Suggestions for SLIM Electric Fan

[CDW6212R]

You need a fan that's at least 16" in diameter. Skip the small fans and straight bladed fans.

 

[MoabB2]

I ended up going with this fan:
http://www.thehoffmangroup.com/autoloc/details.lasso?itemid=ZFU16S

Been running it now for about a month. Survived 7 hard and hot wheeling days in Moab. It fits better than my old efan and pulls nearly 3 times the air. During long, steep climbs the motor will still get a little hot but the new fan keeps it a good 10-15 degrees lower that the old one did pretty much all the time.

Trans temp also was really cool out on the trail. Most of the time stayed at 160 and peaked at 190 only a couple of times.

Also this fan is much quiter than my old fan. I've been really impressed so far.

 

[NJCurcio]

Thanks everyone for your ideas.

Ideally, I would like to use my original shroud, but I forsee difficulty in mounting a fan inside of it. Has anyone tried this and been able to suspend the fan inside of the shroud? Do you think I would be able to mount the fan directly to the plastic shroud itself?

 

[Cobraguy]

The problem with that is the opening in the shroud is huge. I haven't found a fan that would properly fill it...and that is very important. Further, the fan needs to be placed so that the blades are half in and half out of the shroud. That is the ideal placement according to many 'experts'. There is no room to do that and clear the water pump. That being said, I talked to Spal and Derale about doing just that...but flipping the fan over and placing the motor INSIDE the shroud, mount the blades in the proper location in the shrould, and making a pusher out of it instead of a puller. Both thought it was an interesting idea...but offered no other information or advice.

The factory fan is about 18.5" in diameter and the opening in the shroud is 20". That leaves .75" clearance. That's a tad more than the experts like to see (.5") but well within reason when you consider you are using rubber motor mounts. Trying to find a 19" fan that would work turned out to be futile. Maybe you can have better luck.

By the way, the Flex-a-lite fan/shroud I'm using works extremely well so far with no heating issues at all. That's in AZ where we have seen several days over 100 degrees already. I haven't tried it in a humid application however.

 

[CDW6212R]

Given our radiators large size and the available fans, I like the Flexlite 188 as the best most likely. It has a shroud that does help a lot, and it may be the answer. Otherwise I think having two efficient fans fitted as best as they can on the radiator might be close to the FL188. I'll be down that road very soon.

 

[joon]

Hi guys,
Great thread..

Here in Europe/Asia I can get the Volvo fan for pretty cheap. How thick was the Volvo fan? Do you remember which car it came off? I'm trying to put it on my car and I have about 4" of clearance between the nose of the water pump and the radiator

Thanks!

 

[Cobraguy]

Given our radiators large size and the available fans, I like the Flexlite 188 as the best most likely. It has a shroud that does help a lot, and it may be the answer.

That's what I have on both my 99 5.0 and my 95 4.0, and controlled with Spal controllers. Temp read 112 yesterday...and both are still operating flawlessly in stop and go traffic with the a/c running full tilt.

 

[CDW6212R]

Excellent.

FYI, the fan in my V6 truck is a Volvo fan, from an S60 70 or 80 I think. They were on eBay regularly for about $50 back then.

 

[Carguy3J]

Edit: By the way...have you noticed the fan/shroud combinations you can buy from Spal, Derale, etc. all have flapper valves in the shrouds in addition to the fan(s)? They all allow air to bypass the fan. Think that has something to do with your theory of not being able to move air past the corners with a short shroud?

The reason those "flappers" are there is because natural airflow at highway speeds is far greater than the fan can supply. The fan actually becomes a restriction at that point. The "flappers" are there to allow that higher speed outside air to get through the radiator/shroud. Without them, there would be an air pressure buildup in the shroud at speed, and a serious reduction of cool air through the core.

 

[Carguy3J]

4 core is too much

I ended up going with this fan:
http://www.thehoffmangroup.com/autoloc/details.lasso?itemid=ZFU16S

Been running it now for about a month. Survived 7 hard and hot wheeling days in Moab. It fits better than my old efan and pulls nearly 3 times the air. During long, steep climbs the motor will still get a little hot but the new fan keeps it a good 10-15 degrees lower that the old one did pretty much all the time.

Trans temp also was really cool out on the trail. Most of the time stayed at 160 and peaked at 190 only a couple of times.

Also this fan is much quiter than my old fan. I've been really impressed so far.

I think a significant part of your cooling issue is that radiator. 4-core is just too thick for extended low speed operation. It's too much of an air flow restriction to cool properly. Here is an excerpt from a Circle Track Magazine explaining it briefly:

"When the water/coolant moves across the radiator one time, it is called a "single pass" radiator. Obviously when the water flows across one set of tubes and then comes back across a second set, you have a "double pass." The second set of tubes is placed right behind the first, which makes the radiator a two-row core or dual core. Now you can have a dual core single-pass radiator or a dual core double-pass radiator.

While you can also purchase three- and four-row core radiators, they are not a good alternative for Saturday night racing. The more rows of cooling tubes stacked one behind another, the harder it is for the air to get through, which is a key to cooling. A Sprint Cup car running 200 mph at Daytona would have no problem pushing air through a three- or four-core radiator but that's not the case in our project Dirt Late Model. Dual core is the way to go. The only question we had to answer was single or double pass."

http://www.circletrack.com/enginetech/ctrp_0808_racecar_radiators/core_installation.html


I would suggest calling a company like Griffin, BeCool, Afco, or Flex-A-Lite, and talk to their tech people about it. I think you'll find you're running the wrong radiator configuration for the way your using the vehicle.

 

[CDW6212R]

The pre 1995 radiators are not a efficient as later models. The cores themselves do not remove as much air as later cores. I have noticed that most all Fords from the mid 90's on cool much better. The cores have not gotten thicker, but they are all aluminum and often larger in area.

The 95+ radiators are very large, tall. The first V8 units were all full core(2), but almost everyone now sells half core replacements, including Ford. That's because they are so good, and Ford is cheap. I bought a new one directly from the manufacturer Visteon I recall. I want the full thickness radiator, you just have to match all the right parts together. Regards,

 

[5.0 POWER]

I remember seeing people putting taurus SHO fans and shrouds in. They pull well and can be cheap if you get them from a junkyard. Something to consider before you spend lots on a new fa.

 

[Maniak]

Another fan to look into is the fan from an HHR.

this thread at 460ford has the measurments. It look slike the HHR is close to 1" thinner...

http://www.460ford.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135721&highlight=taurus+fan

~Mark

 

[dkchrist]

the HHR chevy they are extremely cheap and are rumored to pull somewhere between a taurus and Mark 8 fan.

 

[jd4242]

ill be doing a write up on the hhr fan install on our motors/trucks, next week ,it looks like the new way to go!!
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[jd4242]

well the hhr is the way to go,fit perfect and took 15 mins
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=258507