How To Choose an Electric Radiator Fan

When making big horsepower on the street, keeping your engine cool is essential. Sitting in heavy traffic with a high horsepower engine, a mechanical fan just won’t cut it. Mechanical fans rely on engine rpm and when sitting at idle, they just don’t spin fast enough to keep your engine cool. Mechanical fans also rob your engine of horsepower and fuel economy since they are driven off the crankshaft. They simply can’t compete with electrical fans when it comes to efficiency. A radiator only works if there is airflow through the radiator core. An electrical fan provides constant airflow even when the engine is idling, when your engine needs it the most and since they are electric, they do not affect engine horsepower or fuel economy.
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[@saintgtx]

The best video on electric fans! In under 5 minutes I learned everything I needed to know, thank you

[@SuperDanlex]

Wow I regret watching the other 20 min+ videos that didn’t help at all thanks a lot! Straight to the point!

[@brianhopkins6657]

Good video very informative.

[@mikencrew8885]

Best fan explanation hands down. Like everyone says. Quick and to the point. Great job Holly

[@bigcheese82]

Straight and to the point. Thank you for the good advice

[@raheemabraham3461]

Loud, Clear and Straight to the point. Thank you 19 January 2020

[@reymas7749]

Great job! Very precise and Straight to the point. Thank you.

[@salihkasap3770]

Fantastic video clearly and simply explained thanks

[@dalegribble60]

Thanks for the video. Never thought of curved vs straight blade or even considered a shroud.

[@AskTorsten]

This was an excellent video, thank you for sharing your knowledge

[@Agent.K.]

Very helpful, thanks!

[@mostafaakram3519]

Very informative. Thank you sir

[@dirtyfunk2368]

Great video!!! No bull, just told me everything i need to no, In under 5 mins...thanks

[@1etergen]

Should be a law that all videos be this direct and to the point. Subscribed

[@andresnustez]

thank you, you saved me on buying he wrong fan for my car thanks to your advice.

[@dogsrest6103]

We

[@35TheDarkknight]

Best electric fan advice video

[@roberttrench465]

Very helpful! Thanks for that !

[@Clelliiott]

These videos are great. Great sales tool for Holley as well.

[@HolleyPerformance]

Glad you like them!

[@salehal-mazrooei7996]

Thank you for the information

[@diesel2478]

Great video 💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿💯🤙🏾🍻

[@Aksankhan]

Great informative video. Thanks a lot for sharing Greetings from Pakistan 🇵🇰

[@nene_sb]

Thank you 💪💪💪

[@TimCurry04]

2024! Thx... looking into upgrading a stock cooling system now.

[@m.pietro9087]

Good guidance, however he said electric fan does steal horsepower from the engine, however the extra load on the alternator robs a lot of power.

[@peterbuilttough3406]

THNX! 2500+ CFM BIG SINGLE, PULLER

[@Hot80s]

thanks for the advise holmes now off to the junkyard i go

[@rahrah5268]

Whats the best fan for a LS6 since my 05 cts-v runs hot and I kust replace my radiator to a dewitt high performance radiator

[@marcelorecabal7935]

Hey, I hope you can help or advise me. I have a Mitsubishi Montero sport 2.5 diesel(also known as shogun, pajero etc), and it overheat in uphills and slow traffic (my city is hot as hell, close to 40°C degrees often). In highway at high speeds it works perfectly. I already checked the whole cooling system (clean radiator, new thermostat, fan clutch is ok, heavy duty coolant, even new cylinder head), but it still overheat. I thought to add an auxiliar fan. However I don't have enough room to add it at the front, because there's a AC condenser and then an oil radiator (or transmission cooler more to the front idk). Do you think if a double straight blade fan would work installed at the front of the oil radiator? I dont know what to do 😑. Greetings from Chile!

[@tony7810]

Best video 👌

[@user-re2vj5jd5q]

I was looking trying to look for some good fans from my aio's rad but ok

[@Mike_The_Hog_A_Nator]

How do you keep your engine cool in 100+ deg weather? I run a 2002 Blazer ZR2 4.3 Vortec & live S of Houston Texas. It normally runs just shy of 210° w/ a 195° thermostat but, now when towing a small utility trailer it runs up to 220°> A bit too hot for me because it usually runs 200. I don't like that needle on the gauge running past 210 (the 1/2 way mark) 🤟

[@dtruth5769]

Do I use my old shroud with my new electric fan?

[@ninjaknight-jn9ky]

Electrical fans are maginally more efficient because you can turn them fully off. But the temperature dependent flood clutch means it has variable mechanical draw. And there spinning because of through flow above a specific speed. They just have limited total cfm.

[@PrydeWater901]

At 4:10 a sending unit is mentioned. Is this necessary even with a Terminator X Max ecu?

[@fphfphfphfphfph]

When we have a 2 fan assembly, why do they spin in opposite direction? Both inwards, what if they spin same direction or outwards ?

[@cj7girl280]

Thanks for the video. I have a 76 cj7 jeep with a engine swap from a 88 s10 blazer (4.3 v6). I have two fans available a flexalite 188 puller single fan Or a flexalite 440 dual pusher...Which one would you recommend for my application? Both have enough room. And I hope to remove the clutch fan. Thanks Thanks.

[@DaBuGzLiFe]

This video literally answers your question. Watch it.

[@JesusRodriguez-zp5gc]

Hi, do you sell a electric fan with shroud for the Radiator for a 2005 Dodge Durango 4.7L 2WD?

[@RasSosa]

very helpful video. the dislikes are so lame, smh...

[@MasterArmedforces]

As Denzel would say, "explain it to me like Im a 6-yr old...". Gr8 job..!

[@martinring7628]

Im not a "fan" of fan shroud . as it makes less flow when driving.. But makes the fans better when on.. on my project car, im trying to make it work the best when driving, and make the fans work as good as they can when standing still, so im thinking of installing the fans to the radiator, so the draw air tru the radiator, but not makes to mutch resistens when they are off and im driving.. Someone that know better than me, pleace tell me if im right or wrong :)

[@davidwright873]

Iv'e thought of the electric fan but with the mechanical fan, at least you can see the wear and tear of the belt and replace it when necessary. What happens if the electric fan just craps out? then what?

[@legalizekansas1398]

What will work best for the Buick Regal 307

[@HolleyPerformance]

give our tech line a call for a recommendation! 866-464-6553

[@granadogranadoandy6212]

I have a 2014 Ford ecoboost we can get to 110 degrees when pulling my RV it tends to over heat my fans are on. Can I put some larger fans to help the problem

[@professionalics]

Go ahead with extra fans for the engine cooling and look into getting yourself an additional trans cooler which is very important...dnt forgrt your transmission needs some love too!!!

[@carolynwilbur1627]

I bought 13" 4000 cfm dual fans and they're longer than my radiator..... will it be ok if i got 1/4 of one fan hanging past the side and block that portion off? Try just using 1 of the duals? Dont really want to return, bought online and a pita. What should i do?

[@carolynwilbur1627]

Sbc 327

[@frogGames]

If anyone here wondering weather to take a silent fan or a loud straight one. Take the loud one.

[@gabrieldauz9396]

Can i install both push and pull if i have the space for it?

[@SkorpyoTFC]

You generally don't see any advantage with double-sided fan installs. As the video mentioned, pusher fans have reduced airflow compared to pullers, so you may actually hinder the performance of the puller by adding a pusher to the system.

[@billcat1840]

Depending on rotation they mite end up fighting each other 🤣...p.s. you can reverse rotation of DC motors by swapping + and -

[@garydavies5973]

I run a 19" mechanical flex fan on the engine and a pusher on the front of the radiator. The flex fan normally copes on it's own but with the electric also running it will help keep temps in check in traffic more than just the mechanical on it's own. The electric is rated at 2400CFM and no way it out performs the flex fan and tight fitting shroud, even at idle.

[@tylerangel4073]

So you don’t use coolant if you have a electric car fan??

[@frogGames]

Coolant passes through the radiator and fans cool the coolant, if you don't have coolant engine will overheat and possibly burn

[@ddarryldashiell]

The Auto Cool Guy has PWM controllers from 55 amps to 200 amps DC. www.autocoolguy.com

[@johnborton4522]

// "Since they are electric, they don't effect horsepower or fuel economy."// And this false statement comes from Holly. WOW!! Where does Holly think the power (and fuel) comes from to drive the alternator? The shaft to the mechanically driven fan is 100% efficient. The alternator/motor combo required to drive the electrical fans is less than 50% efficient. Now there are many reasons to use an electric fan (including horsepower and fuel economy), but that quoted statement is simply nonsense.

[@Hot80s]

my sbc 350 in a nova has a plastic flexalite bolted to the pulley with shroud and 4 row, cools o.k. for now but i thought of just adding a junkyard e-fan as a pusher if i'm stuck in bad summer traffic with a toggle switch.

[@averyalexander2303]

I totally agree, except the shaft to the mechanical fan isn't 100% efficient if it has a fan clutch like most do since the fan clutch will always slip a bit. I think what he might have been thinking is the electric fans save fuel because they only run when needed and don't create any drag when off unlike a mechanical fan that's constantly spinning and taking power whenever the engine is running. But either way, the fact remains that it takes power to move air and that power ultimately comes from the fuel.

[@m__m4354]

Engine-> direct mechanical energy for the fan Electric fan: Engine->Charging battery through alternator(energy loss)->driving elektric motor(Loss because of internal resistance) -> Electric fan is less fuel efficient "Since they are electric they do not effect your fuel economy" All the energy your car has comes from fuel, unless you regularly use some wall adapter to charge your cars battery. Otherwise where would the enegy being used to drive an electric fan come from, can't be created from nothing. ->Your fuel is used to drive the electric fan

[@MrEvilTag]

In comparison the fuel used to use the fan in far less than the consumption and parasitic loss from a mechanical fan

[@SkorpyoTFC]

Electrical draw on the charging system translates to far less mechanical draw than a fan. Not only are mechanical fans technically air brakes, but alternator pulleys are usually very small in comparison to the crankshaft pulley, making the mechanical effort to drive them, even under load, minimal.

[@billheffley8059]

It’s been dyno proven you will pick up some torque and horsepower by converting from mechanical to electric

[@shaunobrien6425]

Sorry but this is highly inaccurate especially coming from holley, alternators on their best day are only about 50% efficient and electric motors are 80-90%. If your fan takes 80 watts of power and its motor is 85% efficient only 68 watts of power is moving air the rest goes up as heat. Also if the fan is using 80 watts of power the alternator is using 160 watts of engine power to power the fan. 160 watts is just over 1/5 of a horsepower so its not much but the wording in the video is just wrong. Electric fans do have an advantage because they only run when needed and at idle can move their full capacity of air. On a side note I have 2 16" fans rated at 80 watts and it takes both to cool my engine (460 bbf aluminum heads cam headers etc etc) on a hot day at idle. Get a good fan shroud youll be happy you did (I didnt lol)

[@trumpsextratesticle8590]

(160 watts of engine power to power the fan) The alternator is already excited charging the battery, there is no loss adding the electric fan load onto it. So saying the Electric fan robs the engine of power is false, least regarding your comment. The load is already on the engine, an electric fan doesn't "add" load because the alternator has a set load regardless.

[@shaunobrien6425]

@@trumpsextratesticle8590 with all due respect nothing you said is accurate. It takes power to make power, it takes set amount of power to charge the battery and it takes more to run a fan. It takes a set amount of power to excite the alternator you don't get that back as free power it is lost and one of the reasons alternators have low efficiency.

[@trumpsextratesticle8590]

@@shaunobrien6425 AGAIN, the alternator is already excited charging the battery, it puts ZERO extra load on the engine having the fans come on, as the Voltage regulator is what determines the output of power going to the battery. . The alternator doesn't get "harder to turn" when more load is put on it, so the fans do not rob any more power than what's already being pulled from the engine to turn the alternator (when excited).... It's either ON or OFF. . Please get a working knowledge of how the alternator works before commenting again. Thanks. . .

[@shaunobrien6425]

@@trumpsextratesticle8590 lol I have a perfect understanding please look yourself. Why wouldn't you just hook up a megawatt alternator then all you have to do is excite it and power is forever free after that right? Do you think the voltage regulator is going to cycle the same if there is addition load placed on the battery? If not and the alternator is run more often or "excited" isn't there additional load? Seriously this isn't complicated.

[@shaunobrien6425]

@@trumpsextratesticle8590 take 30 seconds to Google this so I don't have to hear your witty response please. Anyone else who believes him do the same so we can put this misinformation to rest

[@rockvillemike6062]

A lot of fake tech in my opinion. To say the mechanical fan is engine driven and the electric is not is nonsense. What do you think is driving your alternator, the wind from your fan? No, as more demand is put on the alternator more strain is put on the alternator, so what you think you gain from removing the fan is replaced by the added load on your alternator. Also the engine driven fan has a clutch that opens when at high speed the air rushing in wants to push the fan faster than the electrons will. This backs off in the alternator circuits and will lead to premature rectified damage. as well as fan wear and tear. It's like having six of one or a half dozen. same thing. Mechanical fans are better, will last longer, and if you correctly match the fan clutch to the radiator It has a thermal property, will perform well for most cars. The thermal sensor on the fan clutch cycles to cutch on and off at idle as needed. Maybe there are some racing situations where the electric fan has an advantage, but for most of us, save your money, buy a new pair of sneakers. Electric fans = more sensors and parts to break down, ( if they have brushes how long will they last?), strain on the electrical system. Mechanical fans = less parts to fail and years long time and true well designed and proven systems. It's your car, you can do whatever you want with it. And anyway, you won't have it long. when the baby comes you'll have to sell it for diapers, so, go ahead, have some fun. Something to chat about at the water cooler. 'Just sayin.............MIke

[@american-volt]

We sell higher wattage electric fans than those in this video at www.americanvolt.com/collections/electric-fans which includes radiator mounting kits. Various thermostat switch turn-on temps and NPT thread-in sizes available as well.