As smart as we all are with fuel systems, exhaust and other ways of making more torque and horsepower, engine cooling is still a mystery for many people. To make matters worse, there is a ton of mis-information perpetuated on forums, through social media and other sources. Let's debunk a few right now.
The higher the amp draw of an electric fan, the more air it will move. False. Amp draw is determined by many factors, and is simply a measure of how much electricity it takes to move the fan blade. You can have higher amp draw without any increase in fan speed caused by a poor electric motor design, inferior wire in the windings, age and heat deterioration and even an undersized electric motor that is having to work too hard to spin a fan.
CFM is CFM. False. There is not a standardized testing procedure for electric fans. That means that every fan company rates their fans using different test conditions, which means that you cannot reliably compare airflow (CFM) from one company to another. One US-made electric cooling fan company tested all of its competitors and found huge variation even though all of the test samples had similar published CFM ratings. In fact, one fan only tested produced half of the CFM that it was advertised.
A louder electric fan is moving more air. Sometimes. There are a variety of noises that an electric fan can make. One is simply a side effect of air moving. In that case louder generally is better. However, there is also bad airflow (air moving around inside the shroud and in erratic directions instead of a steady, streamlined flow through the fan and radiator), motor wine, which is not desirable, and simply bad airflow caused by poor blade design and/or fitment between the blade and the shroud.
An electric fan is better than a belt driven fan for cooling. That depends. One solution does not work best for all vehicle usage. An electric fan moves more air than a belt-driven fan at lower engine rpm – at idle and typically at speeds of 30mph or less. If you're towing near or above the truck's rated GVWR, you will need the cooling capability of the huge, heavy factory belt-driven fan. For street trucks and mild towing applications, an electric fan will cool better, especially at idle and in slow traffic, while freeing up rear-wheel horsepower that a belt-driven fan robs you of. An electric fan will also help the engine come up to operating temperature quicker and improve air-conditioning performance.
Working with a performance cooling company with decades of experience engineering and manufacturing fans specifically for the performance aftermarket is the key to getting the correct information and the best cooling solutions.
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