FlyingDog

I read "marginally effective" as "it doesn't work well enough".

slate blue

I am doing this conversion on my 84 Euro, I am changing the air cond line and removing the old mechanical fan boss, I also bought from Motorsport the variable fan speed controller. The controller is small light and smart, not too expensive either. I hope to pick up some power through doing away with unnecessary losses.

Cheers Greg

Drewster67

I went electric on my track shark.

The 16" condensor fan (pusher) was installed to sit flush with the devek radiator. The 16" 2950 cfm perma cool fan was mounted as a puller on the other side. The PC fan was spliced into the condensor fan wiring. In turn they both turn on at the same time. So far no problems ........

heinrich

Thanks Drewster, since I have the S4 stuff I'd like to use it. So does the ac fan only work when ac is on, and so also your permacool? Did you bypass the ac circuitry?

SharkSkin

I think he bypassed the AC existence...

Herr-Kuhn

I tried a Spal electric fan on my 4.5 liter. The current draw of the two fans was way too much for the system to handle. I removed it and went back to the viscous fan. In my opinion the viscous coupling fan is much better ont the early car, especially since the electricals are not terribly strong.

Drewster67

No A/C at All. - The fans turn on as soon as it reaches temp - and it turns off as soon as it drops.

Louie928

I gave this a 2nd thought regarding the aftermarket fan not working. The actual problem was the radiator not cooling properly. It had some slimy stuff inside which inhibited cooling. We put on the Devek fan setup (before we knew about the rad) and it still didn't cool very good. Replaced the radiator and all was well, but kept the Devek fans. Doesn't the fan support also serve as the throttle linkage mount? I can't remember, and don't have one to look at right now. There was some reason to keep at least part of the fan support.

FlyingDog

Thanks for the clarification Louie. The fan support doesn't do anything except support the fan on 16V cars. Maybe it does something on 85-86 32V cars.

Louie928

I wired the Spal fans to the front +12v electric post. I went through an adjustable temperature thermostat switch, and 25 amp fuse. It worked just fine. The fuse was a bit undersized because each fan drew 11 amps, but the fuse never blew. I kept the front pusher fan which comes on with the A/C compressor, and I think if there is an overtemp condition too.

AJK

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but what is the advantage of the electric fans over the belt driven fan? Power loss only when needed?

Louie928

I suppose some power/gas savings at higher road speed where you don't need the engine driven fan. In my case, the engine fan viscous coupling was bad and the owner didn't want to mess with fixing it so changed over to the electric fan.

Herr-Kuhn

Louie, that is similar to what I did...but I was running both electric fans at once and the current draw was way too high. I removed the Spal (21 amp unit) and went back to the mechanical. It works better and doesn't pull down the voltage. Must be the French alternator in my car.

If I lose voltage, my MAF/Calabrator goes haywire, it needs enough overhead to properly work.

A lot of new cars still use mechanical fans with an electric backup.

heinrich

Advantage is, a far more efficient cooling system. I have owned and loved many 928's and the S4 system is perfect. The S system (when in good hape) works fine, but the fan clutch is often not fuly operational. Plus, I like the idea of dumping that extra stuff driven by belt. AND I have the S4 parts handy.