Vannin' Home Forums Ford Performance (Ford) ADVISE on what items I can change to improve my van...

I'm doing the electric fan upgrade, I want a bigger alt to keep up with my stereo system and the wheelchair lift, so power is there for a fan. It's far superior to an engine driven fan in many ways.

Ehhhh, I think its a draw. The fan puts more load on the alternator which puts more load on the engine. A clutch fan is just as good, in my opinion.

A clutch never fully disengages nor does it engage even at 50%, the electric fan only runs when at idle mostly, the times when an engine driven fan is moving the least amount of air. You notice during the use of AC, when it's most ineffective in traffic, I've had this in a number of different vehicles.

Will that fan clutch fit here with my new fan?

The clutch fan would replace that flex fan. It bolts to the water pump like the flex fan. On a side note, I don't recommend flex fans. I have heard to many horror stories of them exploding at speed.

Why is that? Too light?

BTW I change the motor oil to synthetic. I used Mobil 1 High Mileage. I order the K&N filter, fan clutch, pvc valve, bought a new brake master cylinger (mine is leaking).

The idea behind a flex fan is that the fan blades keep a tight curve at low RPM to increase the amount of air pulled by the blades, but at higher RPM centrifugal force causes the flexible fan blades to flatten out, thus pulling less air and reducing drag. The problem is that sometimes the plastic fan blades get stress fractures from flexing or get other damage from road debris kicked up or tools dropped or the blades just fail. The blades then fly apart at whatever RPM they are turning, potentially causing damage or injury to the vehicle or nearby people.

If you are looking for an easy way to reduce drag caused by a fixed blade fan, the best bet is to install a factory clutch fan. If you want the latest whiz-bang product then you go for the electric fan, but, to do it right, it is a somewhat involved installation. Mount the fan, mount the temp sensor, run the wiring, run a failsafe switch for if or when the relay or temp sensor fails, make sure the alternator has enough output at idle to power the fan, etc... Much easier to just bolt on a clutch fan.

Synthetic oil is a good upgrade, the PCV is a regular maintenance part that needs replacing, brakes are good, and I don't think much of K&N on a street vehicle. A Napa Gold filter flows just about the same and the difference isn't enough to notice on the street.

One caviet Reed,my Delray flex-fan is stainless steel not plastic and the one in picture appears to be a steel fan.You're right about clutch-fans/elec-fans etc but I've run bunches of flex fans over the years both steel and figerglass and never had one come apart.I think some of the horror stories involving flex fans came from the early plastic ones doing 6000rpm shifts,new ones are a whole different species.:)

I agree. After doing some reading it seems to be so much easier to use a bolt on that the electric. Less headaches.

Yes it is a steel fan.