Electric cooling fans?

[WUzombies]

Has anyone converted from a mechanical cooling fan to an electric setup? Did you have any problems keeping your rig cool? Did you notice a change in MPG?

The Internet experts on the Ford forums have said they're awesome, they suck, they break, they are more reliable than than the fan clutch...so yeah. My mechanical experience building vehicles is primarily with aircooled VWs so my E-van is a learning experience.

 

[Bbasso]

On my past vans... and current I've yet to have any heat related issues with the stock cooling system from Ford.
(Aside from water pump replacement )

In other words... why mess with what works?

 

[WUzombies]

On my past vans... and current I've yet to have any heat related issues with the stock cooling system from Ford.
(Aside from water pump replacement )

In other words... why mess with what works?

It does produce drag on the engine and with the Z71 I had years and years ago, I went through three fan clutches, all of which are sort of a pain in the butt to mess with.

 

[Sea.Jay]

Not enough drag to notice any improvement in mpg or much on a dyno. You might feel a bit of seat-of-the-pants improvement.

 

[jkam]

On my 4x4 Chevy van I had an electric fan. The previous owner had a ****ty one on there when I bought it. I replaced it with a
really nice one from Flex a lite when I redid the engine. Worked fine but I worried about it from time to time just because it wasn't something I was used to.

 

[jeffjeeptj]

I went thru the electric fan phase, a few years ago. I recommend staying with the Ford mechanical system. I converted to an electric fan on a baby Bronco then changed back due to a bunch of issues all related to the electric fan. Same results on a Chevy Malibu that I put a small block 400 into, electric then back to mechanical. My current Sequoia has a factory mechanical with a factory electric boost. No troubles, even at 95F ambient, stop and go traffic, or in low range on a hot day in the sand at the beach, looking for horses.
If the factory cooling system is in good repair, it will handle your cooling needs. I also had a 91 E-350 with a 460 and dual air in Florida. Towed my 8000 pound boat with no troubles, except stop and go traffic in August. Water temp always looked ok on the factory gauge but the trans would heat up (based on an electric gauge with the sender in the trans oilpan) until I got some steady 30 MPH or higher air thru the radiator. Engine oil temp always stayed where it should.
Bottom line, keep your mechanical system. Also, buy quality parts, sometimes this means dealer vs. aftermarket. I got tired of changing the lifetime warranty azone waterpump every 6-9 months. Put in a dealer waterpump, seemed pricy, but it lasted 5 years, then sold the truck. Money ahead.

 

[WUzombies]

Thank you for the insight everyone, exactly the sort of answers I was looking for before trying a conversion (which I'm not going to do now),

 

[pugslyyy]

Thank you for the insight everyone, exactly the sort of answers I was looking for before trying a conversion (which I'm not going to do now),

not specific to your brand, but we were just talking earlier this week about how Land Rover still uses mechanical fans on their Range Rover, etc. Given the potential advantages of an electrical fan (i.e. switching off for water crossings, etc) and the efficiency of only having the fan on when you need it... we all figured that Land Rover had taken a long, hard look at electrical fans and decided to stick with the mechanical.

I also switched to an electrical fan on my Defender 110 (a good flex-a-lite one) but could never get it to work for me and went back to the mechanical.

 

[86cj]

They make really good electric fans but they are usually LOUD, for me it's the noise at idle or slow speed when in the backcountry. A good HD factory mechanical fan backed up by an electric fan that comes on when things are brutal is best.................