Some of us have had good experiences with e-fans, some bad. I figured I'd put a thread together with a poll and info for those that don't know much about them. Post up your experience with e-fans.

 

Over a year ago I installed an e-fan on my truck when I replaces the radiator. That e-fan quit working within 3 months, it had a short in a wire, but worked if fixed, not suprising since it was purchased new off of ebay. I have had a 2300 CFM 16" e-fan from summitracing on the truck ever since and like it. I have my fan run off of a switch only and not automatic. It has plenty of capacity to keep my truck cool and I like the fact that atleast 95% of the time I am driving the truck I do not need nor use the cooling fan. I can't say i've seen any drastic increases in mpg due to the e-fan but i'm sure it has reduced parasitic loss from not having to continuously turn the mechanical fan.

 

The poll covers a bit, but there's more options that should probably be added to that... oh well.

I've had my mechanical fans go bad twice on me, in the Ranger, once in the Bronco due to water crossings. I replaced both with electrical fans, and in both vehicles the e-fans have caused the trucks to overheat by blowing fuses or not being strong enough to cool the engine efficiently. I've never had a problem with overheating in the Ranger when the mechanical fans died on me, I did have a problem with the Bronco overheating due to a blown fan clutch when that died. I didn't see much if any of a gain in mileage, so the risk of having an e-fan is not worth the risk to me.

 

Good thread. Nice selection of options.

About a year ago, I overheated 3,4, maybe even 5 times on my trip to the dunes and had to buy a new fan. I also melted fuses, burnt up relays all in one weekend. I bought a new fan, it worked to get home, then bought another efan which ran until this last may when i finally got all the items needed to return the truck to stock.

Now I have nothing to worry about. When off roading my temps stay low and transmission temps rarely go above 200.

 

If the clutch on a mechanical fan/clutch is working properly, it doesn't continuously turn the mechanical fan either. Probably one of the reasons you haven't seen any drastic increases in MPG!

 

Except for the fact that the fan on my truck when I got it did not have a clutch.

 

Sure doesn't say much for an e-fan, if you didn't see much of a difference going from a mechanical fan without a clutch to an e-fan!!!

 

-couldnt really answer the poll. mine never let me down, per se.....it had the thermost control on it, and it went out twice, to the tune of $80 per. but as long as it worked never a problem. even when it didnt work, the only time it would overheat was it i sat idleing for a long period....

 

I don't know what the whole thing is with Rangers and e-fans, PLENTY of other people use them and love them. Maybe people on here just aren't putting them on right.

 

I'm running a lord-who-knows old Taurus fan from the junkyard, paid $15 for it. It's been running about since Feb. with no issues in hot *** florida with the a/c always cranking. it's been in the mud, there are mud stains on the inside of the fan shroud. Zero issues with reliability, zero issues with overheating and i have cooler a/c in the city. Also is less weight to spin up on the engine.

 

I couldn't tow or offroad with the efan, temps spiked. I also tried it w/ a stock shroud w/o any luck...same problems.

I hate efans. I only tried it for MPG...which I did get ~2mpg more.

 

fruck the efan...all it was was problems for me. i proceeded to rip it off while wheelin' and run it over multiple times. i choose not to go into details, it's a soft spot....well...maybe not soft, but you'll see a bunch of these if i talk more: ********** **** ******

 

Never had any problems with my e-fans, of course mine are Factory and my motor runs so cool I have never known the second fan to kick on.

IMO, they are for auxiliary cooling in most cases. My Dad put one in front of his Radiator on his ’66 impala convert for parade use only. When big blocks are left idling in the hot humid air they get pretty warm. Worked really well in conjunction with the factory fan.

~HJ

 

something about those sbc's like to keep cool. something about these ford motors like to run hot. lol.

 

I installed mine pretty well, the fan itself went out once. It just doesn't have enough CFM...if it had enough, I wouldn't have any problems.

 

i used mine for about 3 months... after Travis truck burned down i took it out a little bit later to send in the old wiring to Bob and Kris and then never got around to reinstalling it...


but i never had any problems with it

 

mark, your one of the few, and i installed mine VERY similar to yours...and it was perfectly fine for DD, but towing or offroading, it overheated like crazy.

 

It not just Rangers, aftermarket e-fans have given trouble on every make vehicle that was designed with a mechanical fan/clutch assembly!

 

Thats pretty much what I figured, and why I have abandoned e-fan setups.

 

Not uh! I run a Chevy HHR fan in a Plymouth and it still cools well...even cross-bred setups!

 

My e-fan is great, it better be I paid good money for the flex-a-lite fan on summit. Never blown a fuse never had it not cool the engine down.

BUT

I think an E-fan is really only for those who are not over working their engine and taking their car off-road frequently. My lowered 2WD does not see any muddin paths for obvious reasons. It is my daily driver and I thought it would be nice to try this whole e-fan thing out. I was very careful in documenting my mileage before and after to see if I had gotten hosed.

BEFORE e-fan: 21.6 mpg

AFTER e-Fan: 23.8 mpg

My girlfriend lives four hours away, so the mileage was calculated on the same exact roads, with the same speed limits, both without the use of cruise control, in roughly the same temperatures. By the time I fill up another 80 times this e-fan will have paid for itself.

 

I'm not arguing whether you are happy or unhappy with your e-fan. If you have one and love it, good for you! This is my experience.

I've had 2 different e-fans. Yes, it seemed to give some better MPG's (if you were light on the gas) and acceleration, but it could have just been in my mind because my truck seems to 'pull' pretty well right now. The problem with the custom e-fans is the muddy/watery off roading. I never had a problem with my stock, mechanical fan, I just wanted to put on an e-fan for the potential power and supposed MPG's. I also made my own custom shroud for the fans with the stock shroud and it worked very well.
My first fan broke when I was wheeling and hit a large water hole which destroyed all but 2 blades on the fan. So, I bought another from J.Modified and put it on. I wired it correctly and never had a problem with fuses or wiring.
With the the 2nd fan, my truck eventually (almost a year later) constantly overheated, even in normal driving. I thought the problem was my thermostat which I replaced and didn't fix anything. Then I figured it was my radiator because it had some cool spots. So I flushed my rad well and put my mechanical fan back on and had no more problems. The rad fluid was nasty!!!! I think from repeated minor overheatings the coolant and coolant tubes and system started to break down and/or corrode and such, which caused the rad to not work as well, which the e-fan would have trouble cooling also. I have an e-fan sitting at home but don't plan on putting it back on unless I turn my truck into a drag truck or something on that order....which isn't gonna happen.
If you have a street truck, sure the e-fan is probably great. For the occasional or frequent off-roader which will experience mud/water, the fan is probably a bad idea, from my experience.

From the horsepower standpoint on e-fans, you gain nothing. The fan does eliminate the drag on the system from the mechanical fan but the engine does not gain any HP. It will let the system accelerate faster, whether your truck is built powerful and light enough for you to tell, that's your gain. Its exactly the same principal as a lightweight flywheel.