Bigtruck, that's exactly what I'm worried will happen to my radiator. I know Troyer Perf. is a pretty good company, but I don't think I'm going to buy their E-fan kit after seeing some of the issues it has. Have you experienced any other malfuntions due to driving off road other than the radiator problem? I'm worried that if I hit a large water/mud hole it'll splash up under my engine bay and kill the fans.

 

These controllers are electronics,noy a chunk of metal or plastic. The potentiometers are somewhat delicate...... don't spin them adjust SLOWLY. Temperature extremes may affect them,so cooler is better.

 

Sounds like I'm faced with a few reliablility issues. I don't think the benefits are worth the possibility of being stranded in Bum-F-Egypt when mud/water kill my e-fan controllers. I think I'll save my money for an Edge. But thank you to everyone who answered my questions.

 

seems like someone should figure out how to make a homemeade controller that will blow away the ones you get with the kits. Can't be too hard.

 

I guarantee you could make your own controller out of parts from Radio Shack and a decent thermostat.

It's not that complicated and potentiometers are always fragile, so just bypass them. People set it once and forget it forever.

Just get a no-contact thermometer and see what the stock belt fan is keeping the radiator surface at during "normal" driving, or if you have a real temperature gauge and not Ford's moron-proof "normal band" gauge, go by that. Then buy a thermostat for say 10 degrees lower for safety, and then it's just some wiring to a solenoid relay to open power to the fans. Heats up, fans go on until it's cool. Simple as can be.

I built a sprinkler valve control box out of a Radio Shack Project box, 3 9v batteries, a couple switches, a relay, and some wires and it still works fine now 3 years later(it controlled the sprinkler valve on my air cannon aka really big potato gun) Cost me like $10 of parts opposed to a nearly $100 OEM controller that did the exact same thing. Then again, I wasn't watering lawns with it either. Instead launching rolls of toilet paper several hundred feet.

 

I'd do it again in a heart beat. It would actually be one of my first modes.

 

I have had my Perma-cool setup on for about two weeks now, love 'em!! This setup is application specific. The metal frame that houses two 13" fans bolts onto the radiator frame on the outside, not thru the fins!! It isnt cheap, but works great, wired to my A/C, and is bolted on good and tight. I went with Perma cool because of the good luck I had using their 16" fan for my Honda Passport. Now that setup did go thru the radiator but their big Zip tie things never did puncture a hole in the radiator and I did go offroad with it. I had an installer do the efan installation because he was also doing other mods at the time. I liked the Perma cool setup also because of the dual fan setup where the controller can run one or both depending on the settings, the Flex-a-lite version was a single fan design.

And YES!! Along with the underdrive pulleys, I am seeing good mpg, cant wait to get my Troyer custom tune and take a long trip down south and see what mpg I can really achieve!!

 

I have seen some on ebay that look homemade and the guy swears they are heavy duty...have not ordered one though..

 

I installed My Lincoln Mark VIII fan ($29) and my DCcontrol.com controller ($138 total) So far I am under $170. The DCcontrols controller is the FK35 and it has the ability to soft start the fan. I turns the fan on at 50% when the AC cycles. Hardest thing is finding an ignition On wire in the harness, and hooking a wire to the AC on Connector. I made my own brackets for mounting the fan to the Radiator. I will try to take pictures today. I still want to dress the AC and Ignition wires up today. It looks really professional as for the fan installation. By the way DCcontrols has been very fast with ordering and shipping. Everything has arrived in 4 days or less. His instructions are top rated. I set the fan controller for 202 degrees and today I will measure with an infrared to see what is going on. The fan has not come on except with the AC. But the temp gauge is normal. It is cold here however. But I do want to see them come on without the AC so that I can verify that the temp probe is working.

 

Yeah take some good pictures. I'm interested in doing the same thing. Possibly going with the FAL 270 kit though and the DC contoller.

 

Flex A Lite 270 still blowing strong on 5.4 03 F150 Screw. Have had no problems for over 3 years.

 

I had no issues towing a boat with my Troyer efans.

But when I got a Toy Hauler, which had the aerodynamics of a brick, I ran hot on long grades...

This was with a very convservative towing tune and a supercharger.

 

How hot were you running Jordan? I offroad often, I've had NUMEROUS issues (not sure if I've said it in this thread) out at Pismo. The vibrations out there cause the mounting method to fail all the time. I would overheat, the fans would go out, I keep warping my exhaust manifold due to overheating and it causes very loud exhaust ticks, VERY ANNOYING.

 

I finished my Lincoln Mark VIII fan install with the DCcontrol controller. See my gallery under E fans to see the installation. My total cost is $169. The controller is the most expensive item at $119 before tax and shipping. The fan runs at 50% when the AC compressor kicks in. The rest of the time the fan runs at variable speeds according to the temp of the radiator. I set mine for 202 degrees and it maintains that temp within 4 degrees. There are no swings of temp. I also ordered the LED indicator for the fan. I may have one issue in that on the highway I believe the fan is acting like a generator and the LED is coming on, but when I slow down it goes off. Maybe a diode across the fan would stop this. Any ideas?

 

install looks great. did you get my pm?

as far as the generator issues goes, i have read that many aftermarket efan kits have "trap doors" so that air can get through the radiator and by pass the fan when driving at speed but when at slow speeds or when the fan is on, the little flaps shut. or you could just try eliminating some of the shroud so it doesnt cover the entire radiator.