electric fan in FJ 60 ?? (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Oct 1, 2005
Threads
38
Messages
97
Hey there ..

has anyone tried replacing the "direct" fan on an FJ60 with an electric type fan that only kicks in when the engine heats to a certain degree ? which i think would make sense in terms of quieter operation and maybe reduced gas consumption.....
can someone explain pros/cons
 
I haven't done it myself, but I have only heard benefits of doing it, less drag on the engine, which gives more power, although probably not much. Also, those fans are great for wheelin' as you always have low speeds and RPM's and the stock fan might not cool enough.
 
The favorite thing among many 4x4 owners is the two speed Ford Taurus electric fan. I haven't heard anything on how much improvement you get on a Cruiser, but I know on every other vehicle I've read about or talked to the owner who's swapped a clutch fan for an electric, the performance improvement has been quite a bit. Look at how big our fans are and you can see how much extra power it's gonna take to turn it at high speeds when it's really needed. then compare that to the amount of drag your alternator will put on the engine to power an electric fan. Bit of a difference there.
I wish I could figure out how to do the math and get real numbers on how much HP it takes to turn the alternator when powering the electric fan Vs. turning a clutch fan at the same RPM that the electric fan operates at...

Anyway, if you're willing to do the work involved, converting to an electric fan is a great idea for your truck. Once I'm done with the dual battery setup (decided to get that done first since I'm gonna need the extra cranking juice in the winter), I'll install an electric fan in my 62.
 
An FJ60 has a clutch fan. It uses virtually no power unless the airflow is needed. When it does lock up and pull air it pulls far more than any electric will. once the temp is brought down it freewheels again.

It takes x amount of power to move x amount of air. Whether you pull it of the engine directly or convert it to electricity and move it to the fan that way.
Other than the few minutes that it takes for the fan to free up when you first start the rig you will not see any reduction in noise ot gain in power.
No electric fan on the market can move as much air as you stock clutch fan does. And the only ones that come anywhere close are not easy to fit in a '60 with a 2F. If you can fit them at all.

I've got electric fans on a couple of rigs. As mentioned above the Taurus (and the Mrk VIII) fans are probbly the most powerful units you will find out there. But they are big, pull a lot of power (100 amps on startup and in the neighborhood of a continous 30 amps on high speed).


Mark...
 
I have a Black Magic electric fan in mine. The PO installed it. It kicks in at a certain temp. Being a 60 newb, I can't really tell any HP benefits per say. It's loud.
 
Was just discussing the same topic on a different forum this morning, I replaced mine with an after market one and love it, you are right about the milage thing, 3-4 hp to run a fan does make a slight difference on power and milage and if you opt. for an adjustable thermostate (which by the way is very simple to install, and doesnt even involve tapping anything into the cooling system directly), you can play with the setting till it gets to a point that suits you best. Also by wiring it directly to the battery, it will run after the engine is shut off, preventing boil over after you've shut the engine down on a real hot day.
As for Mark W's comment about using a fan out of a Ford Taurus....sounds like a damn good idea, definately save a few bucks there if you pick one up at a salvage, then all you need is an adjustable thermostate which cost me $30 bucks. I also checked the load mine was drawing off the battery and although it wasnt as high as Mark W's is was still a fair bit, but remember, adjusted properly, it shouldnt really run a whole bunch if your driving only when stopped at a light after driving a ways will it kick in, and then contunue to run after you shut the rig off and walk away.....which isnt so hard on fuel....on a REALLY hot day it will run for about 5-10min. after the engne is shut off. WHich is perfect....no boil over, no warped head, no chance of blowing out a head gasket...think I've made my point.
 
I have a Volvo fan in my fj62, which replaced a Black Magic - that doesn't cover enough rad. area. The Volvo fan moves more air than the Black Magic and fits the rad. great, very little trimming to fit. Got mine off Ebay for $18. Used an adjustable thermostat switch. Works great and frees up noticable hp.
 
Other the being less efficient and less powerful than the stock fan, an electric fan sounds like a great idea :)

I'm with Mark W on this one. When the clutch is in good shape, the stock arrangement works well. My 2F had the head shaved 0.050 when rebuilt. It comes up to temp pretty quickly after startup so I think its probably making more heat than most stock 2Fs with 150k on them. My temp gauge parks right in the middle. It never goes higher or lower. 100F days or 0F days, wheeling at 2mph or 75mph on the highway, the temp stays rock solid right in the middle. If you're planning to do many deep water crossings per day, mabe an electric makes sense but I'll stick with the belt driven arrangement.
 
pasnkhunter said:
I have a Volvo fan in my fj62, which replaced a Black Magic - that doesn't cover enough rad. area. The Volvo fan moves more air than the Black Magic and fits the rad. great, very little trimming to fit. Got mine off Ebay for $18. Used an adjustable thermostat switch. Works great and frees up noticable hp.

What adjustable temp switch are you using? I'm just about to drop a Lincoln VIII into my FJ-62 and I'm looking at switching options. I've already got a 75 amp bosch relay :) and a voltage sensing switch to trigger it but I'd like something simpler than the voltage sensing switch.
 
I have had Taurus fans on a couple of rx7s. Awseome. Get the fan from the 6cyl Taurus for $20 at the pull a part and the JCWhitney or Summit do the switch kits. Really easy.

Dave
 
I bought my adjustable switch at Canadian tire...ya ya..I know thats not much help as most of you guys live in the states but you should be able to find something very similar.
Also the one I purchased is capable of running twin fans and having them kick in at different temp ratings aswell. (although I only have a single electric fan at the moment)
as far as the temp sensor on it, simple. It basically looks like a thermo-couple off your furnace that slips inbetween the fins in the upper left side of you rad, right below the upper rad hose inlet, and is held inplace with a special zip tie. Absolutly no sending units to deal with.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom