Radiator Fans Wars: Electric vs. Mechanical or Both!

[Elbert]

Would the rotation be correct?

I'm not sure.... like I mentioned...there are some differences between v-belt setups and single belt setups. I don't think the fans will interchange between the two fan clutchs because I beileve there is some subtle design difference between the 4 bolt hole versions.

 

[ntsqd]

It's $44 delivered to me from Rock Auto to find out. I first need to look at with my engine placement if the 19.5" OD will fit and clear the hood.

Generally U.S. V-Belt drives rotate the water pump the same direction as the crank while U..S. Serpentine drives rotate it in the opposite direction. I'll guess that the fan in question is from a reverse rotation water pump application based on the vintage of the application and the appearance of the blades.

 

[Elbert]

What is the part number printed on the fan clutch you are holding? Pretty sure I work for the company that makes these.

Thats an old picture...fan clutch is on the truck now. can't see any numbers with the thing installed, I checked this afternoon.

 

[91Chevota]

I am using two 12" electric fans that I purchased on eBay for about $50 as a set. They're a universal type fan and aren't the most expensive, but before I invested too much money in the concept, I wanted to see how well it would work.

I was pleasantly surprised. They work well and aren't as noisy as some of the high-dollar fans. I used a 2-stage BMW thermostat switch to turn on one fan at 180, then the other at 205. They keep my engine temperatures under control and I have a GM turbo diesel under the hood, which can generate quite a bit of heat during the summer months.

Then inside the cab I have two dash mounted switches from an older model 4Runner. One is the Hi/Lo switch for the rear heater, which is used to force either one on, and the other, which I believe was the window cut-off switch, is used to manually shut them off during high water crossings.

 

[haryv]

simple...both!

There is nothing like having a backup if the primary system fails. Go electric, it will lower your fuel consumption. Should the electric fail, put on the belt.

 

[SNLC]

I have a 350 v8 in my truck. It runs hot off-roading at slow speeds or out on the road climbing a grade and will sometimes get hot in traffic or idling.

My shroud sucks badly.

I bought a Tauras fan which btw fits almost perfect on the stock radiator and it is a 2-speed.

After a bunch of reading here on Mud I decided to stick witht he mechanical fan but come up with a better shroud.

So I sold the Tauras fan to a buddy who put it in his 5.3 Cruiser. He has only had it in a few months and it has been fairly cold outside since he put it in. Yet, he has no problems with cooling. My buddy needs to run the electric fan because he doesn't have enough room in front of his motor for mechanical. He had a black magic in before. He says the Taruas fan moves a lot more air then the black magic and for him it is working better then the BM.

I decided to stick with mechanical for a number of reasons. Really it came down to me figuring it will do it's job under all conditions with a good shroud. I have 3 Chevy trucks that will not get hot under any circumstances and they have the mechanical fans. I read a bunch about how an electric will be great fro everything except at speeds out on the road, ie climbing a grade in heat on the hwy. I spoke to a guy at Ron Davis at length about all this, he agrees mechanical should work fine 24/7 if it has a good shroud.

I have not got around to making a new shroud yet. My truck is not running hot at all now that it is winter so it kind of took a back burner. However, if it still gets hot with a good shroud, I am 99% sure the Taruas fan will fix the problem.

my 2 cents

 

[Elbert]

I have a 350 v8 in my truck. It runs hot off-roading at slow speeds or out on the road climbing a grade and will sometimes get hot in traffic or idling.

My shroud sucks badly.

I bought a Tauras fan which btw fits almost perfect on the stock radiator and it is a 2-speed.

After a bunch of reading here on Mud I decided to stick witht he mechanical fan but come up with a better shroud.

So I sold the Tauras fan to a buddy who put it in his 5.3 Cruiser. He has only had it in a few months and it has been fairly cold outside since he put it in. Yet, he has no problems with cooling. My buddy needs to run the electric fan because he doesn't have enough room in front of his motor for mechanical. He had a black magic in before. He says the Taruas fan moves a lot more air then the black magic and for him it is working better then the BM.

I decided to stick with mechanical for a number of reasons. Really it came down to me figuring it will do it's job under all conditions with a good shroud. I have 3 Chevy trucks that will not get hot under any circumstances and they have the mechanical fans. I read a bunch about how an electric will be great fro everything except at speeds out on the road, ie climbing a grade in heat on the hwy. I spoke to a guy at Ron Davis at length about all this, he agrees mechanical should work fine 24/7 if it has a good shroud.

I have not got around to making a new shroud yet. My truck is not running hot at all now that it is winter so it kind of took a back burner. However, if it still gets hot with a good shroud, I am 99% sure the Taruas fan will fix the problem.

my 2 cents

I agree with a lot of what you are relating. The biggest issue in my mind for the LC is the limited space for the radiator....you only have so many square inches avaliable for the radiator core. If you could put in something like a 34 inch wide core like the GM truck have .,....it would be a game changer.

I've screwed around with some of the electric fans....., but then went back to the stock GM radiator fan and fan clutch that match my 1999 5.7 (SUV/Plickup run the same components).

The magic is having a good 4 core radiator and good fan and fan clutch and then as you state... the fan shroud is one of the key elements.

If you will look at a GM truck or for that mater any of the other modern verhicles with a mechanic fan and fan clutch setup..you'll notice the shroud at the radiator side allows for air to flow across the entire core...from there it reduces down and kind of funnels the air towards the circular opening where the fan sits. THis allows the fan to pull air across a ducted area (the radiator core) only, and so it makes the fan more efficient in moving air across and through the radiator core which means better cooling.

When you hear the roar of the fan clutch that a good sign that tells you the fan is working... A fan clutch setup is the best route for cooling if you have all the components and the space.

For electric fans I like the large SPAL 16 fans, the Mark VIII fans and the dual fan setup from the ford contour. With any electric fans that really work you'll notice that they are loud and they draw some serious amp loads.

Add a/c to the mix and you will really have a challenge plus add an electric winch etc...

With mechanical fan clutch setup you just crank up and go...


I don't think some of these electric fan setups will pass the stress test with high ambient temps, with the a/c going, in 4 wd and going up some of these llong hill climbs, then what happens if you need to use the winch, and have your lights on etc..

I belive the 5.7 tundra has a mechanical fan clutch setup, the 3/4 and 1 ton GM trucks have mechanical fan setups... of course we know the LC 60 came with a mechanical fan setup (crude shroud but it works).

If you end up running a 5.7 vortec or one of the new 5.3 or 6.0 GM gas engines...the fan clutch thread down on the water pump pulley a good ways, so it allows you to use the GM fan setup in some pretty tight space, that at first look as if they will not work. I do know from personal experiecne that a Jeep CJ5 V-8 fan shroud is almost a bolt in... if you have only a single battery I think it would be easy to modify the redporduction Cj5 fan shroud to workd...depending on how far your engine is set to the right or left of the cernterline of the radiator.