Electric fan instead of fan clutch
 

Anyone here make the switch?Do you feel more power?Fuel mileage?Can you just use stock fan for AC,if you have no AC?
Trying to save hard earned cash.

IMHO, if you save any money on fuel at all (your right foot is likely to have a much larger effect), you will be a long time recovering the cost of an electric fan to replace the stock mechanical fan.

I think this was discussed in the diesel performance tuning section recently and the concensus was that there isn't a whole lot of improvement in power or fuel economy from switching a fan/fan clutch to an electric fan. I don't think the auxillary fan would be capable of removing enough heat from the radiator. Its not shrouded and the fan is just to small.

Here is the link
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/234663-mechanical-fan-vs-eletrical-fan-cooling-system.html

If the fan clutch fails, it usually fails by not releasing and giving constant airflow. If the electric fails, the lost air flow could cause overheating.

Cost
 

Well it looks like a clutch is over a $100,and a junkyard fan $20.
With the Great Depression 2 here,I'm trying to cut expenses.Mine is noisey in cold weather.Some say they will wipe out the radiator.

Go with a direct drive fan like the 240d has if you want to save money. I've run with an electric fan and they do not provide enough cooling capacity in the summer when heat loads are high. You could probably remove the fan for the winter.

Direct drive tell me how.Like a flex fan? mine has nylon blade.I saw somewhere a guy fitted a flex fan with a spacer,and bolts sheared.I sometimes see 4500rpms.

A 240d fan from the junkyard.

Thanks.

Go to the junkyard and find a transverse GM V8 and get a thermostatic relay from your local parts store and push it through the radiator fins carefully. I got mine from a '91 oldmobile for $10 at pick-your-part when my fan clutch seized up. I must say, there is some power to be had when the fan is off, but make sure your auxillary fan is in proper working order before going to electric, just in case of failure.

head of the bolt broke off, I am assuming the previous owner cracked it, and the fan eventually came off, going into the radiator and tore it up pretty good. I got a plastic one now.

Its a total waste of time.

The HP and economy difference is almost nonexistent. When the radiator is cool the fan is freewheeling and taking almost no power. The fan doesn't even start to lock up until 164*f air temperature (about 90*c coolant). You would need to be frequently driving in the mountains or towing a trailer for an electric fan to save any money.

The A/C fan isn't anywhere near big enough for cooling the engine.

If you want reliability stick with the clutch fan. It has 1 failure point- The clutch. Electric fans have 5 failure points- Motor, relay, temperature sensor/switch, fuse and many electrical connections.

OK,I've found a clutch at a very good price.Thanks for discussion.
Forced is my Idol.

Dang clutch was for metal fan.So got rid off fan and clutch.Using a E Fan.Wow what a difference.My clutch must have been locked all the time.I've got more power to the tires.

Can the fan BREAK if its direct shaft??? I mean How much stress can the fan handle till it turns into a grenade.....

The fan is not designed to go full engine RPM. A bad clutch is a problem.

wait a second. The clutch for the metal fans is different than the clutch for the plastic fans?

Yeah I have a plastic.However I've found too a Mustang E Fan is rated at 2800 cfm. So Jegs here I go.

that sucks. Anybody want a metal fan?

guess they have different flow rates.

At least some 240d's had no fan clutch, just a direct drive metal fan.

I once had a fan blade break off at 60 mph on a Toyota FJ55 Cruiser. Hell of a shock. Whole truck was vibrating like crazy. I thought I'd thrown a rod. Blade went up thru the radiator, straight thru the hood and up into the atmosphere. No prior indication of a problem. I now remember to keep my body out of line with the fan.

Its a completely different fan though.

The aluminum clutched fan is designed to never see more than 3500rpm with the clutch locked. If the clutch is seized solid the fan can be spun higher to its failure point.

Theoretically.

Personally I doubt that they would. I would think that the engineers at benz would design it to stay together in the event that the clutch binds up.

I have a vague recollection of a tab on the back of the clutch that enable a person to lock the clutch to the water pump and fix it in place should the clutch fail. This allows a person to get full cooling from a failed clutch. Am I just imagining this feature?

I didn't see any such tab on my car. And when the fan clutch failed, the fan basically freewheeled. The good news is my late W126 has two shrouded pusher fans for the air con, and those were able to keep it from overheating (I unplugged the temp sensor to make them come on all the time)

-Jason

I don't see one.

http://img.eautopartscatalog.com/hir...300&height=300
http://img.eautopartscatalog.com/hir...300&height=300

Here's a post from years ago that I made. That's what I was thinking about.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/457000-post4.html

Looka like that tab is on the van clutch.

In all of the cars that I have owned, 2/3 of them were electric cooling fans. None of them failed. I have had 4 mechanical fan clutches fail, all failing on rather than freewheeling.

The performance and economy of the 3 vehicles that I converted to electric cooling fans from mechanical was noticeable, but in most cases worth it when changing from a BROKEN mechanical fan but maybe not to convert from a working mechanical fan. In all cases, the properly sized and controlled electric cooling fans performed better than the original system.

hopefully you will come to your senses after being on this forum long enough.

Which electric fans were you considering?

done bought one for a Mustang conversion 3800 cfm,works great.Even wired the Mercedes aux fan in case of failure.16" trouqflex.

When the fan clutch on my 300TD went bad, it started freewheeling and wobbling -- definitely non-functional and dangerous. Having worked in an auto parts store and having been on other boards for other marques', I know of damaged radiators from clutch failure, although I'm sure some here will claim it could never happen in an MB.

I was able to get a SPAL 30101516 fan and pulse-width-modulated fan speed controller for less than the price of a new fan clutch, so I went that route.

I've got mine direct wired with switch.I only use it for city driving.I'm going to see if I can get a thermo fan switch.

e-fans
 

Check out my photobucket website i have 3 Bosch e-fan "only 2 showing new pictures not added yet" this week end i am doing major things to my car e-fan's are great your car warms up quicker, i have more things to say but i am too tired tonight to type them i will later! take care guys! ill update my pictures soon..................... hummmm BEER

The car won't warm up any quicker if your thermostat is working correctly.

i knew you were going to say that lance but i seen a tiny difference between both! i like the clutch fans but now as much as e-fans. especially Bosch e-fan's they blow so much cfm its insane ill take new pics this weekend! of my car and of my new High Performance Tuning Shop!

The electric fans will do the job when you're moving, and in cold weather Canada, but idling in traffic on a hot day you'll find that the alternator can't keep up with the electrical demand unless you upgrade the alt.

Mercedes for some reason wasn't very aggressive with alternator output through the mid-90s.

My next step is to purchase a 150 amp.That should give me extra power.But my alt still holds 14.5 volts running line heaters,filterheater,lights,heater on high,and fan.

That guy called "Joe Tech" on ebay has new fan clutches for many MBZ models for $98. It's aftermarket though, so beware.

until I came across this thread I didn't realize my fan was clutched. it appears I have the aluminum fan, and that the clutch has failed in the "always on" mode.

I went with fattywagons 85 amp. Its plug and play.Plenty power.Installing a Jegs fan control this week.Its adjustable.