Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum banner

Should I buy an electric fan or not?

1K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  snafu! 
#1 ·
I know this has been talked about before but I'm having a hard time making up my mind.

I know the electric doesn't perform as well as stock under extreme conditions, but my truck never sees those conditions.

Pros, looks better, cleans up engine bay.
Cons, dosnt perform as well as stock, cost $620.

This is the fan in question

 
See less See more
1
#2 ·
I would say it's personal preference. I myself think $620 is a good chunk of money for something that doesn't perform as well as the stock unit already installed. But then again I have a little more performance oriented view then looks.
 
#4 ·
You already know it performs worse than stock, costs a lot more than it should, but it looks real pretty...... I'll bet you also have those fake stick on hood scoops. LOL. If you do decide to buy the electric setup just make sure you keep the stock parts stored away somewhere because if you ever decide to sell your truck that is the first thing a buyer is going to want switched back to original condition.
 
#7 ·
And yea, I've gots the tightest hood scoops in town. Yo!
 
#5 ·
Actually Nick has one of the sickest dually's I have seen. I love his truck. Nick I personally wouldn't do it. Especially considering your now going to be running a BPD remote oil cooler kit that will depend upon sufficient flow of air to keep your oil cool. Those flimsy blades worry me as well. Personally of you ever tried to tow anything heavy you would be limited to relatively small loads compared to what your truck was designed to haul. I know you don't use it for that now but one day you might and would have screwed the pooch by "upgrading" to electric fans.

Are these the ones from Vivian? There is another set oh there that look to be better let me do some digging but I think it was Chris (strokin6l) that had them from a 7.3 and retrofitted them for his 6.0l. Also look at how those are designed. They have two giant squares that essentially are blocking the air flow into the engine compartment except for where the two tiny fans are located. These engines run hot and the idea is to keep the cool air moving through the coolers and into the engine compartment getting rid of the hot air surrounding the engine as much as possible and I don't see how these will allow that to happen. Your truck and your money bud but for me this is one thing that I would leave stock as this is one of the few things they got right the first time they designed these engines.
 
#6 ·
The set I posted is from jegs. Flexolite with an aluminum shroud, the ones Vivian sells are plastic or Fiberglas shroud.
And yes this is te set for a 7.3 and would have to have the brackets modified.

I've put this thing in my cart thee times and changed my mind lol, I think that should be my answer lol if I have to waffle over it that much I shouldn't do it.
It sure would look nice on my new square tank all aluminum radiator tho.

And that's another thing I thought of, being I will be testing the bpd kit I don't want anymore variables involved.

I had already told myself no, I just needed a lil bump from the org lol
 
#8 ·
I would seriously pass on the electric fans. If you want a pretty engine bay go buy a fiat or a hybrid.
 
#9 ·
Don't do the fan. Keep it stock, or perhaps get a pretty fan to mount on the factory fan hub. I tried a couple years ago on a full size Bronco. Worked okay, until I towed a 2,000 trailer. (On flat ground!) You can't beat the air volume from a stock fan when needed.
 
#11 ·
I got a copy of the mishimoto off eBay for $250, I would have got the bpd radiator but I just didnt like the looks of the stamped tanks.
 
#12 ·
On paper electric fans don't flow as much but they are either on or off. Where a stock fan will only turn as fast as needed to keep the coolant in check. It is my opinion this is why they don't move as much air, the electric fan has a head start over the stock fan.

I ran a flex-a-lite fan on my long travel Tacoma that I stuffed a v8 into. It had no problem keeping the motor cool in 100*+ heat in the sand dunes. It was a pusher sitting on the front of the radiator for more room. When the fans kicked on they really sucked the heat out quick. I was very impressed.

There were a few things that I didn't like though, the amp draw was very noticeable it seemed to pull so much that the motor was losing spark and power so it got a bigger alternator. The other thing was the controller it had a glitch every once in while where I would have to turn the thermostat by hand to get the fans to kick on, this only happened a few times but it could trash a motor pretty quick if not caught. The last was the bulb for the thermostat, it was suppose be pushed in between the fins of the radiator but always came loose and didn't act right, so it got stuffed inside the upper radiator hose.

All in all I was very happy with the electric fan, but don't think it will be a mod for my truck unless I have to have the space.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top