my rad) suggested a dual 10" electric fan setup (like Summit sells, cant remember the CFM) for a Stang would be good up to 450 HP. However with 4x4 and some towing he also suggested I keep the factory metal fan..

How do you know your factory fan is making noise?
I will buy that 98 metal fan off you if you do go electric, I need one for my Explorer and these suckers are hard to find in the yards!

 

[MalcolmV8]

On my Rangers (with 5.0s, one of them from an explorer) I run dual electric pusher fans since I don't have clearance behind the radiator for puller fans.
On my 92 Ranger (300+hp built 302) I have dual 12" perma cools from summit. No cooling problems what so ever.
On my 94 Ranger (stock explorer 302) I have one 12" pusher and one 10" because of space limitations. I have only done minor test drives and idling in the driveway on the 94 but the fans so far seem good.

I also highly recommend you use a Delta Controller to power the fans. It will slowly ramp up the fans (avoiding electrical spikes) and only spin the fans as fast as needed to maintain a constant temp. Very nice. Check out http://www.dccontrol.com/

So see some pics of my fan installtion on the 92 check here.

http://www.v8-ranger.com/red/fans/fans.php

Malcolm

 

[aldive]

So see some pics of my fan installtion on the 92 check here.

http://www.v8-ranger.com/red/fans/fans.php

Very nice installation.

 

[410Fortune]

How far are the fans from the radiator?

You also have no AC or trans coolers to deal with (from pics? am I wrong), so that helps. low range 4x4 and towing makes it alot more difficult to get away with electric fans..

That is a ncie fan controller. Some factory PCM's will also control the fan(s) or can be swapped for one that will.

I saw not too long ago a fancy fan/accessory controller that works with your aftermarket electrical gage (Autometer, etc) I thought that was nice, but I can't find it now. I have always wondered why gage makers dont make a gage that allows you to set an accessory to come on at an adjustable reading and also allow you to turn on a warning light at an adjustable reading. Those two things would be really handy IMO.

 

[MalcolmV8]

How far are the fans from the radiator?

You also have no AC or trans coolers to deal with (from pics? am I wrong), so that helps.

I have A/C but no trans cooler. It's a T5 transmission in there. I can't remember right off the top of my head the exact distance but there's probably about an inch maybe even 1 1/2" between the fans and the front surface of the A/C condenser. There is shrouding though from the Ranger's sheet metal. While there are small areas where air escapes I've never got around to close them up because I have no cooling issues.

I can see where wheeling with a 4x4 in low range would put a great demand on the cooling system. You'll have to make sure the fans are up to the task.

 

[Rhett]

I also highly recommend you use a Delta Controller to power the fans. It will slowly ramp up the fans (avoiding electrical spikes) and only spin the fans as fast as needed to maintain a constant temp. Very nice. Check out http://www.dccontrol.com/
Malcolm

Good link there on the Delta. I very much like your setup on the Ranger. You appear to have some experience and knowledge with the 302 in Rangers/Explorers, which is always good knowledge to have...you should hang around here more. 19 posts is not too many.

 

[MalcolmV8]

Good link there on the Delta. I very much like your setup on the Ranger. You appear to have some experience and knowledge with the 302 in Rangers/Explorers, which is always good knowledge to have...you should hang around here more. 19 posts is not too many.

Hey thanks. I've only just discovered this site in recent months and have been doing more reading than posting I'll try to help out when I can

 

[Gimp]

Good link there on the Delta.

It's a very good fan controller - and IT WORKS! It is a very solid piece. Brian Baskin (the guy at www.dccontrol.com) recommends using Derale and SPAL fans saying that they don't fudge their CFM numbers and that they work well with backpressure. I have one on 'Money Pit' to control my main fan and I got the optional green-yellow-red light to see how hard it's working (or not working) as well as the adjustable temperature control. The way it works is that you set the controller temperature to just higher than the temperature that you want the engine to run at and the fan speed varies to keep the engine at a constant temperature rather than cycling on and off in response to engine temps climbing and dropping. I have a 192-degree thermostat so my unit is set at 194 degrees. There is an a/c tap also so that it will come on with the a/c. (My other fans are one for the tranny cooler that comes on at tranny fluid temp of 140 degrees and an auxiliary a/c condenser fan that comes on with the a/c.

Lots of the Mustang guys use it. Guys at corral.net and stangnet.com were very helpful. Brian at www.dccontrol.com is a registered member at both of those with the username Baskin . Check out his posts and the posts about his controller. He's very helpful but being a one-man-show with a regular job, too, you have to be patient in waiting for e-mail responses sometimes.

 

[Rhett]

Good info. My friend just cracked a head on the 4.0 in his 93 XLT, so I'm trying to talk him into a 302 in there...I need the practice for when I do mine...the Delta fan controller and electric fan setup is something I will not forget about...

 

[aldive]

Gimp, please post some pictures of your fans.

Thanks ......

 

[performancenut]

I used this product from Summit:

 

[Gimp]

Gimp, please post some pictures of your fans.

I had to take off the intake tube to get this picture. At first I had a Derale 16926 "RAD" fan. It worked very well but pulled a LOT of amps. Recently, a friend gave me this fan that came off of a late 1980s (I think) Thunderbird SC, a year that happened to have just about the same radiator core dimensions (18" x 18.125") as 'Money Pit'. With the dccontrol controller, this fan has never run more than 80% (11.6 volts at fan leads with 14.4 volts at battery) to maintain coolant temp, even under upper 90s stop-and-go traffic with a/c on. The most current draw I've seen with a clamp-on ammeter is 9 amps where I saw 25 with the Derale at comparable airflow.

<Edit>: I forgot to mention that I used the T-Bird fan in combination with my factory fan shroud. The T-Bird fan's factory shroud had been trimmed some by the previous owner to decrease its depth, and that made it a perfect fit inside of my factory fan shroud. I bought a new stock fan shroud and then I bolted the T-Bird shroud to the factory shroud and sealed the tiny gap between the e-fan shroud and the factory shroud with hard foam (as seen in the pic) and then sealed the factory shroud to the radiator by making a gasket for it out of vacuum tubing. With all of this sealing up, any and all air pulled by that fan HAS to come through the radiator core; no air leaks around the edges.

 

[Gimp]

The Delta Current Controller from www.dccontrol.com
(I know, I need to tidy up the wiring and clean under the hood.)

 

[Gimp]

The lamp that tells you how hard the fan is working. It's the one with the halo around it. I need to touch up the black on the dash where I scratched it up during the install. The other lamp is for the alarm.

 

[Gimp]

The adjustment knob. I installed this rather than using the jumpers to set temp. Brian sells them with a 10' lead so that it can be installed in the passenger compartment, but I preferred it be under the hood.

 

[Gimp]

Trans cooler fan. It's a 10" Derale. It's hard to see even using the flash because everything is painted black. It's mounted using metal straps screwed to the core support. It comes on at 140 degrees via a thermostat installed in the auxiliary tranny filter housing.