My biggest fan...

[ZEUS]

I am thinking about replacing my belt driven fan with an electric to free up that extra bit of horsepower. Has anyone done this yet? Or can anyone give some tips or warnings about it? Is the gain so minimal it is not worth it?

[tom4bren]

I can't see it making an appreciable difference but they do it on race cars so there must be some benefit.

Why don't you remove the starter too like they do in Drag racers (LOL).

[ZEUS]

Well, I know there are benefits besides more power. Quicker warm up and more power and better gas mileage! That is enough for me! I know they did this on the 5.9 Limited to free up some ponies. But to my understanding, removing the mech fan and replacing it with an elec. improves the throttle response because there is no accelerating fan fighting the air. I think it is worth trying it personally. And what about underdriven pulleys? Any possibility of fitting some of those to the 3.5?

[orion]

what timing! I just finished installing a fan/shroud assemble from a 90's dodge caravan. it fits very well, only a half inch shorter than the stock shroud. I made some tabs and used the stock mounting points. got the wiring kit from painless, very easy to install. electric fans are all benefit, the load on the alt. is not even close to the drag from the stock fan. my throttle response is much better, and tho i haven't driven that much to check mileage, I'm sure it will be some what better. see my gallery for pictures.

[ZEUS]

orion, that's awesome! Looks like a factory job! Thanks for the pics, I agree with you, electric is all benefits! So that must have run you around $100 maybe?

[orion]

$13 for the fan from junk yard, $60 for the painless kit. installing it myself, priceless. sorry, had to say it

[ZEUS]

Circ, since it runs all the time, did you notice any power or mpg loss from that addition?

[RallyDude]

Not that it will help with a bad fan clutch, but I thought I mention an old-school mod. Not as good as an electric, but definitely quicker to install. Several manufacturers like Moroso made light-weight aluminum fans that I think would give you nearly as good results.

[eternal21]

Orion, did you get part of the van's wiring harness to plug into the fan, or did you make your own?

[eternal21]

Orion, did you get part of the van's wiring harness to plug into the fan, or did you make your own?

bump

[orion]

I used a painless universal fan wiring kit and spliced it in with the stock fan plug. i have pics of it in my gallery.

[eternal21]

I used a painless universal fan wiring kit and spliced it in with the stock fan plug. i have pics of it in my gallery.

Yeah, I saw that, but I guess I'm not stating my question correctly. I'm interested in the fan-side connection, as in, looking at the fan, there is a plug that has 4 or 5 male leads in it. How did you determine which of those leads went where? Did you get a pigtail w/the fan?

[orion]

I got the fan from a u-pull junk yard and left about 6 inches of wire on the plug. just touched the wires to the battery to find out whats what.

[eternal21]

bump

[nfpgasmask]

I'm going with an electric fan soon in the Trooper. I was talking to a friend who builds race trucks and he said just make sure you shroud it good so the airflows over the radiator correctly. I'm not sure what brand I am going with, but I am going to have it hooked up to the ignition with a switch to shut it off if I need to for whatever reason.

Bart