Any reason I shouldn't do this?

Torque Junkie · October 12, 2001

I was reading about an electric fan conversion and am thinking of doing it this spring when it starts getting warmer.. But, my question, is would it be a bad idea to pull the fan off now, and reap the small mileage and power gains of not having the fan on there for the winter? I really have no use for the fan when it never gets warmer then 40*, I don't idle for more than a minute unless I'm doing the morning warmup,where it needs no fan anyways.

Thanks

-Mike

October 12, 2001

if you remove the fan with no backup, you will be screwed.

Kansas Kid · October 12, 2001

Many, many Dodge Cummins owners take the fan off of their trucks during the winter because they just will not get warm enough to run efficiently. Some even have to partially block the radiator after removing the fan to get heat during the really cold portions of the winter. They never have any sort of overheating problem.

Now I know the Cummins is a whole different animal then a 350 gasser, but it is just something to think about. I can entirely block off the opening in the front of my grill with cardboard during the winter and it still never gets over 150F during the winter. I guess you could try taking the fan off and see what happens. You'd have to keep a close eye on the temp gauge.

95 Silverado · October 12, 2001

removing the fan and shroud will not cause any immediate problems, but watch your engine temperature. I wouldn't recommend this if you tow often or do a lot of city, stop and go driving, as you will have no means of controlling engine temp. when needed. I would be afraid of someone else driving the truck and not watching the temperature, unless you are the only one who drives the truck.

Torque Junkie · October 13, 2001

Most of my driving is rural/highway. I live 5 miles outside a small town that only has 5 stoplights - and there's only 1 between my house and my girlfriends, and it stays green 80% of the time. I work 30 miles from my house and it's straight highway all the way there.

I think the worst thing that will happen is the engine gets a little warm in town so I have to get back out onto the highway to get home and put the fan back on. I plan on keeping the fan and my tools in my truck so I can do it at any time.

I'm gonna give it a shot and watch my temp this weekend and decide if I should put it back on today.

Thanks for the input and I"ll let you know what happens

-Mike