E-Fans?? Pulleys??........

[bigterp]

Hi all. I've been trolling the forums for awhile now and finally decided to hit you all with my first post. I recenlty purchased an '07 supercab F150 FX4 5.4L 4x4, 45,000 miles. I'm currently working on a Magnaflow SI/DO same side exit Performance Cat-Back, a Gryphon with custom tunes and was also going to add a CAI. After talking with Corey from PHP she convinced me to do the gotts/DVM mod which I just completed over the weekend. So now that I have an extra $300 bones to spend I'm trying to decide what to do next. I'm leaning towards doing an e-fan conversion. Specifically this one from FF Dynamics: Fan Kit. I'm also intrigued by the underdrive pulley kits that I here alot about. I've tried to research them but still don't fully understand what they do and how they help performance.

I'm looking to increase the performance of my truck. So I guess my questions are:

1. Should I do the e-fan conversion?? If so, will my custom tunes need to be adjusted? Any experience with the FF Dynamics kits??
2. Should I do the pulley conversion?? If so, will my tunes need adjusted, and what is a good kit for my F150?
3. Should I stay away from both and put my $300 towards something else? If so, what?

Any and all input is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!!!

[Longshot270]

I've heard great results from e-fans but I have never had a set myself. Personally, I would go with an underdrive pulley kit. Neither kit actually gives you more horsepower but they free up prexisting power that was lost from the fan or the other belt driven accessories.

Your tunes will not need to be adjusted by adding either one of the options.

[bigterp]

Thanks for the reply Longshot!!! I'm for sure looking at doing either the e-fans or pulleys for now, and possibly down the road ending up with both mods Now I've also read that doing BOTH the e-fans and pulleys can cause issues. Not exactly sure what issues, maybe altenator?? Has anyone heard of issues with doing both?? I would love to hear some feedback on those that have done both mods!!! It's nice to now that doing either or both of these mods won't require any adjustments to my custom tunes, which means I can go ahead and get that Gryphon ordered!!!

And I almost forgot, how hard are aftermarket performance pulleys to install?? Something I can do in my driveway with a little bit of knowledge?? Any particular brand you guys would reccomend??

Thanks!!!!

[jmwilso2]

Hi Bigterp, my truck is almost the same as yours. I just installed a flexalite monster fan. It does work very well and I have no doubt it has freed up some hp but im not seeing the fuel economy gains I had expected. There is a slight improvement but not nearly as much as other posts I have read indicate.

[bigterp]

Sounds good jmwilso. How tough were the fans to install? Do you have any power issues since installing the e-fans, like lights dimming at idle etc.?? Thanks for the reply man!!!

[jmwilso2]

The install is pretty simple as long as you get a fan clutch removal tool. I got one at Part Source. They have a loan program where you pay full price ($190) for a used tool but get your money back when you return it. I had to slightly relocate what I think is an ABS control unit of some sort. But I only had to move it a few inches back. I've experienced no problems with light dimming or anything of that nature. I set my gryphon to show battery voltage for a while and it all stayed normal. The only problem ive had is that I forgot to check what my engine coolant temp was normally at before the install so I just guessed at what temp to set it. Its currently set to 194 F but I think this may be too low. Ive been looking on the web for what the normal operating range is but can find nothing. If anyone here can tell me I'd appreciate it though.

[ticopowell]

From what I have seen, my truck usually operates between 195 and 200, but from what i understand anywhere around 200-210 degrees is perfectly normal and healthy, and a little hotter from what I saw on one website will get better gas mileage... just a little though if any at all is what I would say. from what I have seen in my research for E-fans that is pretty close to what they recommend them to be set at, they will never keep the engine at the temperature where they are set at, they will just start working then. Hope this helps

[jmwilso2]

Thanks Ticopowell. I'll tweak mine today then. Maybe it will give me fuel economy a little closer to what I was expecting to get with it. As for holding temp this one does a pretty good job of that. It kicks in at 60% when the ECT reaches the set temp then gradually increases to 100% if the temp continues to rise. It also turns on whenever the airconditioner compressor engages which I'm not sure is competely necessary but doesnt seem to be hurting any.

Thanks again

Joe

[Tonto87]

I installed a Flexalite FLE270 dual fan on my 04-5.4l a while back. I love it.
It opened up space between Rad and and engine,you can change pulleys after install.
The hardest part was figureing out the wiring connection points.
I finally figured out a good fix that made for a clean install. I reinstalled the to deflector over the rad. to push the air down over the engine. My engine coolant temp usually showed 192. I used an infrared thermometer to chec temps a several locations (this is an unbelieveably valuable too and worth the cost) With the fans running and the fan stat set at 190 I was getting rad. outlet temps as low as 160. This caused the thermostat to close and the truck to run at cold Idleor run which uses more gas.
With the thermometer I could adjust temp. control to 220 which gave me an outlet reading of 194 and no more cold run conditions. Saw about 2 mpg increase if I keep my foot out of it like thats gonna happen. Fans don't run very long and stage in so I have not noticed any electrical loading at all. Hope this helps.

[Tonto87]

Oh, I bought the fan clutch wrench set at AutoZone for 29.50. I have already lent it to a couple of friends for a six pack. that puts price at 15 bucks at this point!