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Eldon Webb

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Jul 3, 2005
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:unsure:I have another major mod I am thinking about,a Flex-a-lite electric cooling fan. The Flex-a-lite company recommends the model 180 extreme. Has anyone installed one of these? Any tricks, advise, resevervations? When I installed the underdrive pully, it looked like I had a lot of room for mounting, etc. Any help would be appreciated.
 
I have the Flex alite Black Magic, definatly an improvement in power, fairly straight forward install. The only complaint I have is it is loud, but not a deal breaker
 
My recommendation for any electric fan installations is to always install a thermostatic fan control switch and a bypass switch so you can turn on the fan if the thermostatic switch fails.



I have installed and used many electric fans in both street driven and racing applications and have yet to have an electric fan fail, but I have encountered numerous failures of the thermostatic switches. If you have a dash mounted bypass switch, you can always turn on the switch if the thermostatic switch fails and never be left stranded on the road because your enigne is over heating and your electric fan will not turn on.



...Rich
 
I was going to put a Flexalite in mine, but I got talked out of it. A buddy of mine has got an F150 that he uses for work/towing/play, and he removed is stock fan and put a cheap @$$ Hayden fan on his truck. Claims to not have had any issues at all, and it is rather quiet. And he abuses his truck like no one else



So I thought, what the hell, went down to my local chain autoparts store, dropped $70 on a Hayden 17 inch fan, and another $30 on a thermostatic/AC controller.



This is my $100 experiment. If it works, I saved about $100. If not, I am going to again drop the cash but this time for the Flexalite. I will let you know when my 105 degree summer days roll around.



As far as Hayden vs. Flexalite performance, I have a flexalite on my 68 Mustang, and it is very loud. The Hayden on my ST is also audible, but not near as noticeable. The Flexalite does have a much higher CFM. The Hayden has got the curved blades to reduce noise. There is a Fexalite model for about $280 that has curved blades and a lower noise profile.....



So far, I think it has kicked on maybe twice while sitting in traffic...and ran for less than 1 minute each time. But I haven't had a day over 70F yet either.



When summer sets in, I will know a great deal more about the setup....



AS far as general performance goes, not sure...I did my UDP on the same day. There was a most certainly a noticeable difference, and I am building a new MPG log that has before and after UDP and fan install MPG numbers...I haven't totaled anything out yet, but so far, I am impressed.......



cheers,

Andy
 
Andy,

I have always used "No-Name" brand electric fans and they never gave me any problem. The only problems were with the thermostatic controls and that's why I recommend installing a bypass switch so you can control your fan if the thermostatic switch fails.



Unless you are doing Dyno runs and have a baseline with the electric fan and one without, you probably will not notice much difference. Accurate 1/4 mile times would show an improvement and over time, your gas mileage will show an improvement if you do a lot of city driving in heavy traffic especially in the summer.



...Rich
 
Good to know Rich, thanks.



I was considering a bypass switch for the "just in case", but I can't make up my mind on where to put it...........





~Andy
 
The flex-a-lite 180 with the S-shaped blades is suposed to be much quiter. I am looking at the new X-Treme Cool model flex-a-lite in Summit Racing right now and it says it has 16 " S-blades, is a more universal fit, comes with adjustable thermostat,A/c relay and a manual switch connection. for $269.95. I may just give it a try. I have had extremely good service and products from them in general....
 
Eldon,

I think the problem with the Flex-a-lite electric fan is that it reportedly produces 3300 CFM of air. That is way more air than is needed to cool the Sport Trac and most other street vehicles. That is why it may be so loud, because it's designed for racing applications. That's pretty much what Summit sells is racing equipment.



A 16"-18" fan rated at 1600-1800 CFM is more than enough to cool the Sport Trac even in the hotest climates



...Rich
 

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