Seeking electric fan advice.

I have a 2001 Blazer LS, 4.3L, 4x4 offroad modle and I want to replace the belt drivin fan with a new electric one. I've been considering several differnt fans such as the Flex-a-lite Black Magic, dual slim line, or one of the fans made by Perma-Cool.
What types of headaches I'm I in store for? Which Fan would you recomend?

I am no help on it, but keep us posted on how that goes. I'd like to know myself.

I have a Jeep pick-up one time, it had a belt driven fan on it as well as an electric fan that would kick on from time to time. You couldn't make that thing over heat, I thought that was a good design, though it wouldn't be possible on something like the blazer. I just liked it.

The past couple vehicles I've had electric fans on them, I kind of like them better, but I haven't had any problem with the blazer over heating yet.

I have a 2001 Blazer LS, 4.3L, 4x4 offroad modle and I want to replace the belt drivin fan with a new electric one. I've been considering several differnt fans such as the Flex-a-lite Black Magic, dual slim line, or one of the fans made by Perma-Cool.
What types of headaches I'm I in store for? Which Fan would you recomend?

MAy I ask why you are doing this?

I have an 01 xtreme and I put the flex-a-lite dual 12" fans on it. Honestly I really didn't notice a power increase if that is why you want to put them on and I don't keep track of the gas mileage. The flex-a-lite fans suck in my opinion, my blazer overheats during the summer if I am in traffic with the A/C on. I am living in Turkey, where its over 100 deg everyday during the summer, but I never had a problem with the clutch fan. If you want to go with electrics go to your local parts store and pick up 2 individual 12' fans with an adjustable thermostat kit and a/c relay. You will probably save at least $100 over the flex-a-lite fans and you don't have to worry about the flex-a-lite shroud that blocks airflow through the radiator except where the 2 fans are. You should also know that if you put on electrics and cut back your original shroud you will need to fabricate something to hold the radiator in place because the shroud is what holds the radiator secure. Also, always set the electric fans to pull air, they are more efficient that way.

There is no real reason people should switch over to electric fans.

The fan clutch diengages and practically freewheels when you are going down the highway and engages at idle.

I ended up with a 96 ford taurus e-fan.... 30 bux at almost any wrecking yard. Benifits, less drag on the engine, little bit better gas miledge, no jet roar sound when the truck 1st starts...(added about 3mpg to my miledge) 2800cfm low, 3800cfm on high.... Easy install...Won't even have to change it when I drop the v8 in..

The primary reason I am against electric fans in these trucks is simple:

There is simply not nough overhead on the stock electrical system to run them properly. You will shave *years* of life off of your alternator's regulator in just weeks. You cannot upgrade without taking something away elsewhere, unless you plan your upgrade from top to bottom. If you *MUST* make the choice to go over to electrics, stop and pick up a 150 amp alternator and an upgraded wire harness for it too. That should cover your basics and keep your system battery topped off when your new air screw turns on. Make sure you pick up appropriate fuses/breakers for the fans if they are not included in the kit - and fer god's sakes plan the system to use relays too. I have seen a few too many "home improvements" go wrong with other friends' 4x4's when they set fire to something under the hood with an electric fan "upgrade".

And since you are off-roading, include an override cut-out switch. NO electric fan works well when under water, or caked in mud. You will need to turn them off for deep water crossings or until you can free them from mud and gunk. A locked motor will catch fire if you were too generous with the fuses/breakers.

The primary reason I am against electric fans in these trucks is simple:

There is simply not nough overhead on the stock electrical system to run them properly. You will shave *years* of life off of your alternator's regulator in just weeks. You cannot upgrade without taking something away elsewhere, unless you plan your upgrade from top to bottom. If you *MUST* make the choice to go over to electrics, stop and pick up a 150 amp alternator and an upgraded wire harness for it too. That should cover your basics and keep your system battery topped off when your new air screw turns on. Make sure you pick up appropriate fuses/breakers for the fans if they are not included in the kit - and fer god's sakes plan the system to use relays too. I have seen a few too many "home improvements" go wrong with other friends' 4x4's when they set fire to something under the hood with an electric fan "upgrade".

And since you are off-roading, include an override cut-out switch. NO electric fan works well when under water, or caked in mud. You will need to turn them off for deep water crossings or until you can free them from mud and gunk. A locked motor will catch fire if you were too generous with the fuses/breakers.

Plus the standard fan clutch releases when you are driving and practically freewheels.

The primary reason I am against electric fans in these trucks is simple:

There is simply not nough overhead on the stock electrical system to run them properly. You will shave *years* of life off of your alternator's regulator in just weeks. You cannot upgrade without taking something away elsewhere, unless you plan your upgrade from top to bottom. If you *MUST* make the choice to go over to electrics, stop and pick up a 150 amp alternator and an upgraded wire harness for it too. That should cover your basics and keep your system battery topped off when your new air screw turns on. Make sure you pick up appropriate fuses/breakers for the fans if they are not included in the kit - and fer god's sakes plan the system to use relays too. I have seen a few too many "home improvements" go wrong with other friends' 4x4's when they set fire to something under the hood with an electric fan "upgrade".

And since you are off-roading, include an override cut-out switch. NO electric fan works well when under water, or caked in mud. You will need to turn them off for deep water crossings or until you can free them from mud and gunk. A locked motor will catch fire if you were too generous with the fuses/breakers.


I would disagree with some of what you say. Take for example the Ford Taurus... Roughly the same amount of draw on the engine harness/alt power, and they run a 90 amp alt. Stock on ours is 105. I most certainly agree with using relays, I would also stress hooking the fan/relay setup directly to the battery as an independant system using no less than 10gauge wiring. Most people's mistakes stem from tying into the existing low gauge harness but keeping the fan independant solves the problem and really doesn't affect the alternator. I've been running the same fan through 2 trucks and it has not affected either. Infact the only time my volt meter drops is at idle when all my fogs/headlights are on (yes, I have an upgraded harness for that) But overall an e-fan won't do any damage to an alt unless the system is wired improperly (again where most problems stem from) Using 2 30 amp relays w/ a temp probe wired properly works very well.

The mention of a heavy duty alternator was an attempt to also get the upgraded harness. ;) Build it right, build it tough I say. And correct - dual relays rated @ 30 amps is usually sufficient for just about any fan you can manage to tuck under the hood. Not to one-up here, but try looking instead into what you can find off of an Isuzu Rodeo in the rust-yard. Their "stock" cooling for even a 4 banger is quite impressive and since it is made by GM, nearly a perfect match for anywhere there is room to put it down.

If I was going to do the efan conversion I'd invest in one of these:
http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/html/vsc.html

It reduces start up and some idling power consumption by 60% and allows you to customize threshold temperatures. Plus it has the relays in it so no extra components/ crazy wiring. 90 bucks well spent.

I would only do it if you wanted to upgrade to v8.

camaro/ taurus fan: $40
flexalite varaiable speed controller: $90

I ended up with a 96 ford taurus e-fan.... 30 bux at almost any wrecking yard. Benifits, less drag on the engine, little bit better gas miledge, no jet roar sound when the truck 1st starts...(added about 3mpg to my miledge) 2800cfm low, 3800cfm on high.... Easy install...Won't even have to change it when I drop the v8 in..


When you installed theTarus fan did you run into any mounting problems?

I was told by the tech support rep at Flexalite (Bob was his name), as long as you have a battery with 1000 cold cranking amps, you would be fine to run 4 electric fans. 2 as pushers (outside the rad) and 2 as pullers (inside the rad).

These fans would replace the stock clutch fan.

I was told by the tech support rep at Flexalite (Bob was his name), as long as you have a battery with 1000 cold cranking amps, you would be fine to run 4 electric fans. 2 as pushers (outside the rad) and 2 as pullers (inside the rad).

These fans would replace the stock clutch fan.
He wanted you to buy 4 fans? :cwm27: That's overkill. I'm surprised he didn't try telling you that putting 3 more on the rear bumper, would take 2 seconds off your 0-60 time.

He wanted you to buy 4 fans? :cwm27: That's overkill. I'm surprised he didn't try telling you that putting 3 more on the rear bumper, would take 2 seconds off your 0-60 time.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
:evillol:

I was told by the tech support rep at Flexalite (Bob was his name), as long as you have a battery with 1000 cold cranking amps, you would be fine to run 4 electric fans. 2 as pushers (outside the rad) and 2 as pullers (inside the rad).

These fans would replace the stock clutch fan.

Why the fark would you install 4 fans when 1 fan would do more than enough?

I took Rliths advice and installed the Taurus e-fan, and it's the best mod that I've done on my Blazer.

I didn't have an overheating problem, but my Blazer got HOT while off roading in the summer. (I crawl up steep hills with a full load and trailer, with boat on) And after I installed the fan it constantly runns at a nice temputure.

It was a really easy install, and I was done everything including the wiring in about 2 hours.

The only thing that I did differently than Rlith is I used a BMW 2 speed Thermal switch, and had an adaptor made up so it goes into a spare hole in my intake manifold.

I don't think that I thanked Rlith for the idea yet.
Thanks Rlith