How is the efan mod with towing?
#13
05-28-2013, 06:08 PM
You have to watch using the Taurus fan on high. They draw 42amps on high and will melt many aftermarket relay kits. i too would recommend the Flex-a-lite kit #183 if you are going to go electric.
I personally will stick with the clutch fan. it pulls more air when needed and the clutch slips when not needed. I often tow 8K lbs + and usually in town. Plus in my case, if something happened and I overheat my engine with an electric fan failure, it will void my lifetime powertrain warranty
Then small amount of mpg gained from going electric isn't worth it for me. Especially at $350. It would take me 20yrs to break even. My all city mpg is 13.2, same as others with an e-fan.
The 3300cfm should cool plenty, especially since the a/c condenser has it's own fan and is not in front of the radiator. Like mentioned above, at highway speeds, the fan shouldn't need to run anyway.
I personally will stick with the clutch fan. it pulls more air when needed and the clutch slips when not needed. I often tow 8K lbs + and usually in town. Plus in my case, if something happened and I overheat my engine with an electric fan failure, it will void my lifetime powertrain warranty
Then small amount of mpg gained from going electric isn't worth it for me. Especially at $350. It would take me 20yrs to break even. My all city mpg is 13.2, same as others with an e-fan.
The 3300cfm should cool plenty, especially since the a/c condenser has it's own fan and is not in front of the radiator. Like mentioned above, at highway speeds, the fan shouldn't need to run anyway.
#14
05-30-2013, 05:26 PM
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#15
05-31-2013, 12:01 AM
#16
05-31-2013, 11:01 AM
Nevermind Hayden, go with Flex-a-lite kit #183. Im not sure if it goes on an 04 or not, but should be a close fit. I was towing thru the rockies with a double axel trailer last month, The fan kept up just fine.
As for the fan being for intown only. In a sence yes, and another not. The fan turns on in the city to keep you cool in stop and go. On the highway, usually it doesn't even turn on. Unless your towing the vehicles max, and don't have the tranny cooler, driving uphill at 100 degree plus. I don't see why the efan wouldn't work for you.
the flex a lite is a 18amp single fan, doing approx. 3300cfm. The kit comes with a temp controller, you can buy addition parts, like manual on or off switches. The Only negative with the kit and the temperature probe needs to be stuck thru your rad at the top hot side. Other then that, its been perfect for me, well worth twice its price.
Side note: Has anyone ever had to buy a replacement fan?? after the 1st one died or burnt out??
As for the fan being for intown only. In a sence yes, and another not. The fan turns on in the city to keep you cool in stop and go. On the highway, usually it doesn't even turn on. Unless your towing the vehicles max, and don't have the tranny cooler, driving uphill at 100 degree plus. I don't see why the efan wouldn't work for you.
the flex a lite is a 18amp single fan, doing approx. 3300cfm. The kit comes with a temp controller, you can buy addition parts, like manual on or off switches. The Only negative with the kit and the temperature probe needs to be stuck thru your rad at the top hot side. Other then that, its been perfect for me, well worth twice its price.
Side note: Has anyone ever had to buy a replacement fan?? after the 1st one died or burnt out??
I have the flex-a-lite 180 fan on my 06 and burned up a motor 2 years after installing it. Called flex-a-lite, and was sent a new motor no charge. Great people to work with
#17
05-31-2013, 11:35 AM
Champion
I did the efan mod for towing, alone... I also put on a much larger transmission heat exchange in addition to the factory 'towing package' exchange...
when towing a decently heavy trailer, or hauling a good bit of weight, the engine works hardest right off the line- the efan does two things right at that point that are both hugely beneficial... one, I knew about coming into it (and the reason I did it), the other was a nice surprise..
- pulls air through the exchanges no matter forward (or reverse) speed; especially handy during low speed maneuvering where engine is working its ***** off, and super especially when in reverse, backing a heavy load where the clutch fan has to really fight for flow.. once I did this mod, I NEVER went above center on the meter, whereas before, I had to be careful not to break 3/4 mark while backing and maneuvering heavy loads...
- the parasitic drag is eliminated precisely where you need it eliminated most: at idle and just above.. you can look at dyno charts all you want, but most dyno's don't start recording until excess of 1kRPM.. that is not where the efan is going to reveal itself.. it is going to allow those 20~40ft# of torque to head toward the opposite end of the block and twirl the input shaft instead of having to spin a fully loaded clutch fan.. those upwards of 40#tq are a niiiiiiice little boost right off the line, to get a load rolling.. I didn't expect this at all, and was certainly not counting on it- but it is undeniably there... I'd like to see a dyno chart from idle speed to, say, 2kRPM with and w/o an efan to verify this, but that is all it would do in my mind is put a count to extra torque I know is there by using one.. -on the flip side, it's my opinion that the engine is producing plenty of torque beyond the 1400rpm speed that it has extra laying around, and that the efan isn't really going to help anything at that point..
when towing a decently heavy trailer, or hauling a good bit of weight, the engine works hardest right off the line- the efan does two things right at that point that are both hugely beneficial... one, I knew about coming into it (and the reason I did it), the other was a nice surprise..
- pulls air through the exchanges no matter forward (or reverse) speed; especially handy during low speed maneuvering where engine is working its ***** off, and super especially when in reverse, backing a heavy load where the clutch fan has to really fight for flow.. once I did this mod, I NEVER went above center on the meter, whereas before, I had to be careful not to break 3/4 mark while backing and maneuvering heavy loads...
- the parasitic drag is eliminated precisely where you need it eliminated most: at idle and just above.. you can look at dyno charts all you want, but most dyno's don't start recording until excess of 1kRPM.. that is not where the efan is going to reveal itself.. it is going to allow those 20~40ft# of torque to head toward the opposite end of the block and twirl the input shaft instead of having to spin a fully loaded clutch fan.. those upwards of 40#tq are a niiiiiiice little boost right off the line, to get a load rolling.. I didn't expect this at all, and was certainly not counting on it- but it is undeniably there... I'd like to see a dyno chart from idle speed to, say, 2kRPM with and w/o an efan to verify this, but that is all it would do in my mind is put a count to extra torque I know is there by using one.. -on the flip side, it's my opinion that the engine is producing plenty of torque beyond the 1400rpm speed that it has extra laying around, and that the efan isn't really going to help anything at that point..
#18
05-31-2013, 02:35 PM
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