scott degroot
Well-Known Member
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
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