Anyone Feel Like Running a Mechanical Fan?

[UNGN]

When the viscous fan clutch went bad in my 6.0L Yukon XL, the fan hit the shroud and broke a blade off. I thought an engine mount broke, but no, just the viscous clutch gave out and went wobbly.. I was 700 miles from home on vacation so I had to buy a new fan and clutch...$140 that would have easily bought a brand new new dual Electric fan. When clutch went out in my SC360 in the 1980's The fan pinholed the radiator and I had a flight to catch and 100 miles of driving across Arizona with no fan and a leaking radiator. Electric fans weren't viable options in the '80's So I let the car bleedout at the airport parking lot then flew back 2 weeks later with a fan clutch in my checked luggage and swapped the radiator in a hotel parking lot, using the waste basket to catch the fluid - they loved that. Don't be stupid like me. Get out, now.

If you just want to "cruise around" I'm sure a viscous fan is fine, but if it can't stand the rigors of "wife's daily driver" duty its not going to like 6500 RPM shifts or track days.

As an added bonus, like any obsolete technology the manufacturing goes to lower and lower cost sources and the quality eventually goes completely to ****. Anybody buy a $250 Powermaster or a GN plastic MAF or $25 shipped regular old shock absorbers lately - the ones where the nuts strip when you tighten them with a 1/4 inch drive rachet? Top notch quality, there. I'm sure clutching fans will only get better.

 

[L67ss]

I think what a lot of the "electric fans rob equal HP" guys forget is alternators have come a long way in the last 20 years. Majority of us aren't running 60 amp alts anymore. I mean even my dd has a 125 amp alt. The 30 amp draw for the fans would barely kick most modern alts on. And freiburger stated he had already done an electric fan dyno

 

[1STLATIGERDIVISON]

I had dual electric 14" fans I liked the set up but they were worthless as far as cooling. That's on the car in the photo to left. Went back stock clutch fan with shroud began to cool well. Definitely pulled more air to cool the engine that had a lot of $$$ in. Never could figure out why the twin electrics wouldn't cool. The radiator was a brand new 3 row Champion aluminum radiator maybe u guys could advise me with possible answers. The car dynos just a bit over 400 hp. and isn't stock thank to anyone that passes on ideas certainly appreciated. One last note I used the OEM temp gauge in the SS & installed one routed from the intake manifold they are within 8 degrees of each other.

 

[UNGN]

For Max cooling dual electric fans need be the "shrouded" type. You can't zip tie two unshoulded fans on the back of radiator and expect it to cool like a shrouded fan. When the vehicle is stopped,there is zero air flowing through an unshrouded fan where a fan isn't and its worse than zero air, because hot engine air is going forward through the radiator. 30-40% of the radiator might be doing nothing without a fan shroud.

I dual shrouded fans weren't cooling a small block, they weren't running at 12 volts.