E-fan Conversion Questions

[Truthseeker4449]

Having done some poking around on this site, I know that e-fans are a highly controversial subject, but still something I've been quite interested in doing.

I suppose some background information is in order. My truck is a RWD '94 Super Cab with a five speed, everything stock to my knowledge. For her age, she's not well traveled at just 62k. Nothing wrong with the cooling system aside from rusting and a recently replaced thermostat failing to let the engine warm up. I do not desire to take my truck off-road and I'm gentle on the throttle.

She's a daily driver to me and for the most part does not really see heavy traffic except for a few spots on a route I take four times a week. It's nothing compared to most other people deal with in my area. Average weekly mileage is about 220. The local climate is moderate and the terrain is mostly flat with a few small hills here and there.

My motivation for this project is mostly a desire for fuel economy. Though it would also be nice not to deal with the fan bolts. They were quite a headache when I changed the thermostat and flushed some of the rust out of the cooling system.

I have not really committed to this yet as I'm still in the process of gathering information as I want to do this right the first time. Looking around I see that there's heavy debate over the performance gains and lack there of. I've also seen that cheap fans are not recommended for such a project and the amp draw of running a e-fan can be heavy.

Does anyone have a specific brand of fan they would recommend for this project? Does anyone know that if running an e-fan with a stock alternator would burn the alternator up and if so how to find an alternator able to meet the requirements of such a fan? Should a fan controller be used or can I use a two-speed manual setup?

I greatly appreciate feedback and I thank you all in advance.

 

[bobbywalter]

is this a serious question?


or just fun troll stories?

open the hood of anything at the dealership that is rated to tow less then 10 k and tell me what the fawk is cooling it.

and soon anything at the dealership will have essentially the same thing cooling it.

same with power steering....heat ac etc...

with the bigger oem fans you will want the typical 130 amp alternator upgrade if you have a shit ton of stereo equipment or something... of course bigger is better. i get by with a 95 amp pushing a monstrous fan from an intech. but i have a very large engine..... for a regular ranger, a fan from a ford escort---last gen escort will suffice fine for instance. no strain on the stock alternator...my fan or say a taurus fan is working it, but the escort fan is in the design limit.

direct wiring off the alternator thru tandem 40 amp relays is the most efficient way to power it. 10 gauge for the power and ground, short as possible in length. use a controller of your choice to close the relays.

typically i can do this thru my pick and pull junkyards cheaper then you can buy a viscous clutch fan.

the gains are potential. with what you describe, properly hooked up, i would bet you would find it worth the effort...done at my cost table anyway. which is under 30 bux.

there is no debate about the efficiency. there is no loss, and potential gain.

what that gain is will vary on the actual drive cycle.