Fan Clutch

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I will concede that on the few vehicles of mine that I tried electric fans on they did seem to initially rev smoother but once the engine was off idle there was no difference.



Dan has the good setup. The Taurus fans have are known for moving serious amounts of air and they rarely fail. The best part of his setup though is the DCC controller he is using. It is hands down the best aftermarket controller that is available and if anyone is going to do one of these conversions it is a must have item. His only downfall, and he knows it also, is the coolant temp probe that sticks in the radiator fins. This has to be the worst way to trigger the fan setup there is and I believe that it allows for too large of temeprature swings. I see alot of setups just lke this where the fan controller is set to turn on at thermostat tempertaure. One has to remember that the probes are often very close to where the upper radiator hose comes into the radiator...the hottest part of the radiator. So what happens more often than not is the fans end up turning on while driving down the road which in turn causes more drag on the alternator which consumes some hp, so in this scenario you get no difference in hp or mpg but you did end of with a lighter wallet.



Another thing to consider is while using the ac. You have to wire these systems up so that the fan turns on with the ac. Now you are driving down the raod and the amount of air being forced through the front of the car is more than enough to keep the ac system and the cooling system functioning properly however your fan is still on....which once again consumes electricity which puts more load on the alternator which in turn uses some amount of hp to operate which leaves you wth a lighter wallet because you spent money on a counterproductive modification.



Don't get me wrong I do think that electric fan conversions have their place I just don't think that they belong on most of the vehicles that I see them on...the ST included
 
I agree that Dan's setup is good and that it would be better if he installed a temperature sensor where it is in direct contact with the coolant (in the hose, or into the radiator side tank. Placing the sensor in the radiator fins is probably the worst place to detect an accurate coolant temperature.



...Rich
 
Richard L,2/2/2014 10:38 MT



I agree that Dan's setup is good and that it would be better if he installed a temperature sensor where it is in direct contact with the coolant (in the hose, or into the radiator side tank. Placing the sensor in the radiator fins is probably the worst place to detect an accurate coolant temperature.



...Rich
Click to expand...



Neither of these locations are a very good spot either as once the coolant enters the radiator it immediately begins to cool. The temp sensor needs to be before the thermostat for any kind of accurate temp reading. After all we are monitoring engine temp and not radiator temp.
 
I know a member here that converted his ST from a mechanical fan to an electric one. When the electric one failed, it overheated. It even overheated on the open road.



Mechanical is just more reliable than electrical.



In the end, some of use choose performance over reliability. Personally, I prefer to get there every time than get there some of the time at a fast pace.





Tom
 
l1tech,

l1tech.



The temp sensor needs to be before the thermostat for any kind of accurate temp reading. After all we are monitoring engine temp and not radiator temp.
Click to expand...



I disagree.



The fan is designed to trigger (on or off) based on the temperature of the coolant in the radiator. The fan doesn't do any good until the hot coolant gets to the radiator. Most electric fans are set to start running when the radiator temperature is around 180 degrees and shut off when the temperature drops to about 170 degrees most engine thermostats don't open to let the coolant into the radiator until the temperature is 190+ degrees and they try to maintain that operating temperature for best efficiency. That would mean that the electric fan would always be on....why bother with a temperature sensor switch then....just turn on the fan when the engine is running?



If the engine thermostat sticks the engine can overheat, but the water in the radiator might not be hot enough to make a good cup of coffee. I had that exact problem with my 1965 GTO while driving from Louisiana to New Jersey many years ago. I had to wait for the engine to cool down and just took the thermostat out and everything was fine for the rest of the trip.



The best placement for the thermal fan sensor is near the middle of the radiator side tank in in direct contact with the coolant but not all vehicles have a convenient threaded port in the radiator for a thermal fan switch, so the second best place is in the radiator hose.



...Rich
 
Couple of comments...



The instructions with the DCC controller temp sensor have different instructions for different types of radiators as to where to place it. For our trucks, they specify as close to the outlet as possible, so that it measures the temp after the coolant has circulated through the radiator. I use a ScanGauge 2 in my truck and always have it set to monitor water temp, which runs very steady at about 190*. If it's really cold out it may run around 186* and in the heat of summer it may go up to 194*, but most of the time it's rock solid around 190*.



As for the A/C coming on when not needed, I use a switch rather than the compressor signal so that I have manual control. I don't like it cycling on and off with the compressor anyway, as start up is the biggest current draw for the fan, not to mention the moment of most wear on electric motors. I can let it run (at 50% speed) when I'm tooling around town in the summer and using the A/C then just switch it off if I'm on the freeway for an extended period of time. The temp sensor will still kick the fan on if I forget, so no worry about overheating.



As for our trucks overheating while moving, that would be very rare... I've run my truck a number of times with no fan at all and monitored the engine temp very closely. As long as I was moving and kept a decent distance from the cars in front of me the temps stayed normal. If I got too close and got into the turbulent air behind them then it would start to heat up.
 
Dan,

Remember that your ScanGauge is measuring the Engine coolant temperature at the engine. It appears that you have a 190 degree thermostat which is working just as it should....keeping the engine at the 190 degree operating temperature.



The DCC fan sensor placement should be as close to the radiator as possible and the best place is in the middle or lower half of the radiator tank and in contact with the coolant. I'm sure that DCC says the lower radiator outlet hose as this also is the most convenient place to install the sensor...that's because they don't make custom sensor for every vehicle/engine combination, so they just pick the most convenient place, which is the lower outlet radiator hose...which I agree is probably the best location if the sensor cannot be installed in the radiator tank.



You have confirmed my point that I was trying to make; that the fan sensor needs to measure the temperature of the coolant that is in the radiator, not the coolant temperature at the engine block...which is controlled by the engine coolant thermostat.



Once you are driving down the road, the air flow through the radiator will usually sufficient to lower the temperature of the coolant in the radiator to below 180 degrees without the need of the fan. If the fan sensor was detecting the temperature of the coolant in the engine block the fan would always be running as soon as the engine got up to temperature. That would waste energy running the fan when it was not needed, so why even bother with a thermal fan switch??



The electric fan runs at full speed and maximum efficiency when the vehicle is stopped in traffic on a hot day, which is when the engine driven fan is running at it's slowest speed and worst efficiency. In really hot weather conditions, your vehicle can still overheat even if the engine driven fan is working perfectly....that's where the electric fan will keep your engine from overheating. That;s why it is common for people who live in hot weather areas with heavy traffic will add an electric fan as a back up the engine driven fan. Both systems are reliable and the weakest link for both is the thermostatic controls.



I'm sure the American vehicle manufacturers have their reasons for sticking with the engine driven fan where ever they can, but I would suggest that it may be a lower cost for the engine driven fan?



...Rich
 
Gavin,

I'm sure the stock fan works fine for you, and most others as well. However if you lived in the Heat Belt, and have to deal with heavy traffic you might find that the cooling efficiency of an electric fan works much better....And if you take a long trip at highway speeds, you might even see a small but noticable increase in gas mileage.



A few years ago Waco, Tx as well as other areas of Texas had over 93 consecutive days of over 100 degree temperatures. Waco does not have a major traffic problem, however if you were stuck in traffic in Dallas, Austin, or even on I-35 because of an accident, you would probably appreciate the cooling efficiency of an electric fan under those conditions.



...Rich
 

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