2.4 electric fan conversion

I did a search of increasing MPG's with a 1 gen Tacoma 2.4l, didn't come up with much, I did see a very amusing thread about removing the fan shroud.

I drive 140 miles a day round trip to and from work in SoCal. I plan on doing an experiment with an electric fan conversion. I will upgrade my alternator first. I plan to run both a brushed then a brushless fan during the experiment. I also plan on running the experiment with regular unleaded and super unleaded fuel.

Unless someone has already done this, I think it would be good information to play with.

 

A waste of time and money!!

You would need very precise measurements to calculate if any mileage increase

For less cooling then the stock set up.

About the only time a electric fan is useful is with a swap where the factory fan will just not fit in the engine compartment

How do you plan to control the fan??

When it quits and leaves you sit ?

I have removed so many electric fans and returned to stock in the last 20 years. Most had failed and cooked the engine or caused a head gasket failure

Good luck in any case.

 

Salvage yards are full of two kinds of vehicles, wrecks and cooling system failures........

 

I have access to OE brushless fans and after market high performance electric fans. The OE brushless fan has a built in sensor and PWM control. the performance aftermarket fan will be controlled by an after market PWM fan control. The cost will be nothing out of pocket, just my time.

Less cooling...hmmn, you make a good point, I can also test the stock fans CFM at the static pressure the stock radiator creates and compare that to both electric fans.

I am a gauge watcher, and have AAA. I am not worried about a failure.

I have a good friend that has a dyno, I can also do a few dyno runs to see if there is a noticeable difference pulling the fan clutch and fan.

 

Supposedly the belt driven fan is more efficient as air flowing through the radiator at highway speeds will turn the fan reducing drag on the accessories belt, upgrading the alternator will increase drag on the belt.

 

Electric fans suck.

 

Any update on this experiment? Curious if OP went through with any of it.
Any idea what kind of CFM the OEM clutch fan puts out?

 

I am sure if I looked I could find the equations so you could do your own math .

To much like work for me.

The stock set up works the best.

 

I did an electric fan conversion on my old 20R Truck back in the 90's and it worked great. I did it because it was less expensive than buying a new fan clutch. I kept the stock shroud on too and it provided adequate cooling.

 

I'm sure I could too, just lazy and wanted to see if anyone had already figured it out

 

For 280,000 miles of my tacos 313,000life was with a single 16” electric fan with a flex a lite digital fan controller. Towed cross country many times, sat in traffic in northern New Jersey 100’s of times. Never had an issue still have to fan in there to this day tho I will be parting the truck once I get enough posts to sell things here. I wired In a led to know when the fan was on and have never had an issue or an overheat. Toyotas cooling systems are way over engineered and take it from me not one issue other then the controller firing once due to age. I was consistently getting 20-23 mpg and no loud fan on startup.

 

Also mine is a v6 5 speed 4x4 that still found the woods with no issues

 

Good to hear. Did you make your own shroud for it? Or run without one?

 

Ran a flex a lite fan and shroud unit with a flex a lite vsc controller. Originally had a dual fan setup on an angle but found the single worked fine when one of the two fans died and couldn’t replace the single fan. I forget the actual size of the fan but want to say it was 16-18” and never had an issue. My truck was also super charged for 120,000 miles. So I put it through its paces and never overheated. The vsc controllers are nice. They turn on low and ramp up the hotter the rad gets. Nice because it take the shock load off the charging system. No dimming lights and had an input for a/c if you still have it.

 

Which VsC? I have a ling controller but didn’t have an A/C input and debating on tossing a different controller in when I get around to it.

 

Don't most new vehicles have electric fans? Why do you suppose that is?

 

moar new vehicles def have less space in engine bays. Which is at least one likely reason.

 

My 2 cents: I personally know that a electric fan puts less drain on the motor, I would for sure UPGRADE the alternator as well. Just have to make sure that it can cool the engine when the AC is on and under towing conditions as well. It does save you on gas in the long run. Now, on the horse power scale, I think any less load on the motor is a PLUS on the HP, now how much more you will have to figure that one out, Good Luck !

 

123195 From flex a lite. Surf around for the best price. You don’t have to upgrade the alternator. My factory one made it 280k before it gave up. Most new trucks come with electric back up fans but when you get into 1500 and up trucks belt fans are still needed when heavy towing. I towed with this little fan and never had an issue. My new tundra uses a belt fan with electronic coupler which is best of both worlds. When not need it completely free wheels and then the ecm can command it on to the level it needs.

 

This is the one I am installing on my 2.7L
It’s about 19” round