question about fan

[1958]

We are thinking of running just a electric fan and not running the stock fan anyone out there doing this pros and cons on this thanks guys for any info.

Chris,

[OrrieG]

Lots of guys doing it especially with the S10 frame swaps in AD trucks. Do a search using the box above and look for cooling fan problems to get an idea of what can go wrong. Also check out build threads that use them.

[mr48chev]

If I had room for a mechanical fan that was centered on the radiator that is what I would run and I probably would run a factory clutch fan with some serious blades on it.

There are good reasons for running an electric fan though.
Including but not limited to:

No room to properly locate a mechanical fan on the radiator.

The mechanical fan that will fit in the allotted space will not pull enough air at low speeds or idling at a stop light to keep the engine cool. That is the case on my 48 as it stands.

Even the "serious" mechanical fan that is centered and is big enough for the application can for some reason pull enough air through the radiator at an idle to keep the temp within limits. I saw that happen once I know of and they ended up putting two oem style electric fans on the radiator that moved some serious air and did the trick. The owner of that rig was big on cruising the fairgrounds at big rod runs and doing the cruise night things where you drove up and down the main drag for several hours never getting over maybe 10 mph.

[Atommik]

I run an electric fan only for the reasons noted above, AD s10 swap, clearance issues with a V8. I have a used fan assembly from a Mercedes Benz, modified slightly to fit my radiator. It has plenty of cooling power. I never have any problems with it. The only drawback for me is the noise. Any electric fan will be louder than the original motor driven blades. It's not really bad, but noticeable. I'm going to try to put a resistor in the fan wiring to slow down the fan speed a little to cut back on the sound. But most electric fans do a nice job of keeping it cool.

[octanejunkie]

I run an electric fan off a thermostatic relay with a probe mounted in the intake manifold. Works great. I made the decision for two reasons:
1. Space for a mechanical fan w clutch was limited
2. Free up any horsepower that a mechanical fan would consume (also running an electric fuel pump for the same reason.

I had also toyed around with an electric water pump but went mechanical for clearance reasons.

I have a single 16" fan with a shroud that I got at a swap meet. Coupled with an aluminum radiator, the combo is so efficient that it only comes on when idling or driving in traffic; never on the freeway.

[Softpatch]

running a two speed fan sourced out of 03 5.0 ford.
The Thermostate set to lower speed have a switch set to second speed for when I get impatient

[mud.man.rj]

I run an elect dual fan setup or pretty much every build, saves about 18hp from a clutch fan setup, every bit counts and always eemes to cool fine in every appl, I run them as a puller on the inside of ran, more efficient than as a pusher, not a lot though if space is a problem. A bit louder as mentioned and good to use a relay in line to drop the amp load in the circuit.