mbuhr66

Is an electric fan better than a mechanical belt driven one for off road use? Pros and cons. Any models off of other rigs that work good with minor mods. Good source for new ones. 93 2.4L pickup
Thanks

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

You have a stock clutch fan by default, it works fine on and off-road. I used to run a Black Magic electric fan but went back to the stock clutch as it is more reliable. There is also the popular Taurus e-fan swap. Key to and electric fan setup is you need to make sure the controller and thermo-switch are 100% reliable. Advantage of e-fan is you can turn it on and off manually, off is handy for deep water and mud. But the stock clutch should disengage in water as well. Also everyone thinks of the savings in HP of removing the stock clutch and fan but forget about the amps out of the alternator needed to run the e-fan.

mbuhr66

Thanks for the insight. My brain is hurting from all the thinking.

stormin94

Stock fans are simpler in the sense that they have fewer components that could fail. Electric fans have many components, like wiring, fuses, relays, and controllers which if one of those fails, your electric fan will probably fail. Although you could maybe wire up a fail safe switch so you won't lose your cooling fan if something fails.

This being said, I have an electric fan swap in progress, since my clutch fan was a PITA to work on, and I got tired of it.

mbuhr66

Thanks, I think I will review this idea if my clutch fan goes out.

BigBluePile

iTrader: (3)

Also keep in mind that if your heater works efficiently, even if you loose your efan you still have a way to keep the motor cool. I would know. Definately make sure that your electrics for the fan are very well protected and use a relay.

AlexJet

Electric is better for off-roading, but not every application available. Like I don't know of anything available for either 3rd or 4th Gen 4Runners...

kiyobrown

And make sure your wire connections don't come loose on the trail.

I found a black magic 165 on craigslist for less then I could have pieced together a Taurus or villager fan swap. Has been working fine, I still haven't wired in an aux switch for it, not sure I will ever need it.

BigBluePile

iTrader: (3)

Unless you have a 3.0...then the clutch fan maybe more dependable.

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

Gonna vote no contest, both have pros and cons.