Electric Cooling Fan, Is it enough for towing??

Old Feb 16, 2001 | 06:13 PM
  #1  
FastDEW's Avatar
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 116
Likes: 0
From: Rancho Cucmonga, CA
Question Electric Cooling Fan, Is it enough for towing??

Ok, so I work for a Ford supplier and have a lot of friends within the walls of Ford. I spoke with a friend of mine yesterday (A Ford Chassis Engineer), and he said to be carefull on the electric fan idea. Following are his comments:

The electric fans on the 4.6 in the cars will not work well for the 4.6 in the trucks, if you intend to tow in hot weather. The 4.6 in the cars had there tow rating reduced, in part, due to the electric cooling fans. During hot weather, with heavy loads (trailer), and climbing mountain passes, the electric fan cannot keep up with the demand. He states that the fan will work great in other situations, but if you use your truck for towing in hot weather, stick to the engine driven fan. One other note, he states that with the trailer lights, A/C, radio, engine electronics, electric trailer brakes and electric fan, the alternator may not be able to keep up, and even if it can, the high ambient heat, combined with the almost maximum load on the alternator will kill it sooner than later.

Any thoughts ....

------------------
2001 Ford F150 Supercab 4.6L
 
Reply
Old Feb 16, 2001 | 10:03 PM
  #2  
Matt90GT's Avatar
Senior Member
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 1,002
Likes: 0
From: Oregon
Post

yes it is true that you are putting more load on the alternator with an electric fan. But the 3g 130 amp unit should be fine since the Mustangs, Mark8s and most other Ford cars that use electric fans use the same alternator.

I think that the radiator and the fan as a unit will determine how "hot" the engine gets in warm weather towing. Really anything over 35mph the fan is not doing a lot to cool the motor, it is the airflow thru the radiator. If you are towing heavy loads--like max rated capacity, you will most likely need to get a 3 core radiator. I know there is some questions on Ford installing the correct factory unit to start with.

There is also something to be said about the drag of the engine driven fan causing more load on the motor than an electric. That will cause the engine to work harder.

you know, I only tow a 2000lb boat. So I will not have issues. I think that if you have a boat/trailer that you are towing at close to the max rating of the truck, stick with what the factory has or you should get a SuperDuty.

[This message has been edited by Matt90GT (edited 02-17-2001).]
 
Reply
Old Feb 17, 2001 | 09:42 AM
  #3  
dirt bike dave's Avatar
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 1,506
Likes: 0
From: Bakersfield, CA, USA
Post

Or get a double electric fan system. With a double fan, each can be set to a different temp setting, and combined should flow more air than the stocker.
 
Reply


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:59 AM.