Electric Fan

Has anyone ditched their clutch fan for an electric set up. And what’s your opinion if so?

 

You’re gonna hear 2 strong opinions. Mechanical fans are tried and true, I’d never risk overheating my engine due to a failed electric fan. Mechanical fans rob horsepower, electric fans are the way to go.

I think if you set it up good with a shroud, relay and thermostat switch and use a good one you’ll be ok. You might need to be creative on how to mount and hook it up.

I’d go with a spal or similar quality. Not the cheapest thing you can find.

 

Yes, a few guys have.
Here is just a bit on the subject.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1gr-fe-rebuild.743548/page-9#post-26580628

 

Typically a mechanical fan and or a clutch fan will will rob the engine of usable horsepower . A mechanical fixed fan will use up to 50 horsepower and a clutch fan can use up to 10 -15 horsepower

A typical electric fan set up will use 5 horsepower

 

I'm getting ready to do the fan clutch delete for an E-Fan, just waiting on the E-Fan to Fan Shroud Adapters to get printed up.

I'll be using a PWM type E-Fan from a 2006+ Camero/Corvette and a Lingenfelter PWM Fan Controller. The Fan Controller has an output signal that will control the temp readings of the Autometer Coolant Temp Gauge that I recently installed. There's also a built in manual override that will turn the E-Fan on to 100% when flipping a switch. I installed a Temperature Sensor Adapter in the upper radiator hose. Think of it as a closed system separate from the factory engine control system..

More details of it here at my build thread..
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/monkeyproofs-misadventures.697489/page-5#post-27003535

 

No one has posted a 0-80 mph run on YouTube proving there is a power advantage installing an electric in place of the factory mechanical fan, because there is none.

 

Would it be practical to install an electric fan in front of the radiator to pull air, while keeping the stock clutch fan? For something like slow rock crawling in desert heat.

 

In general, electric fans have a smaller impact on engine drag, and belt driven fans have higher CFM’s and, along withe their bigger blades, pull air in more efficiently through restrictive cooling setups - transmission cooler, AC condenser, and radiator.
Other E-fan advantages: you can turn the fan off during deep water crossings; lesser strain on water pump shaft bearing; and the engine reaches operating temps quicker, a plus in the winter.

Thus an E-fan in a Tacoma will be most beneficial if driven predominately on the highway. For low speed high RPM applications (off-roaders), the belt-driven fans will better cool the engine. The car owner decides which tradeoffs to accept/dismiss.

 

The beauty of the electric fan is that is uses zero HP when it isn't running which is really just about any time you are moving. I did one of these on my old Chevy S10 and liked it a lot... and it was a fun project. But IMO not really worth the expense. Plus, I want to keep my Tacoma engine bay stock.

 

This would be the same as saying that a belt driven s/c has no loss in power. (Parasitic loss)

 

I put the Flexalite kit on my Tacoma probably 10-11 years ago. I would not say that I noticed any noticeable performance improvement, but wasn't expecting any since this isn't a high performing engine. What I did notice was less fan noise, especially on initial cold drive away where you get that fan roar until it warms some.

After the install I did notice that it was a one stage controller and the full on would generate some vibration in the cab as the fan spun up. I fixed this by putting some rubber fender washes between the shroud mount and the mount. I also added a 2 stage controller so the fan would slow start and then only go full on as needed. The kit was $400 at the time and the additional controller was another $100, so not cheap.

Last thing also was that the fan motor did go bad about 7-8 years in and I had to replace that. Motor would spin slowly, but not enough to cool it when sitting still.

It's not clear to me, nor should be to you, if this amount is justified. I would suggest to definitely NOT do this for a stock/close to stock 4.0 if you are looking for performance gains. For me it ended up being less fan roar and less noise in general when the fan is running.

 

I used a Ford Taurus fan and Flex-a-lite controller on my S10 conversion and found exactly what you report here, except I didn't have any vibes in the cab. By far, the main benefit was noise reduction, especially upon cold starts. But it was a cool project and it really worked well. And it really makes access to the front of the motor better with that old clutch fan gone. Hmmm... I may have to look into doing this again.

 

Bringing this back from the dead to share my experience. Mods are in my sig but recently I went offroading in 100+ degree weather and slow crawling through the woods with AC on. AC stopped blowing cold and engine temps reached 225deg before I decided to turn the ac off. Engine cooled back down to 195-200. Had to put it in neutral a few times and rev the engine to get the clutch fan spinning to cool it down. On the highway it'll run normal 186deg with ac on. This is with the factory clutch fan. I switched to a dual Spal 13" fan setup with Derale fan controller and also added a Mishimoto 10" fan in front of the condenser wired to come on when ac clutch engages. The total opposite is happening now with electric fans. At stop and go, offroading etc in 100+ deg heat the temps stay in the 190-200 range with cold AC and highway it'll creep up to 200-208 doing 70mph still cold AC. I do feel a little extra kick when accelerating after electric fan conversion. For anyone thinking about doing this conversion it is pricey. Sitting at idle with all fans kicked on the voltage is 12.5-13.0. No bueno. The factory 130 amp (tow package)Alternator needs to be upgraded along with wires. I'm going with a 250 amp from JS Alternators and the Tacoma "Big 7" wire kit. Waiting for those to show up but I'll say I'm pretty happy with my setup for what I do with the truck. I'll also say that if you use your truck as a grocery getter and don't mind warm ac in hot ambient temps sitting in traffic then stick with the clutch fan.