5m-ge future engine mods?

[87hilux7mge]

Originally Posted by d557charger

Hi,
I used to work as a tech at a Dodge dealership (haha, I agree - except for Dodges from right now and the ones from '64-'72).
Anyway, a tuning situation once came up and we were all divided about the fan issue. In my own research I found many many articles on the internet showing that an electric fan will nearly rob as much power as a clutch type mechanical one. Think about it, there's no such thing as free power, so to spin that fan, the alternator has to be robbing more hp to feed more electricity to the fan motor. Even if no power were lost going from mechanical => electric => mechanical power again the amount of power needed to spin a fan should remain the same. You may gain a few hp, like one or two (and that only well below the power band for the 5M), and it might improve your mph some... but I personally don't think it's worth the time, effort & jury rigging.

didnt see this last time i posted. anyway, an electric fan is far less drag on the motor itself. the fans pull power from the battery, not the alternator directly. think of the battery as a bank, and your fans are a loan you take out. the bank still has plenty of money left in it, and the alternator is payin off the loan in installments over time.

the drag from the alternator is minimal. an alternator doesnt actually create more resistance on the engine if more power is required. the brushes will wear faster and the alternator will be stressed, heating up and potentially failing.

we replaced my freinds 06 f150 fan/clutch assembly with an electric (yes it was a lil mad max-ish) and even with it redneck engineered, hes seeing 1.4 mpg better and his 0-60 time dropped .6 seconds. off the line you can definitely feel it. mechanical fans have an actual drag on the motor.

it draws 18 amps at full load, and he only needs the fan sitting in traffic for over 30 min. winter time he doesnt use it at all. keeps a constant 194* coolant temp. id say its worth it, especially if you fork it for a set of flexalites or cooltecs etc.