Hey peeps, my car came with a clutch fan, the fan itself is a total destroyed mess and i can see it tear apart soon inside the hood. I was told to go electric on my new replacement because this will save the engine a few horses, is this right or should i still be looking for a clutch fan. Oh and no, i have not overheating issues, temp hardly goes above half on hot days

 

in my opinion, you should put in a dual fan setup. It will save you some horses, and i'm sure it is cheaper. It wouldnt be hard to install, eigther.

 

Replacing the clutch fan is the quickest, cheapest and easiest solution. Converting to an electric fan is more complicated, but there's a slight gain to be realized. Both can cool about equally well when set up properly.

 

what about a spacer and a flex fan? Thats what I did, simple, cheap, and it's always running, keeps the motor nice and cool.

 

ok, ignoring the fact that it's harder to install, a dual electric fan seems to be the way to go, am i right? Will improve a little hp, and would probably do a better job

 

A flex fan wastes more HP than a properly working clutch fan.

 

There'll be a small HP improvement, but it's hard to say it's doing a better job if you don't have cooling problems with a clutch fan.

 

The (non A/C) mechanical clutch fan doesn't even waste half a horsepower imho.. The only benefit of going electric would be saving a little beating on the water pump bearings, if you run high RPM's frequently.
If you have an A/C rated clutch fan then this applies a constant drag to ensure cooling the A/C radiator under all circumstances. A dual electric setup could run just one of the fans when you turn on the A/C.

 

Keep in mind: if you have a/c and you dont do a good job wiring your electric fans and they die, you could blow your compressor or any other a/c component. I'm not saying dont do it, im just saying do it right.

Now that i said do it right... you can get dual fans that will fit from junk yard from early ninties maximas and altimas. I have run these on cars with no a/c. They never failed me and id prolly trust a set with my a/c. You never know tho.

 

That sounds like something a hick would do.

 

Guess that makes me a hick then. One look at my car and you'd agree.

 

Im not impressed. Not trying to start a war here, but who wants to have all that drag from a flex fan? Not to mention the awful noise it makes. You bring up your car. Not to sound like a jerk or anything, but it takes a lot more than that to "wow" me

 

Nobody's trying to impress you. He's agreeing with you. His car looks like a hickmobile. It's called working on a budget.

 

?
I'm not trying to "wow" anyone. My car is pure white trash in all of it's glory. Nobody but nobody is impressed with it. Just me. It's a Trans-am, 99% of the population in north america KNOWS that these are white trash-mobiles, who are you trying to fool? I just accept it, crank up the AC/DC and enjoy going fast (when it runs )

The flex fan and spacer cost significantly less then a clutch fan, I priced it out. Also a flex fan doesn't really "wear out" like a clutch fan does. Simple, cheap, works. I can't argue that. My flex fan makes the same noise as any other fan, fans sound surprisingly similar. Mine doesn't "turn off" like an electric, but other then that, it's pretty similar to my old clutch fan. The factory used flex fans for years, if it was good enough for the big 3, then it's good enough for me.

 

Well, like I said, im not trying to start a war here. One of your replies kinda made it sound like you were trying to rub your car in my face in a sarcastic manner. At any rate...im gonna have to disagree with your comment about factory "flex fans" used by the big 3. I dont know every GM or Ford out there, but I do know Chrysler Corporation never used an actual flex fan on any car or truck. They used clutch fans, solid mounted fans, and electric fans. But I would actually like to see some pics of your car. I think the 82-84 T/A's are the best as far as appearance goes.

 

I dynoed my car before and after electric fans.Ok I had a flex fan before.Big no no. They only things I did to the car was remove the flex fan, put edelbrock aluminum pump on,be cool radiator and spal dual electric fans.I was told that flex fans rob more power than a clutch fan.

Before electric fans

264rwhp
358rwtq

after electric fans

271rwhp
368rwtq

I know this sounds like alot but I ran the car on the same dyno but 2 weeks later. My guees is a clutch fan gains only half that at most. So don't put a flex fan on.
Also I never thought about it but maybe some of the increased power could have come from the motor cooling better? Either way it help a little.

 

well my car is certainly heinous. I rescued it from a terrible fate. I'm in mid restoration/modification. So far i've done motor, rear end, suspension all around and most of stereo. Needs paint (badly), and some interior work.
https://webdisk.ucalgary.ca/~jmknopp...t,%20may06.jpg

https://webdisk.ucalgary.ca/~jmknopp...ay%20may06.jpg

 

By the way, do you want a clutch fan?

 

Here's what I did: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/cool...o-s80-fan.html

I don't even have an airdam, and I don't need one. Single fan from a Volvo S80. Cheap, fits good, cools it perfectly.

 

me? well not anymore, I got a nice little nylon flex-a-lite and a 2" aluminum spacer. I just want my motor to start. Oh, and fame.

 

Here's what I did:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/cool...electrics.html

JamesC

 

If you don't want a free fan and clutch, then that's cool.

 

I have been tempted on many occassions to switch to a mechanicle fan as aposed to electric. .. that is constant air/cooling for the durration of your travel time.what you might want to consider is keeping your fan the way it is.. and get a smaller fan to put on the front of the radiator/tranny cooling.. now the only issue is you need to reverse the direction the air flows. so that it keeps going like it should. basicly make it bow into the radiator from the other side into the radiator to be sucked out by the mechanicle fan.

 

IMHO just stay with the clutch setup you have in the car. the loss of HP due to the fan/clutch setup is nothing compared to the possible loss of the engine due to a non operating fan switch or fan relay. And besides, most new fullsize trucks still have a fan clutch, so it's not like they are ancient YET.