fan replacement

[DanHall]

We were going to head out for a nice evening at the local drive in. Made it about a mile and a half from the house and the throttle get stuck, engine revs, and then there is a loud bang and a puff of smoke right as I'm getting off the road and shutting her down. Open the hood and it looks like a plug wire managed to move and wedge itself in the spring on the throttle return and then the fan got into my brand new shroud. The bang was the better part of one fan blade hitting the underside of the hood and puff was just dust that had accumulated on the underside of the hood. Dislodged the plug wire, made sure the throttle would close and drove it back home - slowly since the fan now has a balance issue, go figure.

We ended up swapping cars and heading out again, met some friends and saw Insurgent. Movie wasn't good but we had fun anyway.

So the question is, do I just pick up a new flex fan and fix the cut in the shroud or should I go electric? If I go electric, should I wire directly to a keyed fuse block or control with a temperature switch?

[Gunnibronco]

I assume you are running v-belts, not serpentine.

If you don't want to do electric, there is a fairly cheap clutch fan set up you can add. Check this out:
http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81601

I've been running it since I went EFI, works great.

Flex fans are fine for highway driving, but not good for slower driving like trail running or rock crawling.

[DanHall]

Yep, v-belts. I dig the thought of better low speed cooling. Thanks!

Do electric fans work better? I was thinking electric only because modern cars all seem to have gone that way. No parasitic drain on engine power that way either but not sure on the downside.

[Viperwolf1]

Yep, v-belts. I dig the thought of better low speed cooling. Thanks!

Do electric fans work better? I was thinking electric only because modern cars all seem to have gone that way. No parasitic drain on engine power that way either but not sure on the downside.

Some electric fans work ok. They do have a parasitic drain on the engine. A good electric fan will draw between 40 and 60 amps. Problem is they don't work well with v-belts for two reasons. 1) The alternator load will become so great that a single belt may not be able to drive it without slippage. 2) There is not going to be enough space to mount the fan behind the radiator. They lose a lot of efficiency when used as pushers in front of the radiator.

[DanHall]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like a new new fixed pitch fan is in my future.

[ZOSO]

I have a 7blade fixed fan on my bronco. It works extremely well. It is a little noisey with higher rpm but for the amount of air it moves I'll take the noise.

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like a new new fixed pitch fan is in my future.

I have the fixed blade fan I took off my truck, for my clutch fan. I don't remember who I bought it from but it was a normal Bronco vendor. $20 + shipping if you want it.

[DanHall]

I assume you are running v-belts, not serpentine.

If you don't want to do electric, there is a fairly cheap clutch fan set up you can add. Check this out:
http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81601

I've been running it since I went EFI, works great.

Flex fans are fine for highway driving, but not good for slower driving like trail running or rock crawling.

Finally picked up the parts, test fit everything and the clutch is too long for my setup. I read somewhere that there are two different water pumps with one being nearly 3/4" longer. I must have that one...

I'll do some more measuring and probably order this one from BC Broncos... http://www.bcbroncos.com/store/product_ ... cts_id=104
Fixed pitch, no clutch, 17".

[Gunnibronco]

That sucks. I didn't know there were 2 different water pumps.

I have the rigid fan I'll sell for $20. I ran it for years before switching to the clutch fan.