Looking for advice on a fan for 66 Mustang

How much room do you have between the radiator and the water pump? if you have enough room, a clutch fan is a good way to go,,if not, a flex fan and spacer works good,,,don't forget the shroud,,as for electric fans, they work good,,,but most are noisy, you also need an alternator with enough amps to handle the amp draw,,,you also have to do some wiring,,,so its really a matter of choice, I myself like the clutch fan with 5 or 7 blades,,,,

Hello. The only drawbacks to the electric fans are that they, as already mentioned, pull a lot of power, especially when they kick on, and, they aren't very responsive to what the motor is actually doing. A fan bolted to the front of the water pump turns at a speed related to the motor's RPMs. The fan kicks on wide open, then shuts down completely, kicks back on, etc... Also, a fan bolted to the water pump won't quit working because of a blown fuse or a wiring problem.

Supposedly the curve blades are quieter but, in the aftermarket world 99% of the e-fans are junk in terms of design & quality IMHO. The OEM units flow anywhere from 50% to 200% more CFM than the "Hi Perf" aftermarket units, last for years in real world daily, all weather use and are quiet- and are less expensive in most cases!

I bought an oe replacement (a couple of years ago) assembly for my wife's 1997 Cougar Sport (V8) (the bearings in the e-motor were starting to whine).....the entire assembly including the shroud was $120 with tax (I bought the entire assembly because the motor itself was $80).

You will also hear/read about people having issues/concerns with their engines running warm/hot, once it is really verified and there are no mechanical issues, 99% it can be traced right to these HP Aftermarket fans.....those using oem units- I have never in 20 years heard of an issue related to them in any way in regards to cooling.

There are many on the market to choose from…..the V6 Ford Taurus fan (90-95 3.8L), If space is tight, the 95-00 V6 Ford Contour, 99-02 V6 Mercury Mystique, 99-02 V6 are flatter in design IIRR but if you don’t mind making your own shroud…..
Custom Electric Fan install - Taurus + Aluminum Shroud - Vintage Mustang Forums

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Great advice! After years of cooling problems with my Ranger trying different combinations of aftermarket fans a Taurus fan rescued me.....a lot of work moving the radiator to the front of the shroud, but it works!

Used a BMW 2 speed sensor and Volvo relay.whistling.gif

My DERALE fan went out last week and i'm extremely disappointed i bought it barely a year ago.. i don't know if having it hooked up directly without a thermostat killed it but still this fan had less than 20 hours of use. Any how i decided to buy this kit off Ebay

Electric 16" Straight Blade Reversible Cooling Fan 12V 2500CFM Thermostat Kit | eBay


and if this one doesn't last either i'll get me a Taurus fan from the junkyard i'll probably have better luck with one of those.



Jose

I installed an electric fan behind my Champion radiator when I put everything back together. In about two hours use, the fan motor shorted or something and burned up internally. Several months later, the Derale controller had a problem and the fan quit.
Both times I was in town, but not home and it was hot, and I was stranded. I started carrying my old 4 blade mech. fan in the trunk to get me home. Finally, I just bought the correct length spacer to match the changes I had made and now just run the original 4 blade fan.
I have used it for two summers like that at outside temps up to 110 without problem. And I don't get stranded because of electrical problems in the fan.

Hwyman said:

I installed an electric fan behind my Champion radiator when I put everything back together. In about two hours use, the fan motor shorted or something and burned up internally. Several months later, the Derale controller had a problem and the fan quit.
Both times I was in town, but not home and it was hot, and I was stranded. I started carrying my old 4 blade mech. fan in the trunk to get me home. Finally, I just bought the correct length spacer to match the changes I had made and now just run the original 4 blade fan.
I have used it for two summers like that at outside temps up to 110 without problem. And I don't get stranded because of electrical problems in the fan.

Click to expand...

Hi again. That's kind of what I've been seeing from electric fans. My car has a five blade flex fan with no shroud and I've never had any problem with my car overheating. It gets pretty hot here in Houston, also, and I run the A/C pretty much all of the time, but, my car has never overheated.

Christine used to run hotter than I liked. I replaced the 4 blade fan that was in there with a stock 5 blade fan, put in a shroud and now she rarely gets over a third of the way up on the temp gauge. Electric stuff is nice I suppose. I suspect some people just do it for the bling factor at car shows

There is no problem that can't be fixed with the proper application of cash:gringreen

That might explain part of it. There isn't much money to be made selling 4-bladed steel fans.

Every new car I have owned in the last 45 years had an electric fan. Those fans were all very noisy and very reliable; not a one of them ever failed. HOWEVER, none of them were used to replace mechanical fans. They were/are auxiliary fans that only come on, rarely, when the engine gets warmer than normal; on the newest car at 230F. It can be months or years between times when the electric fan might run. The noise may even be intentional to let you know something unusual is happening.

I am also in the mechanical fan club. If a 4, 5, or 7-blade engine-driven fan won't cool the car nearly all the time then there is a problem that needs to be solved.

Ivy66GT said:

There is no problem that can't be fixed with the proper application of cash:gringreen

That might explain part of it. There isn't much money to be made selling 4-bladed steel fans.

Every new car I have owned in the last 45 years had an electric fan. Those fans were all very noisy and very reliable; not a one of them ever failed. HOWEVER, none of them were used to replace mechanical fans. They were/are auxiliary fans that only come on, rarely, when the engine gets warmer than normal; on the newest car at 230F. It can be months or years between times when the electric fan might run. The noise may even be intentional to let you know something unusual is happening.

I am also in the mechanical fan club. If a 4, 5, or 7-blade engine-driven fan won't cool the car nearly all the time then there is a problem that needs to be solved.

Click to expand...

Agree^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Mechanical fan club, and for three reasons:

1. I'm lazy, and a mechanical fan is easy
2. They work
3. When I look at an old car, I want to look under the hood and see some classic automotive engineering

The main benefit I see to electric fans is they don't chop up cats as bad. At worst a little fur fluff and maybe a tip of an ear or a tail.

Lizer said:

Mechanical fan club, and for three reasons:

1. I'm lazy, and a mechanical fan is easy
2. They work
3. When I look at an old car, I want to look under the hood and see some classic automotive engineering

The main benefit I see to electric fans is they don't chop up cats as bad. At worst a little fur fluff and maybe a tip of an ear or a tail.

Click to expand...

Hi again. They don't? Why did we change that? :headscratch:

[/QOUTE] Any how i decided to buy this kit off Ebay



Electric 16" Straight Blade Reversible Cooling Fan 12V 2500CFM Thermostat Kit | eBay

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Jose[/QUOTE]


I had that kit on my 66 but the motor failed. Thanks AAA on that 100 degree SoCal day...
I also have a Contour dual fan in my garage after reading they are a good replacement. If anyone can show me how to fit a 22-inch fan in a 16-inch opening I might use it. Or if anyone wants it drop me a note and you can have it real cheap.


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