Electric Fan Questions

[Robocon]

I have had a few people tell me that removing the mechanical fan on my I-6 and going to an electric fan will add hp. That makes sense, but I haven't really been able to find anything difinitive on the Pros and Cons of this. Does anyone have any history with this mod? What do you gain or lose?

[tobyw]

You will probably gain a little on paper, but it's not likely your seat of the pants dyno will show you anything... There are advantages to both, but in my experience nothing cools like a mechanical fan. The electric units are typically noisy, and require a relatively expensive control system to function properly. The one notable bonus to an electric fan is being able to shut it off if you are crossing deep water, but around these parts that isn't much of an issue... IMO, if you are in it to gain power, look elsewhere first .

[erslll]

x2

[sams88]

I've had both mechanical and electric on vehicles. The mechanical fan will keep going, short of a busted fan belt. Can't always say the same for the electrical, like mud baths, etc. My primary reason for adding electrical pusher fans was augmentation for cooling in some extreme conditions. And that's all I would use an electrical fan for on a wheeling rig. On a street rig the electric is okay cause you don't have the extreme "road conditions" you run into like you do on an off-road wheeler.

[colemancooler]

I have used an electric fan for at least 10 years and it has only failed me once and that was because It was damaged by my radiator shifting and striking my motor driven pulleys, I have mine wired directly to my Ignition, so when the ignition is on the fan is on, I bought my electric fan at schmucks with a lifetime warranty so I just hid the damage and took it Back, My Motor only makes about 90 Hp on Paper, and I did not notice any difference in Power, I would think any increase from 90 ish would be very noticeable