Rad fan removal?
 

I've been searching, but I have found very little on this subject

I am near Toronto, winter is coming, how about just taking off my clutch driven fan?? I read about one guy who has taken his off and not replaced it with a electric fan. I think I will try to just remove the fan and see if it overheats, then look into an electric fan in the spring, if I need it.

Peter

Yes, taking off a belt-driven fan will help FE, but of course you'll have to watch the temp gauge like a hawk.

Your heater could serve as an emergency backup (hot heat, high fan setting)

But you should also be able to get a fan/shroud for cheap from a wrecker. You could then either wire it to a manual switch (still means you have to watch the temp gauge like a hawk though). Or wire it to a temp sensor to trigger automatically.

What car do you have? Most have electric fans these days, excluding RWD.

(duhh, I see mighty max now...yes, get an electric fan)

Electric fan would be the way to go (this is more often done for performance, but FE would benefit also), but would have to find a way of adding a temp sensor/switch to operate it.

PS, I have a couple of spare fans/motors/shrouds. If you're interested in making a small donation to Project Forkenswift, PM me and we can haggle over one! :) (Though I still think you can get something cheap from a wrecker).

Well, for those who might not know what it is, I have a Mitsubishi Mighty Max, also know as a Dodge D50, which is a small pickup like a Ford Ranger, 5spd diesel 4X4. I am not sure if the fan is on a belt or a clutch, but it seems to run all the time. Does that mean a belt? Do clutch driven fans run all the time or do they have a temp sensor?

Clutch based fans spin all the time, but only "run" when the clutch locks up, dependent on heat. On my Jeep the engine sounds like a turbine when the fan clutch locks. The clutch (usually a large silver disk) is the closest thing to a sensor that element of your cooling system has.

If you got e-fan, depending on how the fan mounts to the accessory drive, you may have to replace your water pump, if your fan mounts to the water pump pulley. The fan has placed a load on the water pump bearings causing certain kinds of wear, once you remove the fan, this wear can cause the pump shaft to wobble, trashing your water pump.

For a fan controller, you might want to try out this place https://www.dccontrol.com/

I have a similar setup waiting to go into the Jeep (DC Controller and a fan out of a Ford Taurus), most Jeepers report a 2 MPG increase and better cooling reliability.

Waterpump actually, or at least on my 2WD one I sold six odd years ago.

They were clutch driven if memory serves.

Remove the fan
 

Go ahead and remove the belt driven fan. You'll probably be able to keep the pulley on to drive the water pump by re-using the nuts with some washers to take the place of the thickness of the fan mount to the water pump.
On the three of my vehicles I've done this on ('88 Mazda P/U, '89 Nissan 240SX and '96 Ford Ranger all over a period of 11 years) I have had no problems in most weather conditions. Only in the summer and in traffic did I have to turn the heater on full blast to help keep the engine cool. I did not install an electric fan in any of the instances, but do live in rural areas where driving in traffic is not all that common. It really is surprising how only a few miles per hour can make a big drop in temperature, 15 mph is plenty of speed to keep the engine cool even without the fan. In all cases removing the fan it's shroud an anything else that is not really used in the engine compartment really makes working on the engine easy - almost like the good old days. I drive old vehicles because I'm cheap and know how to keep them going, making it easy is half the battle.
Go ahead and do it, you can always put it back on in the summer if you get nervous.

I'm curious why auto manufacturers often use an electric fan, but not an electric water pump. They could use the same motor to drive both.

It's common practice in V-8 race engines to use an electric water pump in order to eliminate power losses at high rpm. It seems to me that short-trip FE would benefit greatly from an electric water pump, because the water pump wouldn't turn on until the engine reached operating temperature.

Fan Clutch Failure
 

A while back (1993), the fan-clutch failed on my Dad's 1988 Olds Cutlass Classic (RWD). The shop replaced it with one that was much more aggressive, and seemed to be engaged 100% of the time. The 180-hp V-8 barely had enough power to start out with, then this really zapped the power and FE. It sounded like a street sweeper after that.

BION, he still has it today, with 80K original miles. It did spring a leak in the radiator recently, tho. My 2nd Cousin drives it regularly now, but she's looking to buy a Fit :thumbup: for better FE and, well, some reliability too ;)

LSS, older vehicles seem to really need the movement of air. The newer the car, the less airflow, it seems.

RH77