which electric fan?

[cre]

I already answered that.... ONLY THE AUX FANS.... sheesh.

Personally, I don't recommend electric fans. Flex fans place as much resistance on the engine as the additional load on the alternator does and are less likely to fail; Not to mention that it seems MKIII owners have a lot of trouble getting electric fans installed properly, for whatever reason.

One final note, if you do go with electric fans the A/C aux fans' thermostatic switch does not close until about 225?F; this is too high for a primary fan and is a likely cause of many of the failures owners have seen.... well, that and an amazing wire a fan correctly.

[mk3teen]

srry didnt understand first time, ive also heard something about a racing fan, the clutch fan but aluminum with diffrent blades or somthing like tht, wat can u tell me about tht?

[cre]

That would be a flex fan. At higher speeds the blades flatten out reducing resistance while still moving more air. You MUST use a fan clutch built for it though, the stock fan clutch will spin it fast enough to send the blades out through the hood or through a coolant hose.

IMO, you should upgrade your radiator before switching to either setup.

[ddmcse]

I've run mine for years , a good fan comes with it's own thermostat to turn it on and off and you will gain HorsepPower . put it behind a high performance aluminum radiator and you've got one Cool Supra . driving around on back roads just cruising i run @ 160 degrees a little cool but making heat in a turbo'd supra is not difficult . an accurate temp gauge is a must . you want to talk about squeezing every bit of hp out of your car this is one area to look at.

oh btw i didn't have any electrical 8-) issues i.e. draw on the alternator

[cre]

Didn't say anyone would have issues with the alternator, just that the higher the load the greater the resistance... just stating a fact.

Yeah, 160's low... takes long enough to get my oil to operating temps as it is in my car. Why not just build an adjustable thermo switch?

EDIT: Of course as long if the thermostat were opening at the right temperature it really shouldn't matter if the fan came on early, at idle it will help provide airflow the engine bay would otherwise be missing out on (there are more things to cool than just coolant after all and heat soak sucks). Have you checked what temp the thermostat is opening at?

Well, I just keep adding to this.... By the way, neither an electric fan or a mechanical should really free up much power and any that is freed shouldn't be noticeable... except perhaps on a dyno where air isn't blowing through the rad on it's own. At higher speeds enough air moves through the radiator to move the fan without the fan being driven by anything else... no power needed at all when you're moving at any decent speed.

I don't care if anyone uses an electric fan as long as they do it right and have half a clue as to why they're actually doing it. I've thought about switching as my fan only has 3/4" of clearance between it and the rad... pulling either is a PITA with the fan cowl in there and one firm hit and they're both toast.

[btwilson86]

So I've been reading about electric fan setups that people have done on these cars, and I'm actually kind of curious how often the fan comes on. It would seem to me that cre would be right about the electrical load being substantial with the fans on, but what about when they're off?

I guess what I'm really asking is, are the electric fans off long enough for you to use the power gained?

[cre]

Originally Posted by btwilson86

I guess what I'm really asking is, are the electric fans off long enough for you to use the power gained?

My opinion... no. Read my addendum above. Neither should really cause any significant power loss when the vehicle is moving at any decent speed. Okay... I guess my answer would actually be yes... they shouldn't need to come on while the vehicle is moving BUT the mechanical fan shouldn't be placing much load at that point either (if any).

[ddmcse]

speculation versus experience

[cre]

Whatever... the bottom line is that if anyone wants to convert they need to do it right. My opinion is just that, my opinion. My hypothesis are based on my experience with all of the various components involved in other applications. There are newer components both electrical and mechanical which are more efficient than the stock fan if for no other reason than weight reduction and reduced rotational mass.