After killing 2 mechanical style clutches this year, both while running the engine at about 4000 rpms for 4-5 minutes straight while climbing from Dillon, CO to the Eisenhower Tunnel, I decided to go with some electric fans.
First I considered piecing them together from other OE electric fans, like the Taurus or Lincoln Mark VIII, but I decided to go with the kit from Flex-a-lite (FLX-270). It has dual 15" diameter fans capable of 5000 cfm when on high and has all the brackets and variable speed controller in the kit.
The overall quality of the kit, I give it a B+. The fans, shroud and wiring seem to good quality, but the brackets left a little to be desired. I'm pretty sure I was either sent one wrong bracket, or they forgot one of the brackets and there was an extra (possibly for Lightning intercooler). So I had to get a little creative.
Here are the fans, ready to be installed:
One odd thing is that part of the install is to drill holes in the shroud and make a bunch of electrical connections. To me this is something that could probably be done at the manufacturer. But whatever, I know how to drill holes and crimp connectors.
I had an extra radiator laying around that I could get the fitment of the brackets right. I'm glad I did too. As you can see, I had to clearance the bracket to get around the upper fastener on the passenger side.
The driver side is a different story. This is the side I'm sure I'm missing the bracket. It should be a 2 piece bracket like the passenger side. So I had to get creative and I mounted this bracket directly to the shroud.
But during install in the truck, the driver side bracket had to be further modified to clear the upper transmission cooler line. I had to grind down the top to clear it. And I couldn't get it in anyway with the driver side bracket installed.
Once installed, the wiring was pretty straight forward. I ended up using the temp probe through the radiator fins because the hose adapter was too skinny. I could have drilled and tapped the thermostat housing, but I want to make sure it worked before I took it to the next level.
Initial impressions are very favorable. Cold start idle is eerily quiet since the fans aren't running. Once the thermostat opens, both fans kick on and cool the radiator down. I didn't touch the temp setting on the controller. AC performance at idle is great (although it was only about 80 when I tried). Driving impressions are much better- especially after driving around for 2 weeks with a completely engaged fan clutch. I've tracked every gas fill up since I've owned it, so it'll be interesting to see if there are any improvements there.
