Pully vs. Electric fan

What are the advantages/ disadvantages of an electric fan over a pully driven fan. I am thinking an electric one would free up a few horse power. I went through search and didn't find anything about performance gains.

 

it takes some of the paracitic drag off the engine like you said but i wouldnt put one on a daily driver. im not really a fan of having more electrical components either

 

...when you are in slow traffic...the fan is still doing 60 MPH...

there is a noticable diff. in the rev. of the motor...

most of the new cars they have sold in the last 10 yrs. has elect. fans and 99.9 percent of those are...daily drivers...

...JMO...

 

The advantage of an electric fan is that you don't have to find a hard to find fan shroud!

 

they just seem un necessary for a street car

and most of the new cars that have them have it because the car is fwd and the engine is mounted sideways. so a pully fan would be blowing air across the shock tower.

but it is the way of the future. im not going to argue that

 

i'd have no problem with a daily driver with an electric fan. i would not put one of the fans on that runs off of a moroso fan motor though. i don't think they're that reliable for the street.

 

I have had trouble with the thermostatic switches being reliable.

They do make noticeable power though.

Just makes you paranoid when your thermostatic switch craps out all the time.
I don't know what I have been doing wrong. I just can't keep a switch alive.

 

AGREE!

 

i have electric fan on mine.
got it at the junk yard for 10.00 and 2.00 for insurance
i just wired it direct to the key seems to be working ok.

 

I've heard BMW electric fans are among the most reliable, well thats what some old dude at school told me to put in my Comet.

 

When set up properly and sized correctly an electric fan is very good.Removal of the fan from the front of your engine is said to give you an extra 3to7 horse due to the lack of parasitic drag as well as the mass of the fan being spun by the crank and belt.(how true it is I cant say)I have an electric on my Mav with a 3 row rad and a 190 t-stat and the car stays cool just fine.I have mine hooked to a thermostatic switch with a beardon tube that sits inside the top radiator hose.The switch is adjustable from 140 to 250 degrees.The whole set up cost me 150.00 bucks(all new stuff)aftermarket cheapie purchased at local auto zone.Just remember that the CFM ratings of the fans are at max voltage/amperage with no load on them and no radiator.Once you add a radiator and a tight engine compartment(such as ours) the CFM out put drops off.EG: A 2000 cfm fan at 12 volts drawing 10 amps in front of a radiator only pulls about 1500 to 1700 cfm depending on core density of your radiator.So size wisely and ensure it will get at least 12 volts and you will be golden.I need to up mine to about 2300 cfm before I am happy.(its only pulling about 1200 cfm)works fine but could be better.Pullers(behind the radiator) are better than pushers(in front of)Since pushers are actually blocking airflow through the rad due to location of the assembly.(mine sits inside my shroud).Hope this info helps.

 

Just looked at the doug herbert slinger I got in the mail today.Pro Tech Engineering.16"dia 2325 cfm fan(its a cheapie) like mine 49.99,PN#S-SS1016.Not a bad price for a 2300 cfm fan.

 

An electric fan is the ONLY thing I would use on a daily driver. I found there to be a very noticeable increase in "seat of the pants" power. Better gas mileage also. There is no way I would go back to a mechanical fan...

My fan is just a universal one from Auto Zone. Been working fine on a daily basis since April. My dad's '95 Mustang has 239,000 miles and it's original electric fan is still working fine. If you are junkyard hunting, I'd recommend staying away from Nissan fans, they are known to be unreliable. I replaced both on my brother's Sentra with a couple of universal fans.

 

I had my GM fan wired to a switch on the dash, and I was the thermostat. I ran just fine for several years before I sold the car. Kept everything nice and cool in traffic too. It was off of an '87 firebird.

Electric fans are much more reliable than some of these flex fans that people will put on their cars. The clutches on some of the old mechanical fans have been known to be less than reliable as well. They're also very noisy. 90% of the noise you hear from a big truck is the stupid fan hanging off the front of the engine.

If you can find a late model car with dual electric fans, even better.

 

i have a 2000 jeep cherokee, which is an I-6, and mounted normal, it has an electric fan on it.

In fact. ALL new cars have electric fans. Why? because they are more efficient at cooling an engine down

not just because of a front wheel drive.