Radiator Fans- Stay Stock, or Go Electric?

[treepete]

It's slow today at work, so I thoght I would post (again.)


I read that you can unleash about 10-15 hp by removing the stock metal fan thats driven by the engine itself, and adding twin electric fans that attatch directly to the radiator.
Has anyone done/seen this and truely noticed gains?

I understand that the engine might not "work" as hard without the extra weight of the fan on there, but 10-15hp? sounds outta hand/too good to be true.

 

[Rollin Thunder]

i would do it for the benefit of other things, colder AC, warmer Heat, engine that runs cooler and more efficent, some power gain is just iceing on the cake. :thumbsup:

 

[Mike97]

I did that on an older Chevy pickup I used to own. I don't know about gaining 10-15 hp, but it definitely sounded better. Stock fans make a lot of noise, and the electrics only come on occasionally if a thermostat is used. You can actually hear your engine with this setup. And I was able to get rid of the huge ugly fan shroud. I see no drawback except for the initial cost. I got lucky and found a set at a junkyard.

 

[treepete]

So, If I can ask, the fan unit I'm looking at is from (cant remember) but I was reading the installation guide, and there is a thermostat thingy that comes with the kit. It fits betwen the vanes/ribs of the radiator and turns the temp on and off.
In the directions it says that you can wire it to turn on and off with the AC unit as well.. did you hook your up like that? do you have any tips on the wiring or any issues that you remember?

 

[treepete]

Flex-a-lite is the brand name.

 

[Mike97]

Lol, mine was not a kit, in fact it was very low tech. I found an electric fan unit from a 5.7L Camaro in the junkyard. I went to Napa and picked up a 200 degree thermo switch that fit into a port at the top of the water pump. When the coolant temp hit 200 the fan would kick on. That truck didn't have a/c so I wasn't concerned about that aspect. My only issue was that I had to make sure to use a 12v source that was switched on with the ignition. When I first hooked it up, I went straight to the battery (through a fuse of course). But I quickly found that the fan would keep running after shutting the engine off.

 

[SPXTrader]

I've been looking at those, too. What p/n did you come up with?

Keep us posted as to any decisions and progress!

 

[treepete]

yeah yeah, I suppose that is a good point.

So you just remove the stock fan then, what did you do with the pully that currently turns the fan? take it off and get a shorter belt? or leave it in there?

Sorry to ask all these questions about it.

 

[Mike97]

I left the pulley there. I just bolted the pulley to the water pump without the fan with shorter bolts. Keep in mind, this was a 1977 Chevy 3/4 ton pickup. It didn't have a serpentine setup, but 3 separate belts.

 

[treepete]

ok cool to know you left the pully on there.
SPX there are a few I have been looking at, but the one that I found the most information on was the flex-a-lite Monster Fan 280.it also has a nice instruction sheet in .pfd format there.

Man, this thing, or a new hood... I cant decide. WIth gas the way it is, Ill take any mileage edge I can get.

 

[sasquatch094]

i have an electric on my 1980 trans am. i like it alot and i also heard it frees up some hps.. i hooked mine up to the ignition (i have AC).. its very quiet and lighter and ect.. looks good too. not that rusty thing.. but id recommend doing it.. they are a little pricy bbut do what he did. go to the junkyard if you dont wanna spend some high money.. but i think it works great. i dont have mine ran to a thermo bcuz im jsut a little wierd about overheating and such, bcuz i also blew 10 grand in my motor. .so well yeah.. heres a pic : )

 

[treepete]

dude. thats insane. I just threw you in the bucket with 95TwinTT. cause thats mental.

 

[sasquatch094]

heheh thanks.. yeah its a beasttt.. its soooooo loud you wouldnt believe.. but sorry to take your topic away.. lol.. but GET THE ELECTRIC..

 

[treepete]

yeah, right on. thos pics are total craziness. I think I peed a little.

I gotta think im going with this fan over the hood for now.

I just gotta sneak it past the warden.

 

[95TwinTT]

I used the Perma Cool set up for this model. It worked great for a couple of years then took a dump on me.

Turns out the internal wiring was not heavy enough to handle the load of the two fans.

It has a built in thermostat that is on the radiator side of the housing and can be set to whatever temp you want to turn it on.

I used the optional circuit to turn it on, since my Tec 3 ECM is all set up to run electric fans.

I had to add some heavier relays to get this set up back to reliable, but I do like the extra room under the hood without the big fan shroud from the belt driven version.

I think I got it from Summit. It is a nice fit and bolts right in like factory.

What ever you end up with make sure the wiring is heavy enough. I think they fuse it for 30 amps. Good luck...........

 

[Mike97]

Holy crap, that's a nice setup there.:thumbsup: Really puts my ghetto junkyard setup to shame

 

[sasquatch094]

haha well i guess thats a compliment.. hehe.. well imean once u put 10 grand in a motor u cant go to the junkyard, its illegal.. hehe but imean yours works doesnt it?? money is everything in todays world.. but thanks.. i think i peed when i first saw TwinTT's motor.. hahah

 

[treepete]

man, as long as we're all peeing ourselves...

I will look into to the perma cool line as well..

Just a tip... if your hanging out on the forum and start droppin bombs like you two dudes have this last month... I'm gonna need to get another job, or go to Wyotech or something... this is out of hand

 

[sasquatch094]

well im 17. lol.. i still have senior yr to go through then to a college in which im not sure about still. butta thanks.. lol..

 

[treepete]

your being only 17 is what make it all double-wrong.

I hope my kids grow up to be as insightful.