electric fan swap

afjeep2082 · Mar 5, 2005

Ok I'm looking into doing this swap with this (http://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/cooling_fans.htm) my question is what do you do about the belt? get a smaller one? or do you leave the pully from the old mechanical and just remove the blades?

Bender · Mar 5, 2005

Personally I just took the fan clutch and blades off and ground the mounting studs down so they'd be flush with the original nuts I put back on to hold the pulley in place.

rockwerks · Mar 5, 2005

So why do you want ot do it in the first place? Besides throw money away?

jeepcherokee95 · Mar 5, 2005

I am having the same problem, My fan won't fit if I keep the original fan blade pulley`and I am trying to figure out how to "notch" a bracket down by the balancer so a new belt will ride. I have cutting torch and can notch it that way but I am worried that the heat will in some way harm the block because it is so close.

For those of you who are wondering which bracket I am talking about...

If you stand in front of the vehicle an look at the harmonic balancer it is just to the left - there is a space of about 2 inches seperating them, I think it is part of the alternator bracket mount but not sure.

JC95

MachineMan · Mar 5, 2005

A month ago on this forum there was a fan discussion that had a link to some site that did this. The guy took the pulley off and was able to use a TJ belt or something. Do a search fo fan conversions or similar and check the links.

MachineMan · Mar 5, 2005

OK, I found the link: http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoElectricFan.htm

jeepcherokee95 · Mar 5, 2005

Yes this is what I was referring to but I am not seeing an adjustable alternator, it looks like my belt adjustment is done on the power steering pump! is this where the normal adjustment is?

The obstruction is the same one I am talking about I think.....

Just afraid to spend the money on the belt and have it shred to pieces by a bracket or bolt.

things that make you go HMMM.......

Thanks, JC95

DeftwillP · Mar 5, 2005

Take the whole fan pulley off and shave the mount down. Get a shorter belt.

hint: 795k6

Dr. Dyno · Mar 5, 2005

jeepcherokee95 said:
I am having the same problem, My fan won't fit if I keep the original fan blade pulley`and I am trying to figure out how to "notch" a bracket down by the balancer so a new belt will ride. I have cutting torch and can notch it that way but I am worried that the heat will in some way harm the block because it is so close.

For those of you who are wondering which bracket I am talking about...

If you stand in front of the vehicle an look at the harmonic balancer it is just to the left - there is a space of about 2 inches seperating them, I think it is part of the alternator bracket mount but not sure.

JC95

It IS part of the alternator mounting bracket and you can simply use a grinder to notch the bracket to allow enough clearance for the belt to ride between the crank pulley and the alternator.
I already have dual electric fans so my fan pulley is redundant. It's only acting as an idler pulley so I'm planning to get rid of it and grind the alternator mounting bracket in the same fashion. I'll need a ~16" shorter belt (2050-2100mm in length vs stock 2480mm) to make it work. Here are before and after pics of my intended mod:

jeepcherokee95 · Mar 5, 2005

Dr. Dyno said:
It IS part of the alternator mounting bracket and you can simply use a grinder to notch the bracket to allow enough clearance for the belt to ride between the crank pulley and the alternator.
I already have dual electric fans so my fan pulley is redundant. It's only acting as an idler pulley so I'm planning to get rid of it and grind the alternator mounting bracket in the same fashion. I'll need a ~16" shorter belt (2050-2100mm in length vs stock 2480mm) to make it work. Here are before and after pics of my intended mod:

THIS IS WHY HE'S THE DR!!

Excellent reply and helpful as always, thanks again for the clarification, just what I needed!

JC95

rockwerks · Mar 5, 2005

again the ignored question, why do it anyway?

afjeep2082 · Mar 5, 2005

to have a electric fan is more eff. then a clutch fan

nhrocker · Mar 5, 2005

It's also quieter and weighs less than the clutch fan, and some people wire them so they can be shut off with a switch for water crossings.

rockwerks · Mar 5, 2005

All your guys reasons are bogus, we beat the great electric fan myth to death a fwe years back and over long term studies showed That the original XJ fan setup with a fwe modifications was the most effective way to go.

An electric fan is in no way quieter than a belt driven fan.

also a good electirc fan motor weighs as much if not more than the clutch. plus the housing and fan blade makes it weigh more (tested)

Like I said a few of us beat this thing to death a few years back and its just a waste of money and proven less efficient.

This is a little article I wrote awhile ago.

The great electric fan myth

The fans used where 2 1500 cfm 12" fans and 1 10" 1000 cfrm fan. a total of 4000 cfm spread eavenly across the entire radiator. and an meter that measures airflow through the radiator, much less actual air moved than the original setup

jeepcherokee95 · Mar 6, 2005

I can tell you this one thing about the electric swap:

I took off my cluthc fan and had an INSTANT and NOTICEABLE seat of the pants performance boost over the stock fan.

If for nothing else the HP gains when crawling are worth the change - fuel mileage gains over slinging a viscous fan are worth the change. Yes you would have to drive alot of miles to pay for the fan but at 1mpg ($1.72) saved I would only have to make one trip to Tulsa to pay for my fan...the return trip would be free - that's not bad!

My fan will pull 3300cfm I think that is enough to cool in any type driving.

JC95

JnJ · Mar 6, 2005

HP means nothing when crawling................

jeepcherokee95 said:
I can tell you this one thing about the electric swap:

I took off my cluthc fan and had an INSTANT and NOTICEABLE seat of the pants performance boost over the stock fan.

If for nothing else the HP gains when crawling are worth the change - fuel mileage gains over slinging a viscous fan are worth the change. Yes you would have to drive alot of miles to pay for the fan but at 1mpg ($1.72) saved I would only have to make one trip to Tulsa to pay for my fan...the return trip would be free - that's not bad!

My fan will pull 3300cfm I think that is enough to cool in any type driving.

JC95

Dr. Dyno · Mar 6, 2005

xjnation said:
All your guys reasons are bogus, we beat the great electric fan myth to death a fwe years back and over long term studies showed That the original XJ fan setup with a fwe modifications was the most effective way to go.

An electric fan is in no way quieter than a belt driven fan.

also a good electirc fan motor weighs as much if not more than the clutch. plus the housing and fan blade makes it weigh more (tested)

Sorry but I'll have to disagree with you there. I'd never go back to the original factory set up. I love my dual electric fan set-up and would never change it. The key is to select an electric fan that pulls enough cfm, mount it correctly, and make sure it's properly shrouded. My 14" electric fan assembly weighs less than 2lb, whereas the stock clutch fan with clutch weighs a hefty 5lb so I've saved at least 3lb. I'll save even more weight when I get rid of the fan pulley, and I'll have even more clearance between the electric fans and the engine.
jeepcherokee95, thanks!

:cheers:

rockwerks · Mar 6, 2005

LOL good to hear from you! Its been several years since our last discussion on this topic. and still on opposite sides of the fence. :wave:

rockwerks · Mar 6, 2005

jeepcherokee95 said:
I can tell you this one thing about the electric swap:

I took off my cluthc fan and had an INSTANT and NOTICEABLE seat of the pants performance boost over the stock fan.

If for nothing else the HP gains when crawling are worth the change - fuel mileage gains over slinging a viscous fan are worth the change. Yes you would have to drive alot of miles to pay for the fan but at 1mpg ($1.72) saved I would only have to make one trip to Tulsa to pay for my fan...the return trip would be free - that's not bad!

My fan will pull 3300cfm I think that is enough to cool in any type driving.

JC95

a single fan? this should be good! LOL remenber the size of the raidator? it is basically 33 x 12 for cooling area, and a single fan will not pull air through the entire accross the entire area, you will create hot spots in the radiator and coolant will boil. (that is why the XJ has 2 fans offset to cover the entire surface) good luck with this one

Spanky414 · Mar 6, 2005

xjnation said:
a single fan? this should be good! LOL remenber the size of the raidator? it is basically 33 x 12 for cooling area, and a single fan will not pull air through the entire accross the entire area, you will create hot spots in the radiator and coolant will boil. (that is why the XJ has 2 fans offset to cover the entire surface) good luck with this one

I don't know man, I know my weather doesn't get nearly as hot as AZ but up here there is lots of XJs running with just the one clutch fan and it doesn't seem to be a huge problem. Think of all the XJs that didn't have A/C? Or ones that did but the A/C is long gone and the fan died years ago.

electric fan swap

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