Disturbed... (not the band, a state of mind...)

[AllanD]

Interesting, I have never heard of that. I would guess the reason for it would be engine efficiency, if you have one less belt driven piece on the engine, it would be slightly more efficient. I'd think if you could control the flow of fluid just right it would be a nice setup, but I'd hate to clean up after a major leak, just imagine losing a line and having the fan blow ATF all over the engine bay.

Engine efficiency my ass.

People forget that the power to rotate that fan must come from SOMEWHERE.

"Conservation of energy"

And to move X-volume of Air is going to require Y-Volume of force

and this doesn't change.

It doesn't matter a mouse turd's worth of difference if the power comes
1)mechanically driven by the engine belt bolted to a mechanical fan on the
BELT DRIVEN water pulley
2)Electrically off the electrical system by the BELT DRIVEN
alternator(Hey STUPID PEOPLE, The engine must STILL drive the alternator)
OR
3) driven by the power steering system which is owered by the Power steering
pump which in turn is turn BELT DRIVEN

alll of these BELT DRIVEN things ARE powered by
the ENGINE, so where is this magical power comming from? the gasoline that
you pour into the tank.

And if people are puzzled why I'm disturbed ponder this...

How is the HYDRAULIC motor driven fan controlled for necissary speed/airflow?

How does the hydraulic system "know" how fast to make the fan run?

Can you say complication on top of complication?

In my engineering mind "complication" is "Bad" and "Simple" is "good"

NECISSARY complication often cannot be avoided, but why engage in UNnecessary complication.

I'm disturbed by the foolish absurdity of this complication.

I'm more than a little inclined to buy that fan assembly to hang it on my wall

as a monument to "what were they thinking?"

You cannot tell me that this hydraulic motor is cheaper to produce or easier to
control than an electric motor... and if you try I'll make it a point to beat you.
No, not beat you senseless that would be redundant... just beat you to liberate
my repressed rage at stupidity in general.

hydraulic motors last many years. probably puts very little more load on steering pump, less than a belt driven fan. my guess is to replace the fan that ALWAYS breaks between the blades, and lasts way longer than an electric motor that gets water FORCED into it when its raining

Ok so let me get this straight... you say that to replace the plastic fan that cracks (but doesn''t actually break)
they design ANOTHER plastic fan, a plastic mount like an electric fan, a cast aluminum Hydraulic motor that
has THREE lines running to it, the lines, some sort of control valve and some complicated electronics to operate
the control valve and to you this is an improvement?


Alrighty then....

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Interesting, I have never heard of that. I would guess the reason for it would be engine efficiency, if you have one less belt driven piece on the engine, it would be slightly more efficient. I'd think if you could control the flow of fluid just right it would be a nice setup, but I'd hate to clean up after a major leak, just imagine losing a line and having the fan blow ATF all over the engine bay.

Hydraulic motors are not very effieciant.

They take a fair amount of power to run and heat the fluid in most applications. It usually takes a large volume of fluid to run them.

I really do not see what the advantage would be over an efan...

I can also not find anything but a regular old clutch fan shown online for an '09 4.0.

 

[Shran]

I really do not see the point of it either, however, there MUST be a reason for Ford to build it, no? I just cannot see any good reason other than slight increases in efficiency and/or an attempt at emissions reduction.

Think about it, you've already got a power steering pump that the engine is powering... which is more than capable of running the steering sector itself, as well as a hydro assist steering ram (think mid 70's F250 here) so why not power something else? It seems to me that you'd have less drag on the engine with this setup vs a standard issue clutch fan.

Needlessly complex? Absolutely. But in this day and age of auto makers trying to squeeze every last drop of mileage out of an aging engine design, and having to meet emissions mandates on top of that, it is the only logical reason I can come up with.

Have you guys seen that the 2013 Ram trucks have electric power steering? Same motivation, I'd imagine.

 

[Snoranger]

Have you guys seen that the 2013 Ram trucks have electric power steering? Same motivation, I'd imagine.

My wife's 2012 Ford Fusion has electric power steering.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Have you guys seen that the 2013 Ram trucks have electric power steering? Same motivation, I'd imagine.

Efans have been around since when, like the 70's? Any brand new F-150 sitting on any lot across in North America has an e-fan in it.

My wife's 2012 Ford Fusion has electric power steering.

So does my brother's Mustang. They are wanting to get rid of all fluids aside from engine oil and transmission fluid... yes that counts brake fluid as well (electric brakes)

 

[naford]

My 01 mustang uses the power steering pump for the brakes. Maybe he needed to be able to stop the fan but also needed the power that an electric fan couldn't provide. I read that Bondurant used to remove the electric fans from the race school cars and install a mechanical one. They needed the constant cooling of the fan to provide A/C.

 

[Snoranger]

I checked my uncle's '11 Ranger (4.0l) yesterday. Its got the regular clutch fan, same as every other 4.0l I've ever owned.