Moschello25

Hey guys I have a 95 Ford F-150 5.0 302. I’m looking into deleting the mechanical fan and going electric. Does anyone know what size to use and possible vehicle electric fan can be used from the junk yard? Or is it better to buy the whole kit.

Steve83

The stock clutch is better than any e-fan you could put on it. If you want to "buy the whole kit", buy a vehicle designed & built with an e-fan. That's the only way it'll ever outperform a clutch. Any dumb e-fan (one NOT controlled by a PCM designed for it) is inherently less-efficient than a clutch. It's sort of like trying to propel a sailboat with an on-board fan powered by a turbine driven by the boat moving through the water.

Moschello25

So your saying a mechanical fan is better than a e fan? If you get rid of the mechanical fan and put a e fan it’s less resistance on the motor thus getting a little more power out of it

Eric Fullerton

Junkyard fans are designed by OEMs to last and perform, and to do so relatively quietly. Most if not all of the aftermarket stuff is crap by comparison. I won't get into the whole "should you in the first place", but the folks who have taken this route seem happy with the result. The 1988-1995 Taurus or sable with a 3.8, also a Lincoln continental with a 3.8 and, the Mark 8 with the 4.6 are good choices. Dual speed and can flow as much as 4500 cfm. You could just get your measurements & walk a pick & pull. I wouldn't over think the controller, a radiator probe set just above thermostat temperature for low speed, & on with AC for high speed, maybe backed up by a toggle switch for when you are stuck in traffic in the desert.

BLDTruth

There is a guy in here who has been running this electric fan setup for awhile - he seems to like the fans but the controller it comes with is garbage and needs to be replaced:

https://ffdynamics.com/products/f15028

Maybe Clint will chime in if he sees this thread.

One thing for sure is you should upgrade your alternator to a 130 amp unit - TYC makes one that drops right in to the same spot. You should probably also upgrade the charging cables and run an inline fuse.

Steve83

Where do you think the energy comes from to spin the e-fan & push all that air?

Nothing is free. The e-fan burns electricity, which comes from the alternator, which puts a load on the drivebelt, which puts a load on the engine, which burns gas. But every time you convert energy from one form to another, some of it is wasted as heat. (It's why there's no perpetual motion machine.) More conversions = more waste = more effort to do the same work. So by converting mechanical energy of the belt to electrical energy in the alternator to be passed through wires, connectors, & switches with resistance and then convert it BACK to mechanical energy in the e-fan motor; you're putting MORE load on the engine than simply letting the belt spin a fan clutch.

It takes complicated programming & several specific sensors to overcome all those disadvantages, and make modern e-fans SLIGHTLY more-efficient than clutch fans. But you can't do that to your truck without swapping out the engine for a modern one programmed for its e-fan.I wasn't. I have a 130A 3G with upgraded wiring, and I built the control circuits which worked perfectly for many years. But the fan put so much load on the alternator (even at low fan speed) that it couldn't always maintain charging voltage. And when the control relay contacts burned out, the radiator ruptured.

BLDTruth

This guy above me knows his stuff so i am not going to argue the logic of thermodynamics. I have used info from his site more times than I can count (thanks Steve). I will just say that an electric fan can have a lot of benefits to it depending on how you use your truck. If you drive on the highway a lot in a relatively cool climate, 9 times out of 10 you don't even need a fan on. In this situation, you will see mpg increase with an e-fan. In most other situations, it's a wash at best.

Eric Fullerton

Even in a hot climate, (I'm in Texas) there are days, like today, that the energy used by the fan will not only be wasted, but counterproductive. Even clutch off, it is still a parasitic drain. In the summer, the clutch fan falls short cooling the condenser enough for 100°+ days. My BMWs had clutch fans, & also had electric condenser fans that solved that. I don't know if it will be all that and then some, but when I get around to it, it gets a try.

clintm6

Well... now that I've had the dual e-fans for a couple of years, I can tell you my experiences with them. Keep in mind I have a 300 I6, not a 302 V8. Like BLDTruth said, I bought the fans at the link he gave, but I had 2 of their controllers go out. I put in a new Hayden controller that lasted just over a year and had to replace that one last month. So it seems the electronics are a big issue, but so far the fans have run well.

On the other hand, for my driving, which is about 90 miles a day mostly freeway, I gained about 2 mpg. At 20000 miles a year, at $2.75 a gallon, that equals about a $370/year savings over not having e-fans. So I'm still money ahead.

Do your research and make an informed decision before you do anything, but even if you do get the e-fans and then don't like them, they can easily be removed to go back to stock. Good Luck!!!

Steve83

My Bronco also has the 4.9L I6. But I can't get the MPG to change by 2 no matter what. Towing, crawling, around-town, highway... It's always 12-13. Yes, the odometer is accurate.