I just wanted to see if anyone knows off hand how much cfm the stock fan on an 88 2.3 was? im having trouble with mine and was looking at a couple but want to at least match what I have or upgrade some. also how many amps does one pull thanks
The stock fan was weak at best for these things, i would guess maybe 500 cfm???
I would suggest getting a fan from a mid 90's Lincoln Mark VIII and or Thunderbirds (same fan). They kick major ass in the cooling department and much better than anything aftermarket. But the do draw 40 amps - but if you do a 3g alternator conversion (which i would recommend on general purpose) the extra amps are no problem. I did this to both my 88 and 93 mustangs and ran a fused lead from the battery to a 40 amp relay (easily found on several ford vehicles in the junkyard) and to the fan. I used the original positive feed from the fan as my relay activator. I have no problems keeping my cars cool.
Does your fan come on at all? If so, many times it isn't the fan, but the controller under the dash is shot. I went through this with my 88. The wiring harness was shot because the Ford engineers ran the main power to the fan thru this module and it is known to cook the module and the wiring - because of the amp draw of the original fan. I had to rob part of the wiring harness out of a 5.0 that goes to the module (5.0 cars don't have the electric fan, so this wiring harness is left under the dash - not plugged into anything - so it is nice and new).
The reason I know this is because my a/c clutch wouldn't engage - and the same module as mentioned controls the fan and the a/c clutch.
My fan was wired to run all the time when I got it and ive had wiring problems mainly things getting to hot and melting and it was traced back to the fan. just to test it I unhooked the fan and hooked it up strait to the batter while the car was on and the problem area that was getting to hot stayed cool. I was just going to pick up a new electric fan and get one of the controllers from summit to wire it up. I found a mark8 fan the other day in the junk yard but at this time don't really want to up grade everything. lol after seeing the 2 mark 8 motors I was more interested in getting the motors and wiring and doing a motor swap. thanks for the info
If you get the higher end Flex-a-lite electric fans, they can push 3,000 cfm on singles, and upwards of 5,000 cfm on dual fans. They are noisier than stock fans, and those numbers are probably optimistic, but they are rated the same way OE fans are, so as a relative comparison, it is still valid.
The stock fan would definitely move more than 500 cfm, I would say closer to 1500 cfm. Still, thats not a lot.
The stock fan controller is a bad design. I redone the wiring to operate a separate relay. Gets the high amps off the board. Of course relay could go near original location or under hood. Good thing about this is AC will turn the relay on. Maurice
Also the 3G upgrade is one of the best and easiest things I have done. http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w224/mgman75/trwwiring.jpg
I installed a turbo coupe dual fan from j.y. it bolts right up on my 89, then i installed a hayden adjustable fan controller from oreiley 30.00. i chose the radiator probe model, slipped it through from the front under the upper hose and it works trouble free