Question for Todd Z / ZabTech

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Rodger Tellefson

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Just curious as to why you have not put in a electric fan? I personally have not seen much in the way of performance or gas milage increase with the e-fan or the removal of the air silencer (increased noise only). Or, do you have plans to install a e-fan in the future? Inquiring minds want to know. :D
 
Rodger, patience grasshopper. There should be a project in a few days :D $120 electric fan :cool:
 
UMM , I am confused....



You said you have not seen any increase in performance or MPG with your E-fan??



Then why would I do this ???

Unless I am reading it wrong...??



My main fear of installing the electric fan is a breakdown....

I still am not 100% trusting of aftermarket electric fans and kits...



Now using the "new" information about using v8 car electric fans, and doing some research, I may attempt this in the spring, BUT i want to be 100% about the wiring size, relays, fan, stuff like that...

I just will not slap any thing on my Trac just for performance, I want reliability with it..

Todd Z
 
Todd,

I'm using a V8 car fan for the '66. Got it from am SHO. It's pretty big, I wanna say around 16" with S-blades. Two speed and semi-shrouded. It'll be hard wired into the ignition system with around 14 AWG wire. The '66 should be good and running by the spring, so I'll let you know how well it cools the 302. Of course, the huge radiator I'm using will help...
 
I got the Flex-A-Lite 180 Extreme e-fan working great thanks to Paul Arket (TraketPaul). Put in a 30 amp breaker instead of a 30 amp fuse; no more problem. I do neet to take it on a long road trip to really put the e-fan to the test, but ever since Paul fixed it after we returned from Louisville, like your TBS, I have not seen any measurable increase in mpg over our trip to Dallas last year without the e-fan. We've been keeping an eye on our mpg every time we fill up. It does work just fine, so I am not going to remove it just yet. Anyone else, that has an e-fan installed, have any thought on this?



Also, because I have had the Airaid CAI installed before removing the airbox silencer, when the blower motor was repaired a couple of months back, I have not noticed any measureble mpg gains with out it either. Just my observation.
 
Rodger, Removing the stock fan should not yield any significant MPG gains due the fact that once your at highway speed the clutch basically opens and the air flowing passed the radiator is enough to cool the engine....



IF you did only local driving then you may see an increase, BUT with the fan switching on ad off, the electrical load may negate the mechanical savings....



Either way, The electrical fan would a performance increase for me only, i have no cooling issues or severe hot weather where the electrical fan is superior.



As stated I weight my options before installing something and if it is a true benefit I will install it down the road.



And, more than likely i will install one this spring....

Todd Z
 
I had the black magic fan and the first time I went into a water puddle 2 of the blades broke and the fuse went with it. I didn't know it happened and 2 days later I was stuck on the side of the road over heating. I replaced the fuse and the truck rocked hard from the vibration of the fan blades gone. When I got home I put the stock fan back on.

I will do it again, but I will have an in cab LED light giving me confirmation that the fan is running. I'll also have the shut off switch in the cab so I can shut it off when I'm off roading. I will most likely use a Taurus fan. It can be bolted to the shroud (no plastic tabs running through the radiator). Plus $20 for the fan is a no brainer from the wrecking yard. A $40 controller and I'll have an OEM quailty fan for well under $100.
 
Wayne, I installed a Taurus fan in my Sport Trac last week. I've had no problems with overheating, but I'll put it to the true test come summer.
 
I've been running an e-fan for 3 years now. Al Franklin has been running one for a bit longer and his reports were all positive driving in Florida weather. My experiences have been slightly different. I have been using a 2700 or 3000 cfm fan (don't recall) that I bought from yearwood. The fan itself works well and pulls a tonload of air, however, ambient temps here in miami, combined with stop and go traffic and a/c use don't seem to go well together. In the summer months, with the max a/c on 3 or 4 the temp gauge will begin to rise if I'm in stop-n-go, idling in direct sunlight during the hotter times of the day, the trac can/will overheat. The fan I have is mounted to the radiator, and I believe this the biggest factor in why it doesn't cool as well as it should with the a/c running. With the a/c off I have 0 problems.



Rodger, a road trip will do little to test the fan. Stop and go traffic is the true test. As soon as you hit 35-40 mph the fan should shut-off (you do have a temp switch, right?) as the air being pushed through the front end will keep temps plenty cool. The fan won't play a role.



As for performance, the trac will rev a bit free'er since the fan drag is no-longer there. That was the main benefit I noticed. Is it worth it? I would rank it a stage 3 upgrade for when you're trying to squeeze every last little bit of power from the trac.
 
Jeff, there are plenty of guys running it with a 4.0+. You should be fine. I go on a s-10 site and it's pretty common to use a taurus fan on their 4.3's. I'm glad some Ford owners are using them.

I like the fact you can bolt it to the shroud.
 
Yeah, I started looking, and lots of the Mustang guys are using them, and I figured that if 500hp Mustangs are using them, it'll be fine for the ST. I'm very happy with mine, and there should be a project uploaded soon.
 
yes, e-fan is a good thing to upgrade, i had one on my ranger, but it did leave me sitting one nite so i took it off. it didnt over heat, it was another problem. while parked with the alarm on, the fan would kick on, and the lil bit of vibration it made, kicked the alarm on. and well it kept doing this til the battery was dead lol. yeah just my 1 time experience with the e-fan.
 
I have used electric fans on a number of vehicles, both for street driving and racing applications. There are a lot of myths about electric fans and even the stock Thermo-clutch fans.



First, the stock Thermo-clutch does disengage at road speed in excess of 30 MPH as long as the radiator temperature has cooled down. Even still, there is some parasitic drag that is very easy to see. When you engine is cold after sitting all night, Start your engine. You will clearly see that the fan is turning and will speed up and slow downs as the engine RPM's change. The engine is cold, the fan is not engaged, but the parasitic drag that makes it turn eats up HP.



The other drawback to the Stock belt drive thermo-clutch fan is when idleing in traffic the fan runs at engine speed so it is least efficient when it's need most. Then when you are moving down the highway at 30 MPH or more, the engine cools down and the thermo-clutch disengages the fan, but the fan keeps draining HP because of the parasitic drag.



Electric fans if set up to be thermostaicly controlled will turn on when ever the radiator temperature reaches a set point and will shut off when the radiator temperature drops to a set point. The electric fan works at it's peak rpm when the engine is idling in traffic and that's when the flow of air is needed the most.



Relaibility is at or near the same as the stock thermo-clutch fan. I have never had an electric fan ever fail, but the I have had the thermostatic controls fail on several occasions. To eliminate getting stuck on the side of the road with an overheated engine, I have incorporated a manual bypass switch that allows the power to the fan to bypass the thermostatic control and directly power the fan. I have even used that in race cars that ran single wire alternators and no alternators at all....just battery power. As long as the fan does not fail, everything stays nice and cool.



The typical stock thermo-clutch fan robs your engine of and average of 5-8 HP at the higher RPM ranges. You may not feel that extra power in the seat of your pants, but it will show up on a dyno.



As for gas mileage savings. The potential is there, but it may take a long time to realy see the improvement, just because there are so many other variables that effect gas mileage from day to day.



...Rich



 

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