Fuzzydicedad

Hi - I'm FuzzyDiceRules Dad (69 Mach I, 420 HP Engine, March Serpentine, etc). After 2 weeks in operation my new SPAL 2070 CFM fan died (motor completely dead). Unfortunately, I bought the fan over 1 year ago (as part of the parts gathering phase) and it is therefore out of warranty.
I'm considering going to a manual fan but my question is:

1. Whats preferred, electric or manual
2. What has more cooling power.
3. If electric, what brand. The guy at Mustangs Plus recommended Flex-A-Lite Low Boy Electric Fan at 2500 CFM which should be plenty. I'm definately not going back to a SPAL
4. I'm considering just leaving the fan on all the time and getting rid of the fan thermostat. I like cool running engines (just put in a 160 degree thermostat)
What's the recommendation

Any help, suggestions would be appreciated. It's not pretty looking down on your new gauges and seeing 240 degrees on the brand new engine (and stopped at the worlds longest stoplight)

FuzzyDiceDad ...

paddy187

I would write to spal and give them some words, 1) you vent your spleen very healthly for you 2) you never know they might give you a new one 3) so you will not recommend there products to any of the mustang forums that you are a active member of.

ford65stang

im also interested in what others will have to say....cuz im getting a whole new set up.....and that was going to be my next question to ask....

Gun Jam

+1 on spal contact tell them just what you told us.
They are an upstanding company as far as I know I guess we will find out just how upstanding.

The manual fan constantly robs HP and is an utter waste above 20 mph.
A clutch fan would be better.

I have the black magic electric by flexalite (I think) been on there 5+ years daily driver never an issue runs great.

Some will say electric robs HP by putting a load on the alternator (which is true) but you need to remember that is only comes on at speeds below 10 mph usually then off right away when above 20 mph.

Gun

Toddman0025

throw a lincoln/taurus fan in there

rmodel65

+1 the lincolnm fan pulls more air that the tarurus fan something like 3600scf i beileve and can be had for the total price of 20-40$ at a junkyard and theres an unlimited supply between the two (the tarurus uses the sqame motor but the pitch of the blades are different)

Brandontyler65

what year and you might as well grab one of their alternators too they are nice i put one on my truck i got the 130Amp one off of a taurus and its might nice my lites never dim and it has a nice internal regulator

rmodel65

the mark 8 are the 93 and up i believe any year tarurus has the fans and alternators

Scott H.

As new as it is, it should still look like it came right out of the box. Might include a picture with the letter. Spal is an OEM supplier, their stuff is normally good, and they do have a good reputation.

Just my opinions to your questions

1). I like electric, more efficient (like has been stated by Gun Jam above
2). Mechanical fan has more cooling power. Definitely think about a quality clutch fan, if you go mechanical.
3). I like the Flex-a-light Black magic Extreme, High end Spal stuff. Taurus did have an issue with fan motors dying so if you go that way (and it's a great inexpensive way to go) get one from the newest vehicle you can find, or buy a new replacement fan motor.
4). While Fords like to run cooler than Chevy's, I'd suggest regulating your temp at 180*F. The car burns off crankcase emissions better for less sludge, and acidic formations. I'm a huge fan (dumb pun intended) of the newer high end fan controls. They use PWM for easy start, and efficient running.
No mater what electric fan you go with, you need proper wiring, and a good altenator. Something in the neighbor hood of 80A would work well.
One last thing. No matter which way you go, a quality fan shroud that covers the whole core, and seals tight to the radiator is the way to go.

Good luck.

Colorado_Mustang

I had an electric for a while. But, I was disappointed with both the noise and how much it was pulling my engine down at idle (200-300 rpm) versus the flex fan I had been running. And, that is with a 100A 1-wire alternator and undersize crank pulley. I spent (wasted) $300+ dollars on a setup that is now gathering dust. I have my flex fan sitting right in the mouth of the shroud and have no cooling issues with a 11.7:1 302 built to run hard.

About the t-stat, I built my engine to run a 160* stat, but I had to make sure my machinist knew that's what I was going to run (different tolerances). Most engines are machined to run a 192* stat nowadays.