Anyone mount a flex fan?

I’m a fan of flex fans. Anyone put one on a 2TR-FE? I haven’t found an adapter that would actually work.

Cam/header/port&polish head/header wrap/upgrade exhaust diameter and go to a straight through muffle and you know what was HANDS DOWN the best mod I did to a 22-RE? FLEX FAN.

Anyone find an adapter for a 2TR-FE?

 

I can't help you, but I am curious. My understanding is they flex to reduce drag under load. How much does that compromise air flow? Or is it banking on you doing faster speeds?

 

German cars have used electric fans for over 15 years. I don't know why Toyota doesn't.
Maybe it was cheaper to make the truck have only the Technological Features of Steering Wheel and Seat Belt

they have an FCM (fan control module), wires, and use electricity. Coming from the battery, alternator, etc.
that turn the fans on only when needed. Such as at certain measured temperatures.
Or even when the car is turned off, to keep cooling it if it's really hot.
Which I doubt an engine-driven fan with a clutch does.

The stock 1GR-FE fan seems to blow a lot of air and run cool. Maybe at the cost of MPG and power.
German cars supposedly have different cooling system settings designed into them to run at higher temperatures for better MPG and reduced emissions.
Maybe the Taco was designed to run cooler resulting in that sweet, sweet 17mpg

 

I honestly thought you were describing checking trans fluid

 

I'll take my Tacoma fan over an electric cooling fan any day. It's simple, and won't fail. Hence. ..longevity

 

mechanical clutch fans can and do fail
they used them on old Mercedes
and they failed

you can buy dipsticks
how do you think mechanics check oil
they use a factory dipstick tool that's $10
that an owner can buy
oil sensors are to warn the driver of low oil level or pressure while they're driving, to get the car fixed

 

The belt fan can actually (in theory) improve MPG as when the fan is idling ram air can turn it, an electric fan just creates drag.

Does either of that matter in the real world?

Probably not.

The benefit of Toyota's fan design is that if it fails it should fail *on* meaning the fan will always run, and they're less susceptible to failing due to water or dust unlike an electric fan.

Where do people like to play with their 4x4's? In the mud!

Makes sense to me to have a "low tech" option.

 

A 39 cent fastener on a million vehicles is $390k. You got a lot of push back when you suggest spending that much money. Also, there are teams of engineers that do nothing but think of ways to take cost out. It’s called “value engineering”. They carry out the testing to qualify cheaper alternatives that the main development team didn’t have time to execute. They are probably the ones that did the research and ditched the bed cubbie in the newer 3rd gens.

 

Clearly only the second poster has noticed. I do not want electric fans. I want a belt driven flex fan.

 

Airflow should be slightly higher at higher rpms considering it is essentially wind resistance that is flattening the blades, and you wouldn’t have more wind resistance if the blades weren’t actually moving more air. Centrifugal force should flatten them somewhat as well, and I don’t know actual airflow numbers at different rpms. Yes, the primary logic by which they work is the assumption that if you aren’t idling, you’re moving. I could see how if you were spending a lot of time at WOT on a dyno you might run into problems. I never had any issue on my 22-RE, and it perked up CONSIDERABLY. My assumption on my 2TR-FE has always been that an equal HP improvement would be less noticeable considering it already had much more HP, and that the improvement would probably be smaller considering it uses a much larger diameter fan, although the second issue might actually make the HP improvement greater if moving to a lower drag fan. Anyway, as long as I’m working on it, why not?

 

That would be a sad, sad day

You cant get something for nothing. Everyone thinks mechanical fans have this huge drag coefficient and rob all this power etc etc. But an electrical fan moving the same amount of air will require the same amount of input power. Where does that power come from? The alternator. What runs the alternator? The belt. Right back where we started..

The only thing that I will say, is that obviously an E-fan does not have to run all the time

 

Get outta here with your high school physics logic. It is not welcome around here. But seriously, I am interested in this flex fan thing.

 

what size tire can i fit without rubbing 4" lift 17" rims stock uca thx




How about now? Do I fit in now? DO I!?

 

Not worth it, just trade it in!

 

For what it's worth (not much, I know), my only experience with flex fans went badly. The truck in my sig has a thermal clutch fan that failed (lost fluid) many years ago. I threw on a flex fan which was okay until the truck was working hard -- up the mountain with a load of wood on a warm day. The truck ran hot, which it never did before. I repaired the fan clutch (added silicon fluid from Toyota), put it back on, no more problem. I am not a fan (heh) of flex fans.

As to German engineering, if the Germans had invented the paper clip, it would have eleven moving parts. That is all....

 

Yes, but the precision on those 11 parts would incredible and solid. They would work beautifully the first few times. Remember we needed the German rocket scientists to design our rockets so we could beat the Russians to the moon. I don't think we would have gotten there without them.

 

What vehicle, engine, fan diameter and number of blades?

I don’t plan to haul heavy loads with the vehicle in question. I can definitely see how heavy loads at low speed would be operating in a mode counter to the mode assumed by the makers of flex fans. They work well assuming that the more load your engine is under, the faster you’re moving.

 

1972 K20 -- 350 -- 18" -- 7.

I realize it's not an apples-to-apples comparison to your situation. I posted because in my experience, a flex fan does not cool as efficiently as a thermal clutch fan. When my truck ran hot, the engine was straining pretty hard, near WOT in 2nd gear, about 40-45 mph so plenty of air movement.

Obviously YMMV. Good luck, I hope you find what you're looking for.

 

Good info. A 17” six blade will probably be plenty to cool this little 2.7L, especially since anytime it’s at WOT for any extended period it will be going more like 70+.

 

An e fan is the way to go, but not that simple to convert. People worry about the reliability, but in my opinion they do so needlessly. They're especially great for low speeds on hot days as some people have run into while wheeling with the recent heat wave out west. The drawback of course is that they can fail, although it probably wouldn't be as catastrophic as if the fan belt failed.