fan clutch? is it necessary???

[deftsound]

hey guys i just have a quick question, my car does not have a fan clutch, it never did have one when i bought it, right now it just has a spacer and no clutch, so the fan turns at a continuous speed the whole time. My question is, how much hp am i losing by not having a fan clutch, and two, is it really necessary to have a fan clutch?

 

[bmorrisj]

well with the fan clutch the fan will spin loosely and leech less while the engine is cool/cold or your at speed on the freeway without your foot in it...

 

[v8only]

you're gonna be losing a decent amount of power. just recently, my brothers fan clutch started to fail on him, and completely lock up after 5 minutes of driving, even though the temp was cool. everytime it was locked up, it would considerably bog the engine down, it def was VERY noticable. Get yourself a fan clutch so it's not robbing your hp all the time. consider a good electric fan setup too.

 

[Boss_Mustang_69]

The difference in horespower will not be noticable, it can be fixed down the road, but don't stress about it. You would lose 5-8 hp tops, nothing that would even be apparent in a quick race on the street.

 

[Michael Yount]

I see it differently - even with the thermal clutch, the mechanical fan robs 5-8 HP. With no clutch to limit things, if it has the stock fan on it (are you sure someone didn't put a 'flex-a-lite' fan on it - those require removing the clutch) and it's spinning at engine speed, I'd bet it takes a good 12-15HP to turn it at 5000 rpm - and most of that wasted. If it's a stock fan, get a clutch, or switch to electric fan.

 

[HISSIN50]

nicely put Michael.

Deft, if it is hot in your neck of Texas, get a proper fan clutch (I recommend the HD units). you should notice a nice difference.

good luck.

 

[HardmanGT]

I once swapped a Flex O Lite fan into my 90GT. A very noticable drop in power. That thing was outta there after a week. I went with a Black Magic electric after that. Quicker warm up and more power. The car was also quieter and felt smoother, too.

 

[racerraj]

I noticied a seat of the pants difference going from a working clutch fan to a electric fan. Without the clutch, I would think the higher the rpm, the more power you are losing.

Go electric, maybe a Taurus 3.8 fan with a DCCONTROL fan controller.

Roger

 

[87TTopGT]

The fan doesn't turn at constant speed, it varies directly with engine speed because it is driven by pulleys connected to the crank. My fan clutch went out on me a few months ago, and when I would wind out the RPMs that damn fan sounded like a 747 taking off! Replaced it with a Taurus 3.8 electric and it made a very noticeable difference. Feels like it revs much quicker and better throttle response. Cleans up the engine bay nicely, too.

 

[PNY PWR]

I tried a flex fan once, it killed the power big time. If it's a stock fan mounted direct then that's really killing it. Go with an electric fan, might as well free up power that's already there.

 

[Turbo6]

You might want to look into a "police service" fan clutch as an upgrade although at $100 or so the money may be better spent on an electric fan set up. I put a cheapo parts store clutch on mine and two years later when I sold the car it was still going strong.....

 

[Michael Yount]

"I would think the higher the rpm, the more power you are losing. " Correctomundo.

 

[deftsound]

no its not a stock fan, not sure what kind but i know its not stock, its a 6 blade. Yea those fan clutches arent cheap, i guess i mine as well just use that money and save up for an electric fan, my only qustion is how would you wire an electric fan? Id have no idea how to set it up...

 

[latham83]

yea dude i think i wasted my money on a HD fan clutch..i dunno everyone said it should be impossible to spin after its hot? should it? when i shut off my car its not like extremely loose but u can turn it easy..and when its cold its like harder to spin?? wtf....i spent like 80 dollars on that..and 40 on the stupid fan blades..ugh...

 

[Look Its Aaron]

The difference in horespower will not be noticable, it can be fixed down the road, but don't stress about it. You would lose 5-8 hp tops, nothing that would even be apparent in a quick race on the street.

Hey not to sound like a prick dude, but I have had that Avatar since I registered here. (November 2001), and right now I got really ****ing confused saying to myself "when they hell did post this crap?"

I'd appreciate it if you changed it.

thanks.

 

[Look Its Aaron]

your probably have a flex fan. I have one as well. Will ditch it later for an electric set up.

 

[latham83]

well also when my car was geting dynoed he didnt like that while it was idling there it was hitting 195,205...so he told me a trick to do is get a water pump pulley from a 93 Cobra..it is smaller..and spins the water pump faster..so i ordered one from ford..like 25 bucks..think it will work?

 

[Look Its Aaron]

uhm, if the water pump pully is smaller wouldn';t the water pump turn slower?

If you go to get a set of underdrive pullies, the water pump is actually an over drive pulley, it is larger than stock.

 

[latham83]

lol no...go tell that to the guys that sponsor pro charger and win drag champonships cause one of them just told me it was a good trick for cooling...in person

 

[latham83]

think about physics dude...its just like when you get big mudder tires on ur truck...the gauge reads different than what ur acutally going...the bigger the wheel.the long time its going to take to spin that thing...if it didnt even have a pully and the belt sat directly onto a shaft, it would be a direct spin.