Keeping it cool

[mobileortho]

Awhile back I started a post on a homemade fan shroud that I made. The shroud works fine, but I don't think the fan is strong enough. I've heard alot of talk about the use of the Mark VIII fan which produces over 4000 cfms so I bought one off Ebay. I also found a new reverse rotation flex fan real cheap ($4.00) so I got it just in case. This leads me to my question, what are you using, a mechanical fan or electric?

I also posed this question but got few replies: Is there a junkyard radiator that works well in the AD's?

[BlueBowtie]

I'm using an electric fan, it's one off of an older chrysler car(I think anyway), but I'm not sure what model it came off of, because I got it with a radiator I bought for my truck. It's only about 12 or 13 inches in diameter, but I can stand in front of my truck about a foot or so away, and I can feel it sucking air, and seems to do the job of cooling my SB.

[Arkansas50's]

On Jeep CJ's Ford Taurus fans are popular. The Taurus fans are a single fan but a fan from a Contour or Mistique will be a dual set up as long as its not a for banger. Some are variable speed too. It might be worth checking into.

[mobileortho]

Well I installed this one this weekend and believe you me, this one works great! When you compare it to the old one there is no comparison. I had to cut out about an inch to get a good fit. It's tight in the engine bay but works quite well. I drove it around town and it keep things nice and cool.

[Lrall]

Noob question here, how are electric fans wired? Power and ground but what does the power come from and how does it knwo when to turn on

[mobileortho]

Installation is not difficult and all of these parts can be found at any auto parts store. A Relay, Fuse, and the correct Amp rated wire are required for safety and a Temperature controller or regular on/off switch are optional. Ford uses a 40 amp relay for high speed and a 20 or 30 amp relay for low speed to control these fans to safely step up the electric power and provide longer motor life. Also a fuse is always required so that incase of a short circuit the wires do not overheat/catch fire and or fry the fan motor. These fans have 3 wires: one black ground, one low speed thinner wire, one high speed thicker wire. These fans are very Powerful and a 100 Amp or greator Alternator is recommended to run on high speed because these fans do pull 100 amps for milliseconds which does not hurt the relay but requires the greator alternator/battery power. 10 AWG gauge wire for high speed/Ground and 12 AWG gauge wire for low speed are sufficient for the Amps used by this fan. Temperture controllers can be bought online from places like Jegs ect.. and are basically a box that connects to the fan wires and a radiator probe that you stick in the radiator fins next to the inlet. Some are adjustable so that you can set the temperature range that you want the fan to come on at and or turn off at. These of course come with instructions also and you can add later if desired. Or you could hook up the Fan to a Auxillary wire that turns on the fan on ignition. Soldering wires is more permanent but twisting or crimping will also work. You can set it up to use low speed at a certain temperature and high speed at a higher temperature or you could just use high speed like most people do. If you are still confused just google " electric fan installation".