Electric Fan vs. Engine Fan

[83turbomon]

Electric fan pros
1) Less wear on balancer
2) constant power
3) lighter
4) cant think of anymore

Electric Fan cons
1) Will not spin at engine speed
2) will require A LOT or measuring and math to find and exact fit to radiator
3) some electronics may not be applicable to an 83
4) may or may not have to hook up to the computer in the kick panel.
5) Kinda expensive

Engine Fan pros
1) Will spin at engine speed
2) Lightweight fans avalible from flexalite... Chech summit racing
3) easy to set up

Engine Fan Cons
1) heavy and laggy
2) strain on balancer= Less speed?
3) big and not alot of room to work on engine
4) ugly
5) As I have exprienced VERY EASY to get hurt


WHO was telling me that an electric fan from a chevy Cobalt would work... does it matter if its from an SS cobalt?

 

[WarWagon]

That was me.
It does not have to be from an SS. just the regular cobalt with a 2.2L 4 cyl.
Put it on a switch OR auto stores sell a cheap electric fan controller that uses an thermostat probe and a relay to turn on the fan.

Here are two more elec fan pro's I can add to your list: Slim, space saving, they spin at HIGHER than engine speed. All elec fans do EXCEPT the ones with variable voltage.

Your v6 never see's the low side of 5k rpm's

 

[charlief1]

Electric fan pros
1) Less wear on balancer
2) constant power
3) lighter
4) cant think of anymore

Electric Fan cons
1) Will not spin at engine speed
2) will require A LOT or measuring and math to find and exact fit to radiator
3) some electronics may not be applicable to an 83
4) may or may not have to hook up to the computer in the kick panel.
5) Kinda expensive

Engine Fan pros
1) Will spin at engine speed
2) Lightweight fans avalible from flexalite... Chech summit racing
3) easy to set up

Engine Fan Cons
1) heavy and laggy
2) strain on balancer= Less speed?
3) big and not alot of room to work on engine
4) ugly
5) As I have exprienced VERY EASY to get hurt

WHO was telling me that an electric fan from a chevy Cobalt would work... does it matter if its from an SS cobalt?

I will add that if you get your hand in it there is some blood flowing.:biggrin: Been there and burned the T-shirt.

Do a search on the board and you'll find several threads about switching to an electric fan. One of them is about using the Lincoln Mark VIII twin set out of a junk yard. It has a tremendous flow and should keep it cool, even in Texas.:biggrin:

 

[GNeric]

As a starter fan for the smaller radiator, the 86-87 GN fan will fit. I did this on both my hotair cars before switching to F-body radiators. I still kept the GN fan on both cars when I sold them. My 87 GN and the wife's 442 have the dual fan setup from Ramchargers. My Vega/GN project will get the extra 87 fan that I have as it will fit that radiator perfectly also. This fan is the same as the 2.8 litre V6 Fiero so the junkyard doesn't charge as much as if you found a wrecked GN.

 

[83turbomon]

I will add that if you get your hand in it there is some blood flowing.:biggrin: Been there and burned the T-shirt.

Do a search on the board and you'll find several threads about switching to an electric fan. One of them is about using the Lincoln Mark VIII twin set out of a junk yard. It has a tremendous flow and should keep it cool, even in Texas.:biggrin:

I didnt know that the mark VIII had a dual electric fan. I will look for one. Sounds like a stupid question but what year is a mark VIII not familiar with Lincolns

 

[charlief1]

I didnt know that the mark VIII had a dual electric fan. I will look for one. Sounds like a stupid question but what year is a mark VIII not familiar with Lincolns

Do a search in the general section. It was posted slightly before you joined this year. Look for Mark VIII or 8 and see what you get.

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Kinda on the fan topic... Anybody got a link to a electric fan controller. Mines just relayed to the battery and I dont dare to ask the parts store guys without giving a make, model and year. Engine takes too long to warm up with that fan howling up front.

 

[83turbomon]

Do a search in the general section. It was posted slightly before you joined this year. Look for Mark VIII or 8 and see what you get.

would this work Summit Racing SUM-G4852 - Summit Racing® High-Output Electric Fans - Overview - SummitRacing.com

 

[charlief1]

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/how-tos/292741-partial-how-jegs-dual-cooling-fans-work.html

 

[Pat83t]

I used a fan and shroud from a 1989 Taurus with the 3.8L. It is a 2 speed fan but I just wired it up to the high side wiring. I had it mounted on the stock radiator, but ended up getting a new F-body radiator and it still kept it nice and cool. The radiator I looked up for a 1987 Camaro. It is a single row aluminum radiator. Never had another overheating issue in the hot summer time. Ran a backup switch direct wired incase any issues with fuses/wiring/relay.

 

[charlief1]

Once again, thank you Pat.:biggrin:

There's also a thread about using the latest lincoln mark VIII dual fans. A great idea as well.:biggrin:

 

[dr_frankenstein]

I tried my ass off to get my truck to stay cool with an electric fan.... couldnt do it on that puny 19X17 radiator..... its noo fun.

best bet was the heavy duty fan off of a 55 chevy 235 inline 6.

it didnt hurt HP that much in the end....

killed spool slightly....

but worked.

A.j.

 

[Pat83t]

I tried my ass off to get my truck to stay cool with an electric fan.... couldnt do it on that puny 19X17 radiator..... its noo fun.

best bet was the heavy duty fan off of a 55 chevy 235 inline 6.

it didnt hurt HP that much in the end....

killed spool slightly....

but worked.

A.j.

The same fan I used, a friend used on a 69 Camaro with a blown big block and had no overheating issues as well. The shroud can be trimmed down as well. The important thing is to have a shroud. Before I put the taurus fan on, I had a high output Flex-a-lite electric fan on there. As long as I was moving down the road, it did fine. If I really blasted down the road or got caught in traffic, it went right up over 200 without a problem, sometimes as high as 220 or higher.

 

[FlintBuick4Life]

I took my engine fan out last week and just used my electric fan. I like it much better, but makes my engine look tiny:biggrin:... maybe I should switch to a big, loud, slow, gas guzzling V8:biggrin:... one problem, theirs a lot of space between the fan and radiator now and it gets hot much quicker... I was thinking that I really should have two fans and that should help solve it... right?

 

[Pat83t]

I took my engine fan out last week and just used my electric fan. I like it much better, but makes my engine look tiny:biggrin:... maybe I should switch to a big, loud, slow, gas guzzling V8:biggrin:... one problem, theirs a lot of space between the fan and radiator now and it gets hot much quicker... I was thinking that I really should have two fans and that should help solve it... right?

2.... or 1 properly shrouded hight output fan. The taurus fan puts out something like 3000 cfm of air when wired to the high side wiring that usually comes on in the taurus when you turn on the A/C.

 

[FlintBuick4Life]

2.... or 1 properly shrouded hight output fan. The taurus fan puts out something like 3000 cfm of air when wired to the high side wiring that usually comes on in the when you turn on the A/C.

ahh ok... Idk what kind I have. I got a cheap one at AZ a few years back for $40, the same ones they still sell now lol Ill have to look into that taurus one... thanks:biggrin:

 

[Pat83t]

Also appears that the Ford Mustang guys are on to my little secret. FORDMUSCLE webmagazine: Junkyard Electric Fan

They say that it is 2000 cfm but I am sure I found it somewhere else that said it was closer to 3000.

And the Jeep guys:
Ford Taurus Two Speed E-Fan Install (pics)

 

[FlintBuick4Life]

Also appears that the Ford Mustang guys are on to my little secret. FORDMUSCLE webmagazine: Junkyard Electric Fan

They say that it is 2000 cfm but I am sure I found it somewhere else that said it was closer to 3000.

And the Jeep guys:
Ford Taurus Two Speed E-Fan Install (pics)

lol I just looked around... looks like lots of people are doing this:biggrin:

 

[Pat83t]

Yeah, but I did it 5 1/2 years ago. :biggrin:

How I spent my vacation. By Pat83t. - Page 1 - TurboBuicks.com

 

[FlintBuick4Life]

Yeah, but I did it 5 1/2 years ago. :biggrin:

How I spent my vacation. By Pat83t. - Page 1 - TurboBuicks.com

Nice... someones been spying on you:biggrin: