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Post by jhkaster on Apr 12, 2007 10:39:56 GMT -5
Has anyone replaced their engine fan with an electric radiator fan? Sellers of electric fans claim that you'll gain a few HP because you eliminate the friction the engine fan creates. And they claim it's quieter. Your thoughts??
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Post by Jeff Roblin on Apr 12, 2007 10:52:13 GMT -5
I haven't done it but I definitely agree.
Steel fan blades are quite loud. Now, outside a vehicle, especially on a Versailles, you might notice as much sound difference. Fan shrouds and hood insulation will absorb a great deal of it. My only experience goes in the other direction. In '92 I built a demolition derby car. It was a '73 Catalina 4dr HT with a 350 in it. I replaced the clutch fan with solid fan blades because I wanted to keep the motor cool, even if the rad started to rub the blades. I found the solid blades louder that the clutch fan on the motor as this was prior to cutting the exhaust off.
As far as power goes, solid fans take a fair bit of energy to turn, clutch fans less. Either way, it's a drag on the motor.
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Post by jhkaster on Apr 12, 2007 11:04:16 GMT -5
You know, this brings up another question now that we're talking about noise and rotating things... and it's probably a silly question, but I don't really know... is there some routine maintenance (like lubrication) that one is supposed to do with pulleys on which the belts run?
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Post by Jeff Roblin on Apr 12, 2007 11:44:30 GMT -5
For the fan blades - no. That pulley is running based on the waterpump shaft which is a sealed unit as far as I am aware.
The lower pulley is on the crankshaft which relies on the front main seal, I believe.
The alternator pulley runs on a bearing in the alternator - they generally don't give trouble, but you can't do much preventative maintenance on them.
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Post by hipogranada on Apr 12, 2007 12:15:49 GMT -5
There is less fan noise without the engine-driven fan, especially when the fan clutch engages. I should think there is some gain in rear-wheel horsepower when you aren't pushing air with the fan.
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girard
Daily Driver
Posts: 112
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Post by girard on May 4, 2007 20:29:51 GMT -5
I can remember there was an issue about a year ago in Car Craft magazine that did a dyno test on accesory power loss. I think its still on there website. Seems like the fan was about 20 horse at higher rpm ranges not so much down low. I do remember they tested mechanical and clutch fans. But take into consideration that w/o aftermarket gauges a malfunction with the temp relay (not uncommon on newer cars) that you could run the risk of overheating.
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Post by tonytrolle on May 15, 2007 21:35:30 GMT -5
all i will say find out how the temp sender is fixed. I had one once that went under a rad hose  drip drip drip made a pipe up with a differant sender which screwed in to the pipe. And didnt ford recall GMV 75/76 on broken fan blades  |
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drip drip drip