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Electric Fan Conversion and HP Gains...

201K views 260 replies 108 participants last post by  Knuckelhead 
#1 ·
Has anyone converted to an electric fan and gained noticable horse power? Also, when you did the conversion, how did you then route the belt if it was an I6?
 
#121 ·
I did the efan ,I also upgraded to a 130amp alt from a Dakota at the same time, but it rubbed a hole in my rad when mounted directly to it. Next rad I made brackets to keep it off the rad and actually put the shroud back on. Found that the fan would hit the studs when driving so I pulled them and just ran bolts thru pulley and works fine now. Cooling has gotten a bit wonkey now though. When I drive @ highway speed temp goes up even with fan running but at idle or at light with fan running temp drops below to around 190 where sensor is set to. I may pull shroud back off and see how it does.
 
#4 ·
I agree that the reason is not to gain horsepower. horsepower is not what jeepers are conserned about...TORQUE is the key, and an electirc fan will not help there. BUT it will help in deep water as you can turn it off so it won't munch your radiator with the water causes the fan to pull forward and chew up your radiator.

The pulley is held on by four studs that are run into the water pump and the fan is held on to them by nuts...just back out the studs and put in shorter bolts in their place....

SO...to recap..if you do not have a snorkel don't waste your time or money on an electric fan you will have to upgrade your electrical system.
New Bigger Alternator $$$$
Electric Fan $$$$$$
 
#5 ·
Jerry's response is accurate as far as it goes. Yes it will take additional horses to turn the alternator when the electric fan is running, but you will achieve a noticeable gain when the fan is static, which should be most of the time that the Jeep is moving - street time. Slow off road and stop and go will cost you horses. Many electric fans can be pre set to turn on from between 180 and 200 coolant degrees measured at either at the upper radiator hose or via a probe in the readitor near the upper hose connection. They can also be manually cycled.
 
#6 ·
lol! you guys need to try a ford two speed and tell me you have no gain in power. also you have no rotating mass....have you guys felt how heavy a fan and clutch are. you will also have longer w/p life. my fan stays off most of the time even in the summer it only comes on for about 3-4 min wile sitting in traffic. off road it cycles but most of the time Im in low anyway and the rpm are up. You should have a mean green alt anyway if you plan on a winch w/ lights and stero....you cant tell me you dont have that stuff .......................................................OH! just to let you know my fan on high only draws 21 amps and low is a low 9 amps wich I use on the street.
 
#7 ·
Are you running the Taurus, spelling is probably all messed up, dual fans? If so, pics would be excellent and much appreciated. Do you think they would work in an '05?
 
#10 ·
jeeptj19992001 said:
the belt would stay the same, you still need your water pump...or am i missing something?
A water pump by itself does not take much energy to run, but o2tj is right the rotating mass is there, like the difference between a axle turning with and w/o a wheel and tire attached.
On the other hand Jerry is correct the amount of usable HP and/or torque is in such a small amount it is probably not worth the extra $$$ to do it, unless you are trying to gain the ability to turn off the fan.
 
#12 ·
Hunter9 said:
A water pump by itself does not take much energy to run, but o2tj is right the rotating mass is there, like the difference between a axle turning with and w/o a wheel and tire attached.
On the other hand Jerry is correct the amount of usable HP and/or torque is in such a small amount it is probably not worth the extra $$$ to do it, unless you are trying to gain the ability to turn off the fan.
A water pump does take a lot of energy to run, I work for a reputable engine tuner in the uk and on a 2.0litre 4cylinder petrol making the water pump pulley larger and slowing the pump down gained 15bhp......
 
#13 ·
I have converted mine to electric fan about 3 years ago. As far as the water pump, i just took off the fan and put the nuts back on. As far as a power increase, i could tell a difference cruising down the highway because the electric isn't pushing around air it doesn't need to. I am happy overall that i did this mod to the jeep. I'm using the flex-a-lite black magic fan. I haven't noticed any problems with the charging system and don't see any reason for a bigger alternator. Just my 2 cents.
 
#14 ·
I'm also running a Flex-a-lite Electric. I didn't notice any huge HP/torque/ whatever gains. I did notice that you can dial in the cooling, IE warmer in winter, cooler in summer if that's a biggie for you. I also noticed this thing is LOUD. Kinda weird I wired mine direct (no I haven't had any problems with it running the battery down) and it'll cycle on and off a couple of times after the jeep's been turned off. I did have my Jeep start running hot on a trailride this summer, but we were pounding on them pretty hard and there were jeeps with mechanical fans that were also running hot on the same runs. In retrospect I could have spent the money elsewhere..... my.02
 
#154 ·
I dont disagree with that statement. But i live in cool western washington not the middle east. Ill have all the cooling I need. and Where I live jeeps come from the factory with electric fans.
I know this is an old thread, but to tell you the actual difference in stuff, we had a gent relocate from your area down to my area a couple years ago.

Where he could daily drive his Jeep in the area he left, it was undriveable down here except at night when it was only 90° and only then with the heater on full blast.

A simple flush, new OEM radiator, water pump and some Mopar coolant fixed him right up to the point where he was able to drive during the day and even tow a trailer home.
 
#15 ·
drottie said:
I'm also running a Flex-a-lite Electric. I didn't notice any huge HP/torque/ whatever gains. I did notice that you can dial in the cooling, IE warmer in winter, cooler in summer if that's a biggie for you.
<SNIP>
The fan should make no difference at all since you're running up against the thermostat anyway.

Fred
 
#17 ·
OH....daddy like! That's awesome. You've pretty much sold me on the idea of the Taurus fan. For whatever reason, I thought it was dual fans. Probably I mistook 2-speed. Anyway, it looks great!
 
#20 ·
IF the stock thermostatic clutch is bad (does not spin freely when engine is hot) then a nice/noticable difference in going to 'lectric fan is maybe worth it. Versus cost of replacing the clutch.

The thermoclutch keeps the load off when not needed. The mass saved would be nice - but not quite the $/hp increase...
 
#21 ·
I ordered one for my TJ HERE on Ebay cheap,....looks almost exactly like the Taurus. I plan on rigging a second relay to attach to a switch to turn it off for water crossing. I used to have one in my XY and liked it. Although it was loud. My best advise would be to fab something OEM and stay away from cheap fans. And don't zip tie it through the radiator. Fab it up so you can bolt it in and get it out of the way easily.
 
#22 ·
o2tj said:
OH! just to let you know my fan on high only draws 21 amps and low is a low 9 amps wich I use on the street.
How did you figure this out? If you're talking about the Tarus 2 speed fan it pulls a lot more than that, I've checked myself.
 
#23 ·
Taurus Fan

I also just finished the Taurus fan install in my 05 Rubi LJ this past weekend. It is cooling great. I used the Delta Current Control fan controller. This thing is sweet. It sends a gradual amount of voltage to the fan. There are no start up spikes like other controllers use that come "instantly on" This controller gives a gradual speed increase. At idle, once it reaches the temp I have it set at to come on , the fan will barely start turning and then slowly increase speed. Take a look at the web site for more info on the controller if you are interested.... http://www.dccontrol.com/index.htm

As for a noticeable power increase.................................... Yes....there is a noticeable increase in the throtle response and "peppiness" of the engine. Not tremendous for sure, but the power increase is noticeable. I will post back if there is any difference in fuel mileage(I don't expect a miracle though) Many will say that the power increase is negated by the extra work that the alternator has to perform to supply the extra amperage.. Well, at idle, I let it sit and reach normal temperature....the fan came on and ran for approx. 30 seconds before it went back off.....amperage draw......9 amps with no spike at all...... This is not stressing the charging system at all. I will say that in a slow crawling situation in high heat, the fan will more than likely run at full speed and pull 20-30 amps. During this, the alternator will have to put out more, but.....for street driving, well it gave mine a noticeable power increase.

I am not posting here to start another debate, i'm just offering my take on the setup i'm running....
 
#24 ·
That is a really nice setup! So the 35Amp model should be fine for the Taurus fan? I like that! :thumbsup: Thanks.
 
#26 ·
Personally I could care less about HP gains. I just want to be able to shut down for water crossings in hurricane season, have a quick removal fan for when I am wrenching, less wear on the water pump, and high cfm rate at low rpm. I have had more thermostats for mechanical fans go out on me than I have had electric fan's go out. I think alot of it depends on the way you are using it.
 
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