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Putting an electric fan in front of the radiator

4K views 14 replies 13 participants last post by  redfury 
#1 ·
Every post I have seen shows people replacing the stock mechanical fan with an electric fan, but putting it between the radiator and the engine. Would it still be effective if it were put in front of the radiator, pushing air back? Every time I open the hood of my beast I always wish the space were a little emptier.
 
#2 ·
My electric fan gave me tons of space between the engine and the radiator.

But to your question, I would think that it would work very well EXCEPT that the fan would tend to block the natural air flow that wants to happen at highway speeds. At 50+ MPH, some vans don't need a fan at all. Air is being rammed through by vehicle speed.

My van seems to be an exception. I think because of my large front bumper. I think it creates some kind of air void in front of the radiator. At highway speeds, if I turn the fan off, the temp goes UP.

Mounting it in front, you may run into A/C condensor coil challenges. In mine, there's a steel line running across the front that would cause some interference.

Lump
 
#4 ·
The engine driven fan shroud was the biggest source of cramping. Since upgrading to Domran Taurus e-fan, space is much better. I did have to retain the upper shroud for intake box mounting.
 

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#6 ·
A shrouded fan (manual or electric) is a very important part of the cooling system, for proper cooling at idling and low speeds, as well as for proper cooling for your A/C system. It is designed so sufficient air is pulled across entire radiator and condenser. Anything less, is a compromise.
 
#7 ·
my van is a 1st gen and I did a lot of measuring and such prior to adding the e fan in and at least on my van there is no room to install a front /forward facing fan simply because of the ac radiator and my added transmission cooler. Also from everything I read a pusher fan does not cool as sufficiently as a puller fan for the same reasons lumpy mentioned.
 
#9 ·
I think the main reasoning is because it's more efficient to pull the air through the radiator rather than push it. But with enough flow either way would work.
 
#11 ·
So to dovetail on this question - I agree the putting the fan inside the engine compartment would be better airflow than outside, but are there any really great how-to's on replacing the stock fan with an electric one? Gen II with good pics and explanations? Been searching and haven't found anything really great.
 
#15 ·
Raleigh said:
So to dovetail on this question - I agree the putting the fan inside the engine compartment would be better airflow than outside, but are there any really great how-to's on replacing the stock fan with an electric one? Gen II with good pics and explanations? Been searching and haven't found anything really great.
It all really depends on the Fan you plan to install. I used an Efan from a Ford Thunderbird. I had to trim some bits off of it, snag a connector off of a Furd from the JY and installed two 60 amp relays to control low and high speeds along with an external thermostatic fan controller. It all depends on what parts you plan to use in regards to mounting it.

With mine, I had an angled piece of plastic from a chevy truck fan that I have mounted to the vehicle, and then installed blind fasteners into the new fan so that I can run screws into the top of the fan to keep it in place, but make it easy to remove. I notched the bottom of the fan to sit in the lower shroud after altering that with a sonic crafter ( vibrating saw ). There are pics on the forums on the various ways we have installed them. Here's mine viewtopic.php?f=34&t=13238
 
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