I am interested in buying some electric fans from Troyer Performance but I have some questions first....

How easy are they to install?

Do I need to wire them up to a switch inside the cab to turn them on bc they are "electric"?

Will it screw up, or will I have to change my thermostat bc of them?

Any other info is appractiated..

 

I copied this from their site:

Troyer Performance Heavy-Duty Dual 16" Electric Fan Kit for the following vehicles:

1997-2003 Ford F-150 with 4.2 V6, 4.6 or 5.4 V8 (not for supercharged 5.4).

1997-2003 Ford Expedition with 4.6 or 5.4 engine.

1997-2003 Ford F-250 Light Duty with 4.6 or 5.4 engine.

NOTE: This kit can also be used on the 1999-2003 Ford SVT Lightning & 2002-2003 Harley models with their supercharged 5.4 engines, however, that will require trimming & retaining part of the factory fan shroud where the intercooler fluid reservoir is mounted, or simply mounting the intercooler fluid reservoir elsewhere. Everything else is the same as other F-150's.

This kit includes a pair of our heaviest-duty 16" Electric Fans for rugged long-term durability. Each fan has it's own fully integrated shroud that completely encloses the reverse-S shaped fan blades to prevent potential injury from putting your hands in the wrong place, etc. The fans mount directly to your vehicle's radiator assembly, eliminating the restrictive factory fan shroud & freeing up significant additional room under the hood. This allows underhood airflow to be vastly increased over the cylinder heads & the rest of the engine, lowering inlet air temperatures and further increasing power in warmer temperatures.

Each fan has it's own independent & fully adjustable Fan Controller, so you can use *any* temperature thermostat you want (you do not need to change the factory 192 degree thermostat unless you want to). These dual independent controllers also give you complete redundant capabilities - in the unlikely event that one of the fans or controllers ever fails, you still have the other fan & controller running to get you home - a feature not found on other kits!

This kit is set up in the same basic manner as in high-end automobiles such as Mercedes, Corvette, etc. The configuration is a "Low Temperature" fan and a "High Temperature" fan in a "staggered" turn-on arrangement to provide proper cooling under any conditions and to keep the start-up amperage draw on your vehicle's electrical system to a minimum. Because of that, this kit can be used even if you do not have the optional 130 amp alternator, and even if you have underdrive pulleys! In fact, most of our customers using this fan kit are also using our Underdrive Pulleys as well, to pick up every bit of power possible from reducing "parasitic" losses.

Each of the Fan Controllers also has a separate "dry" temperature probe that installs easily in seconds between the fins of your radiator - so you do not need to drain the engine coolant to install a "wet" type of temperature probe, and this also allows for a truly redundant system.

One of the Electric Fans is automatically activated anytime you turn on the vehicle's Air Conditioning, for increased cabin cooling efficiency.

Complete installation instructions with pictures are included of course, and installation time is approximately 3 to 4 hours. Installation involves both mechanical work (removing the factory fan & shroud and installing the new electric fans & controllers), as well as some easy wiring (the wiring harnesses are color-coded) to connect the fans and the controllers to their power sources as we thoroughly describe in our detailed step-by-step installation manual. We provide all terminals & connectors needed, so you do not need to do any soldering, etc.

The only tool you will need that could be thought of as "special" would be either a scan tool to read the Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor's reading, or you can use a simple infrared "point & shoot" thermometer so you can set the fan turn-on temperatures.

The electric fan turn-on temperatures can be set anywhere from as low as 150 degrees to as high as 240 degrees, allowing you to run *ANY* temperature thermostat you want! (NOTE: We recommend using a thermostat of not lower than 180 degrees, and not higher than 192 degrees, which is the factory stock thermostat's rating.) The fans will turn off automatically once the thermostat is satisfied.

 

I installed my Troyer e fans on my supercharged supercrew, they have been excelant. Totaly automatic, quite operation excelant cooling actualy seldom run unless in trafic or with ac on. You never have all that old fan noise when you first pull out. Not that bad to install I did a little custom bracket for the controlers and made all the wiring into a harness to make a factory looking install. hrdest part of install is fastening the fans to the rad. I'm not shure that if I were to do another one I might just remove the rad. You get youre knuckels all cut up on the ac condensor. AAlso great drivability improvment and helps gas milage. definatly a great mod and very dependable.

 

Mike -

Do you have any electric fans for an '88 F-150? Would it be worth it to put one on if available?

Thanks -

 

http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/html...-electric.html
This will be the next thing I do to my truck. I considered a lot of different ones, but a couple of things stand out from the crowd on this one.
First, I like the shroud, and the way it mounts. Then I like the variable speed feature.
I know this one don't pull as much air as Troyer's, but it's more than sufficient...Kevin

 

oldfrd, you can check out all Mike Troyer's performance products at his web site, TroyerPerformance.com. Specifically, the fans you're asking about come in a complete kit for '87-'96 Ford F-series trucks. Follow this link for that kit.

I just installed the 16" dual fan setup on my 2000 XLT. Install was a bit of a pain, and I wish a list of things (specialty tools, etc.) necessary for the install would have been listed upfront to prevent multiple trips to the auto parts store (so I'll put the list below). But the instructions were pretty thorough (though a couple simple inferences had to be made). I'm very pleased with the operation and performance of the fans after proper installation. I'd definitely buy it again, but if I could find a place to install it for under $150 I'd probably pay to have it installed (for the record, I did not ask any shops what they'd charge; $150 is based on how difficult I thought the job was for me).

Here's the list (in addition to a set of regular mechanic's hand tools):

• Point-and-shoot (infrared) thermometer or scan tool which will give coolant temp read-out. (You might be able to rent this from an auto parts store; I had to buy mine from Sears and then return it. I hate to be an *** like that, but $50 is too much to pay for something I'll never use again.)
• Drill with 5/32" bit (get 2 bits if you have to buy them; one of mine broke)
• About 6'-8' of extra 18 gauge wire (for the A/C switch sensor on fan 2 and to connect all the grounds to the chassis; I had to borrow from some of the wires that were extra long)
• Wire cutter/stripper tool
• Fan clutch removal tool (to back the fan clutch nut off of the water pump pulley; they have these for loan-a-tool at AutoZone)
• If you can, buy a pack of in-line butt splices; some of these were included in the kit, but I ran out of the big ones with one connection left.
• Another good thing to have is a pack of banjo/ring-style wire connectors of assorted sizes. A few of these were included in the kit, but none were big enough to fit around the bolts on my truck.
• Electric test light/diagnostic tool and a 9V battery for testing connections and fan direction.

If you have these things all ready to go the installation shouldn't take more than a long afternoon. If you have extra time and want to make it easier on yourself, removing the radiator would be a big improvement to workspace shortage. It's a pretty tight space between the A/C condenser and the radiator; I got cut up a bit on the hands and forearms.

If you're adventurous, have a novice level of electronics knowledge and most of the tools listed above, do it yourself. If you find yourself having to buy the tools or don't know a thing about electrical connections, you may want to find a shop to do it. However you get them on, these fans are a nice upgrade. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

thanks for all the info guys, but i still have one question, do i have to run a wire into the can and attach a switch to it to tell it when to turn on or off??? or is it automatic?

 

SilverBF150,

I've got Mike T's fans installed on my truck. Remove the radiator to install the fans! It will waste a couple of ounces of transmission fluid, but it makes the install possible without a visit to the emergency room to get stitched up!
If you wire the fans according to the instructions, the relays turn on the fans automatically based upon the temperature of the radiator or when the a/c compressor is turned on.
People have installed switches to turn off the fans when they need or want them turned off.

Dave

 

that's great - thanks ucfperspicere!

 

I highly recommend one other addition to the setup. Add some LED indicators inside to visually confirm that the fans are running. Radio Shack makes 12v LEDs with holders (red, green, yellow, orange) that are perfect for this. Wire them right to the fans so fan voltage will light them up.
The AC connection is best made at the connector at the top of the accumulator right behind the battery. Look in the Chiltons/Hayes manual for the wire color.
Hobby Shops have the IR termometer for around U$20.
A roll of wireloom cleans up the ratsnest wires nicely. (U$5)
Zipties to tie up and hold down wires. (U$5)
Multimeter from Radio Shack (U$10 to U$50)

Do a search here, there are several posts about electric fans that have more info.


Fritz