electric fan=better mpg
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2007
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electric fan=better mpg
have a 03 reg cab v6 5 speed
has anybody put a electric fan in place of the belt driven 1 ?
i get 20 mpg highway now(at 70)want to get to 22-24
love the truck,and i know its not a racecar dont need a hemi its a work truck
with my 98 dak v6, the electric fan and bed cover i picked up 4 mpg
and way better takeoff
has anybody put a electric fan in place of the belt driven 1 ?
i get 20 mpg highway now(at 70)want to get to 22-24
love the truck,and i know its not a racecar dont need a hemi its a work truck
with my 98 dak v6, the electric fan and bed cover i picked up 4 mpg
and way better takeoff
Professional
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 111
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From:
RE: electric fan=better mpg
Yah i get about 16. Is yours an auto? If I do nothing but highway driving I get about 17.5 or so. As far as the fan goes, not sure but it is on my list. When my waterpump took a dump and threw off my belt, this thing was a hoss, of course I wasn't running any accessories.
Champion
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 4,616
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
RE: electric fan=better mpg
Well, it sounds good to me. I mean, it uses electricity instead of gas... right? If it does help out, let us know! I don't know if you are getting it for sure or what... but if you do, let us know! The bed cover does help too! I need to get one for looks and for the MPG.
Champion
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,313
Likes: 8
RE: electric fan=better mpg
I would guess that there is at least
a 3% highway MPG increase by going to an electric fan,
or just using no fan during winter.
an old post that might be of interest:
-----
Following up on the air dam on/off MPG tests I did on Monday the 23rd,
today I did a MPG test run at a cruise-controlled 70 mph over the same stretch
of Interstate 40 without my radiator fan.
I filled up at the same gas station, set the air conditioning the same, and
the weather was nearly the same - 70-79 degrees. Today there was a 10-15 mph
wind coming from the west (more on that later).
The truck was about 4 lbs heavier because I was carrying the big 1 7/16 inch
wrench, hammer, and small 1/2 inch flare wrench I used to remove the fan
bolts.
By the Exxon gas pump I used 11.105 gallons of 87 octane.
By my (corrected) truck's odometer I went 218.5 miles.
MPG at 70 mph without the radiator fan was 19.68
Compared to 18.94 MPG on Monday's test with fan,
this represents about a 3.8% gain.
The Oztrip meter results from measuring fuel injector on-time were similar,
showing a consumption of 11.6 gallons over 218.7 miles
for a fan-less mpg of 19.34
On Monday with the fan the Oztrip had showed 18.86 mpg, or a gain of 2.5%
When I first started this test run at about 10 am, the Oztrip meter showed
surprisingly good MPG - about 20 - so I had high hopes for what fan removal
was going to do.
Unfortunately, I found that part of the gain on the southeast bound leg of the
trip was due to the 10-15 mph winds at my back.
When I turned around at Wilmington NC and headed back, the average mpg
steadily dropped as I now drove against a head wind. Looking at the Oztrip
trip computer numbers it seems I averaged 19.96 on the southeast bound drive
with the favorable tailwind, and 18.7 driving northwest with the unfavorable
headwind. This was the 1st time I had bothered to watch for what winds do to
mpg. Looks like they can raise/lower mpg by 1.6 even at a "calm" 10-15 mph
level.
As to the temperature of the coolant without the fan - it stayed very steady
at 180 degrees during the MPG test run even with the air conditioner on.
When I slowed to a stop at the end of the trip while turning back into the gas
station, the temp gauge indicated a momentary rise to about 195.
I actually took the fan off late yesterday afternoon and drove around without
it to experiment. As long as the truck kept moving the temp gauge stayed at
180. I parked the truck and let it idle for about 10 minutes. This raised
the temp gauge to about 210-220. I then put on the heater full blast to see
if this would lower the temperature back to 180. It did not - the temp stayed
the same and neither fell nor raised any more. I then drove the truck again.
Within 1 mile the temp had dropped to 200 and within another mile it was back
at 180 degrees F.
The fan on a 5.9V8 Magnum is kind of funky looking. It has 5 blades, but 2 of
them are bunched together and the other 3 are spaced out normally. There is a
stiffening wire embedded in the blades. It takes less than 15 minutes to take
this fan off, but if the fan had been made in two parts that split - you would
not have to take the big nut off the fan clutch - and the fan could be removed
in 5 minutes.
Instead of buying a 36 mm wrench {1.417 inches}, I cut two strips of metal
from a tin can. These strips turned out to be 0.010 inches thick. I taped
two such home-made 'shims' to the inside faces of my 1 7/16 wrench {1.4375}
which closed the opening up to 1.4375 - 0.020 = 1.4175 This worked fine to
loosen the clutch-to-waterpump nut. Make the shims 'fish hook' shaped and you
can tape them in place from the backside.
I may try to drive without the fan in city driving a bit to see what happens,
but I am carrying it with me just in case I have trouble.
I still have the Evan Cooling 'waterless' NPG coolant in my engine. This
won't boil over until 370 degrees so I have some safety factor that a normal
antifreeze would not have.
====
much more MPG improvement info:
https://dodgeforum.com/m_447500/tm.htm
a 3% highway MPG increase by going to an electric fan,
or just using no fan during winter.
an old post that might be of interest:
-----
Following up on the air dam on/off MPG tests I did on Monday the 23rd,
today I did a MPG test run at a cruise-controlled 70 mph over the same stretch
of Interstate 40 without my radiator fan.
I filled up at the same gas station, set the air conditioning the same, and
the weather was nearly the same - 70-79 degrees. Today there was a 10-15 mph
wind coming from the west (more on that later).
The truck was about 4 lbs heavier because I was carrying the big 1 7/16 inch
wrench, hammer, and small 1/2 inch flare wrench I used to remove the fan
bolts.
By the Exxon gas pump I used 11.105 gallons of 87 octane.
By my (corrected) truck's odometer I went 218.5 miles.
MPG at 70 mph without the radiator fan was 19.68
Compared to 18.94 MPG on Monday's test with fan,
this represents about a 3.8% gain.
The Oztrip meter results from measuring fuel injector on-time were similar,
showing a consumption of 11.6 gallons over 218.7 miles
for a fan-less mpg of 19.34
On Monday with the fan the Oztrip had showed 18.86 mpg, or a gain of 2.5%
When I first started this test run at about 10 am, the Oztrip meter showed
surprisingly good MPG - about 20 - so I had high hopes for what fan removal
was going to do.
Unfortunately, I found that part of the gain on the southeast bound leg of the
trip was due to the 10-15 mph winds at my back.
When I turned around at Wilmington NC and headed back, the average mpg
steadily dropped as I now drove against a head wind. Looking at the Oztrip
trip computer numbers it seems I averaged 19.96 on the southeast bound drive
with the favorable tailwind, and 18.7 driving northwest with the unfavorable
headwind. This was the 1st time I had bothered to watch for what winds do to
mpg. Looks like they can raise/lower mpg by 1.6 even at a "calm" 10-15 mph
level.
As to the temperature of the coolant without the fan - it stayed very steady
at 180 degrees during the MPG test run even with the air conditioner on.
When I slowed to a stop at the end of the trip while turning back into the gas
station, the temp gauge indicated a momentary rise to about 195.
I actually took the fan off late yesterday afternoon and drove around without
it to experiment. As long as the truck kept moving the temp gauge stayed at
180. I parked the truck and let it idle for about 10 minutes. This raised
the temp gauge to about 210-220. I then put on the heater full blast to see
if this would lower the temperature back to 180. It did not - the temp stayed
the same and neither fell nor raised any more. I then drove the truck again.
Within 1 mile the temp had dropped to 200 and within another mile it was back
at 180 degrees F.
The fan on a 5.9V8 Magnum is kind of funky looking. It has 5 blades, but 2 of
them are bunched together and the other 3 are spaced out normally. There is a
stiffening wire embedded in the blades. It takes less than 15 minutes to take
this fan off, but if the fan had been made in two parts that split - you would
not have to take the big nut off the fan clutch - and the fan could be removed
in 5 minutes.
Instead of buying a 36 mm wrench {1.417 inches}, I cut two strips of metal
from a tin can. These strips turned out to be 0.010 inches thick. I taped
two such home-made 'shims' to the inside faces of my 1 7/16 wrench {1.4375}
which closed the opening up to 1.4375 - 0.020 = 1.4175 This worked fine to
loosen the clutch-to-waterpump nut. Make the shims 'fish hook' shaped and you
can tape them in place from the backside.
I may try to drive without the fan in city driving a bit to see what happens,
but I am carrying it with me just in case I have trouble.
I still have the Evan Cooling 'waterless' NPG coolant in my engine. This
won't boil over until 370 degrees so I have some safety factor that a normal
antifreeze would not have.
====
much more MPG improvement info:
https://dodgeforum.com/m_447500/tm.htm