svt4me

I have seen a few swaps to electric fans and was wondering if it is a good idea, my current fan needs a new clutch in it and the shroud/housing its toast so all together is going to be near 50 to replace, also the same price as a new electric fan on ebay. I want to go this route or get a stock electric fan from a junk yard for a few bucks. Should I stick with a clutch fan? also i may go through some water on the trails nothing too deep 2-3 feet max and don't know if this should influence my decision. It will be on a 96 cherokee 4.0 and I will have it wired up to be on constantly while motor is running. Thoughts and concerns appreciated.

cpttuna

the shroud shoud be about $16.00(w/o shipping) and the clutch fan about $40.00(NAPA 272310). If you are doing the work yourself($0 labor).

Northwoods Snowman

Yeah... That's why he said it was about $50 to replace.
I can't offer any advise on which way to go, but I'm wondering how you know that the fan clutch has failed?

TheJerm

I love my taurus electrical fan and would do it again. I noticed immediately why race cars and hot rod-ers get rid of mech fans, much better throttle response and you probably save a few ponies from engine drag.

jakbob

if you go the electric fan route, you are going to experience longer warm up times (the viscous clutch in the fan determines the fans speed vs. engine temp). you are going to need to wire it to a kill switch for water crossings (since it will be on all the time)

djb383

Just a few facts:

1. New fan clutch and shroud are cheap and is a 15-20 min "drop in" install.
2. Doubt seriously, but who knows for sure, that a ebay fan will pull as much CFM air flow as stock efan.
3. Stock efan will NOT pull as much air flow as the belt fan with good a clutch.
4. 2 stock efans equals less air flow than stock set-up
5. The XJ dinky radiator is the weak link in the XJ cooling system, not the fan.
6. The Ford/Lincoln efan is not aftermarket and is one big, potent mama jama fan....

and....

7. TheJerm has one kick-*** multiple cooling fan(s) set-up but I believe even he will say it was far from a 15-20 min drop in install. LOL

Asses ones techno skills before attempting to mod the stock cooling fan set-up. Not knowing positively that a cooling fan mod WILL INCREASE CFM AIR FLOW OVER STOCK could be a bad news disappointment.

TheJerm

lol true it initially was an 4-6 hr project to make it fit and get the basics for the wiring down. It wasnt as cheap as replacing stock clutch fan and really took me a year to get the wiring how i want it. The jest of it is the thermo controller controls low and aux fan, a kill switch for the thermo controller and another switch for the taurus fan, 3 position so high, off, low

Breakdown of my set-up:
$75 brand new taurus fan from ebay
$25 thermo controller
$5 relay plug
$5-15 for relays (1 was 40/30amp other is 50/40amp)
$5-10 for 2 switchs
<$5 for fuse holders
then whatever the wire was, I used real large wire since my relays are next to the batter and so is the fan.

svt4me

With the hood popped, I gave the engine a little throttle and you could here the fan accelerate, then instantly slow back down, so I am just assuming, also I believe they are supposed to be replaced somewhere around 50xxx, my jeep has 225k and I am doing a small rebuild with a 2 core radiator, new head gasket, new coolant system, injectors, and ignition. So I am just trying to decide my fan route at the moment.

TheJerm

The usual method to test them is easy to turn cold, hard to turn by hand hot.

Leigonaire762

knowing that im kinda getting off subject but willing to absorb the ridicule foe asking anyway... my 93 2wd has been burning through water pumps (3 in 6 yrs) and i always get my parts @ napa so i was wondering if the clutch could b bad... i tried to turn it cold=easy hot not sure will check in a minute (my 94 has its battery) so what do u guys think?

and i was thinking about the elec. mod but no thanks sounds easier said than done...

djb383

Water pump leaks?......or makes noise?

svt4me

With a stock e fan put in place of the clutch fan on a on off switch my jeep stays coolers than it ever has before on an off road journey and plenty cool on road, when going slow I don't think there is any way my clutch fan would have put out anywhere near as much as it never really saw above 1000rpm and the e fan is full blast so I enjoyed the swap

djb383

With a properly functioning and engaged fan clutch, the belt fan will pull more air than the efan, at just off idle.

N8-96XJ

I agree with djb383. Hard to beat a properly set up clutch fan and factory shroud. And i hear that the ZJ clutch fans are an upgrade. They pull better i guess? Just a thought.

djb383

What I'm wondering is, does the ZJ fan clutch ever disengage/freewheel when a dinky XJ fan is mounted to it? We tried a HD fan clutch (not the ZJ clutch) on our XJ 2 years ago. Constant roar as it would not disengage/freewheel (XJ fan was too small). Promptly removed it.