Fox Cooling Fan Clutch Locked Up...

[JoeDaddy]

As the title states.... My cooling fan is now on all the time. (90 LX 5.0, stock engine as far as I know, ram air hood, shorty headers full exhaust) I was hoping to get another few weeks to a month of driving time in before I put her away for the winter. So do I spend the $65, get a new clutch to keep it a mechanical fan and keep on crusin', or do I take this opportunity to upgrade the alternator, and throw some electric fans in?

On a side note, anyone with e fans notice a MPG increase? This is my summer DD, so that could also play a factor. I seem to be down about 2 mpg with the fan stuck on..

 

[stpete]

New clutch (and fan maybe). Cheap, easy, and reliable. My car came with an electric fan. I upgraded to mechanical.

 

[Mustang5L5]

You can continue driving if you don't mind the "whooshing" sound. There will be a slight HP loss, but nothing too drastic.

 

[stpete]

Whooshing sound happens even with a new clutch. You need airflow over the coils for the AC even if the car isn't up to temperature. Otherwise your compressor will blow it's top. One of the reasons I ditched my electric fan. If you have AC and install an electric fan, you need to set up the fan to come on when the compressor is on. The mechanical fan should always spin, just not full lock.

 

[stpete]

Here's my pro/con list

Mechanical
Pros:
Simple
Fails to stuck on (i.e. safe)
Stock/no modifications
Cons:
Turbulence whenever car is on. Your manuals and instructions will blow away every time you start the car. Also spins so you have to watch your hands whenever the car is on.
Whoosh sound - let's face it, we like the V8 sound. The whoosh sound is lame.
Must remove fan to get fan shroud out of car when working in engine compartment.

Electrical
Pros:
Quieter
Less turbulence, even when running. More efficient at pulling air through the rad only instead of spitting it everywhere.
Easier to remove fan shroud to work on car (see cons though)
Cons:
Failure can lead to destruction of engine, and even more quickly AC compressor (BTDT)
Fan Controllers all of questionable quality
Need an alternator upgrade (and preferably no underdrive pulleys)
You do the wiring. All the "kits" come with half-assed wiring solutions.
The reliability of your fan is based on your own decisions and your own wiring solutions.
You should put a quality connector in so you can remove the fan/shroud without "unwiring" your fan controller.
Need to splice in to AC wiring to provide a fan turn on when AC goes on
I suggest some sort of override (to fan on) so you can get home when the fan controller fails.
Fan controller temperature sensors either have to get shoved through the radiator or you have to figure out a way to screw them in somewhere.

A lot of the problems with electric fans are the fan controllers themselves. With a mechanical fan, the car warms up to operating temperature and sits there. With a cheap fan controller, the temperature goes up above the thermostat temperature. Then the fan kicks on and pushes it back toward the thermostat temperature. But, it has to stay slightly above the thermostat temperature so the fan doesn't constantly run. Then the car heats up to kick the fan on again and cools down again. Every time you look at the temperature gauge it is slightly different and you get concerned. More expensive setups with variable speed fans and controllers that control them get pretty expensive. Previous owner of my car did a bad job and I tried to keep it working with a cheap fan controller. Caused me problems and I spent quite a few hours waiting for the car to cool off or traffic to dissipate so the car wouldn't overheat. I finally wired in a hack to turn the fan on and leave it on when I wanted to. All of this also lead to me blowing my AC compressor, which is more expensive than doing an electric fan right. Don't even get me started on having a stock alternator and underdrive pulleys with the electric fan.
Mechanical fan just works, no real worries. It was a good feeling to rip all that dumbasses wiring out of my car and throw it away.

Cost of entire mechanical fan $89.

Cost for electric:
Alternator upgrade ~$150
Good fan controller ~ $200 if you have AC, $130 or so if not. Some people have been OK with $40 controllers, mine wasn't reliable (and didn't turn on with AC)
Fan itself - varies based on what you get. More than the mechanical if you buy new, cheap if you choose junkyard.

I plan to eventually do an electric fan right ... maybe. You need to plan it out and not just buy parts and hack them into the car and think it's going to "upgrade" your car.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I dunno. I've have my e-fan setup since 2000 or so. It's been working fine without issue. I really don't even need it on until I come to a dead stop. I can manually shut it off and drive around on an 80-85 degree day and as long as I'm moving, the temp never goes over 190 degrees.

Not even using a controller. Just a cheap temp switch and Bosch 75A relay, with a manual on/off switch. The temp gets over 150-160 degrees and the fan goes on....and stays on. I have a switch to shut it down manually if needed. (such as when running codes without the engine running)

It's a junkyard Sn95 fan, and it's been running that way for 16 years now. Granted, I don't drive much. But cost of that was $20 or so, plus $25-30 for the relay and switch, $5 for a coolant bottle, and some custom made brackets and hardware to hold it on nicely. prob into it for $75 or so.

I run underdrive pulleys as well. My radiator is an older copper 3-core (I don't even think you can find copper 3-cores any more), so it cools VERY well (don't even need fan as long as I'm moving), and an overdrive alt pulley solves my charging issues with the 3G alt, which went in after my stock Alt died around 1998 or so.

Honestly, it was a cheap mod to me and has been very reliable. No cooling or charging issues since I did it back in 1999/2000. The only reason I may make some changes is to stuff the e-fan inside the stock fan shroud, and run an OEM style coolant bottle and low coolant sensor. The OEM look has been calling to me and I think it might be worth it trying to mount an E-fan inside the OE shroud. Probably not going to change my wiring though.

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

So far I love my dual contour fans and my FAL controller. Engine compartment is sooo much quieter now.

 

[RaggedGT]

eBay fan clutch-upgrade over winter (if you want lol.)

 

[General karthief]

Put electric fan on mine. Minimal upgrades. It works for now but ac not finished. I would replace the stock clutch fan and forget it. Don't need to upgrade you stuff, stock clutch fan has that lock up feature and its fool proof. Thirty minutes and no worries or half a day with wire and soder gun and wandering if its working. You decide.

 

[stykthyn]

Unless you need the space a mechanical clutch fan is better on a stockish engine.

 

[nickpic]

What's your plans with the car. R u planning to go forced induction or a stroker? If so then I recommend going e-fan if it's going to stay stock or just some small bolt on I would go clutch fan only because u want to DD it. Otherwise I think e fan is worth it for the better cooling and less parasitic drag on the engine but that's only if u do it right and use quality parts.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[stpete]

Ehhh, maybe I changed my mind. The fan really doesn't run very often. Just do this ... works great! Next owner will think you're a genius. Be sure to wire it to constant power and not switched. That way it can keep running in the parking lot. It takes at least 15 minutes for the battery to die, so you'll definitely be back to the car in time.

 

[stpete]

The only reason I may make some changes is to stuff the e-fan inside the stock fan shroud, and run an OEM style coolant bottle and low coolant sensor. The OEM look has been calling to me and I think it might be worth it trying to mount an E-fan inside the OE shroud. Probably not going to change my wiring though.

The only good thing about the setup that came in my car was the e-fan mounted in the shroud. The previous dumbass owner actually did an OK job with the mechanical mounting of the fan. He's still a dumbass though. See manual fan controller pic above.

 

[JoeDaddy]

Thanks guys! I think I'll just stay mechanical for now, since this car is just basically a fun way to keep miles off my truck.. I'd love to do some bolt-ons in the future with this car, but the reality is that I wont. Got divorced this year, had to fight to get 50 / 50 custody of the kids, and even though I have them half the time, the child support is a killer. I'll save the money I'd dump into the fox, and in 5 years or so, pick up a 2011+ with a coyote in it.

Thanks for bringing me back to reality!

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

Thanks guys! I think I'll just stay mechanical for now, since this car is just basically a fun way to keep miles off my truck.. I'd love to do some bolt-ons in the future with this car, but the reality is that I wont. Got divorced this year, had to fight to get 50 / 50 custody of the kids, and even though I have them half the time, the child support is a killer. I'll save the money I'd dump into the fox, and in 5 years or so, pick up a 2011+ with a coyote in it.

Thanks for bringing me back to reality!

Sorry to hear that, I'm going through the process too and I'm afraid of what the amount of child support is going to be. Good luck with the car.

 

[JoeDaddy]

Sorry to hear that, I'm going through the process too and I'm afraid of what the amount of child support is going to be. Good luck with the car.

Thanks, and sorry to hear about yours. Not sure what state your in or how far along in the divorce, but PM me if you want any tips. (Or sometimes it's just nice to vent to someone...) I learned a lot, the hard way, real fast!

And not to scare you, but so you are prepared...... (I have 3 kids)

If you break down my income ..... I get 35% of it. She gets 38% of it, taxes gets 27%. There is no tax benefit to child support, and I only get to claim 1 kid this year. I'll be lucky if I don't have to pay in..

The kicker? Child support doesn't count as income for her. I got a letter in the mail that she has signed up (the kids) for food stamps...

 

[mikestang63]

Here's my pro/con list

Mechanical
Pros:
Simple
Fails to stuck on (i.e. safe)
Stock/no modifications
Cons:
Turbulence whenever car is on. Your manuals and instructions will blow away every time you start the car. Also spins so you have to watch your hands whenever the car is on.
Whoosh sound - let's face it, we like the V8 sound. The whoosh sound is lame.
Must remove fan to get fan shroud out of car when working in engine compartment.

Electrical
Pros:
Quieter
Less turbulence, even when running. More efficient at pulling air through the rad only instead of spitting it everywhere.
Easier to remove fan shroud to work on car (see cons though)
Cons:
Failure can lead to destruction of engine, and even more quickly AC compressor (BTDT)
Fan Controllers all of questionable quality
Need an alternator upgrade (and preferably no underdrive pulleys)
You do the wiring. All the "kits" come with half-assed wiring solutions.
The reliability of your fan is based on your own decisions and your own wiring solutions.
You should put a quality connector in so you can remove the fan/shroud without "unwiring" your fan controller.
Need to splice in to AC wiring to provide a fan turn on when AC goes on
I suggest some sort of override (to fan on) so you can get home when the fan controller fails.
Fan controller temperature sensors either have to get shoved through the radiator or you have to figure out a way to screw them in somewhere.

A lot of the problems with electric fans are the fan controllers themselves. With a mechanical fan, the car warms up to operating temperature and sits there. With a cheap fan controller, the temperature goes up above the thermostat temperature. Then the fan kicks on and pushes it back toward the thermostat temperature. But, it has to stay slightly above the thermostat temperature so the fan doesn't constantly run. Then the car heats up to kick the fan on again and cools down again. Every time you look at the temperature gauge it is slightly different and you get concerned. More expensive setups with variable speed fans and controllers that control them get pretty expensive. Previous owner of my car did a bad job and I tried to keep it working with a cheap fan controller. Caused me problems and I spent quite a few hours waiting for the car to cool off or traffic to dissipate so the car wouldn't overheat. I finally wired in a hack to turn the fan on and leave it on when I wanted to. All of this also lead to me blowing my AC compressor, which is more expensive than doing an electric fan right. Don't even get me started on having a stock alternator and underdrive pulleys with the electric fan.
Mechanical fan just works, no real worries. It was a good feeling to rip all that dumbasses wiring out of my car and throw it away.

Cost of entire mechanical fan $89.

Cost for electric:
Alternator upgrade ~$150
Good fan controller ~ $200 if you have AC, $130 or so if not. Some people have been OK with $40 controllers, mine wasn't reliable (and didn't turn on with AC)
Fan itself - varies based on what you get. More than the mechanical if you buy new, cheap if you choose junkyard.

I plan to eventually do an electric fan right ... maybe. You need to plan it out and not just buy parts and hack them into the car and think it's going to "upgrade" your car.

Uh my jy Contour fan was $30 and my FAL 33054 controllers was $110, and the first JY 3g alt was $30. Add in the wiring and other parts and i had around $200 total in it. You can also use a JY Volvo pressure switch and relays instead of the FAL controller which would set you back maybe $50 or so.