rugerm44

Dose anyone know if the flexalite electric fans hold up well?They make a direct fit dual set up for toyota for 336 bucks but they also make a universal that is same fan minus 4 little brakets to bolt to the stock shroud mounting bolts for 233 dollars a lot to pay for 4 mounting tabs go figure.

tomrunner

Type in Flex-a-lite 210 or the like in our wonderful search engine and you will be informed of everything you need to know about electric fans on 4runner trucks

Good day
Tom

rugerm44

.I did a search .I dont own a 4runner.I have 2 tacomas.The only thing I found about the flexalite was about some guy that uses his truck for hang glider and brakes fan blades.If I want to fly I take my 1946 piper cub up.The landings are a bit softer.My problem isnt overheating its poor ac performance at idle.Dealer says its because I put a tranny cooler in front of the condenser.It didnt do that great at idle before I put the cooler on.If thats the cause it must have one marginal ac system on it.Every truck i owned cooled good idle are other wise.Including my 87 4 runner.That thing would freeze you at idle or going down the road.Thanks for the reply.I guess I will try the dual fan set up and see if it helps.Thanks again.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Condenser air flow is now less and then it has that hot "cooler" w/ all that extra heat dissipating onto it...might be the culprit, but it shouldn't make THAT much difference. If the AC is that much more noticeable at idle, then I'd say you got other problems than air flow, but an electric fan would certainly help. Perhaps you could "gap" your cooler off your condenser a bit or mount it elsewhere.

Good luck.

bamachem

rugerm44, maybe you should check this out:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/electric-fan-variable-speed-controller-installed-61008/

rimpainter.com

- that would be Mark!

Elec fans are cool and all, but for $200+ you are better off sticking the money in a ROTH IRA. It helps a tad with performance (hardly noticeable) and allows you to work on the front end of the engine easier. Really, that's about it. I probably would think twice if I had the chance to do it again.

My .02

ChickenLover

I couldn't agree more. My Flexalite black magic electric fan (FLX-165) was the root of my overheating problems. As soon as the temp outside got to 85*F, my runner would start to overheat on hills. I did a little experiment today; I drove it up a steep windy grade at an average speed of 45mph. It overheated. I went home, replaced the (FLX-165) with the stock belt driven clutch fan and did the same drive an hour later under the exact same circumstanses. It did not overheat.

Since I already have $200+ invested in the damn thing, I will probably put it back on for the winter months for the quicker warm-ups and mild performance gain. But other than that, I don't think it's worth the $.

midiwall

Oh yes, I'm reading this thread.


When I switched back to a belt-driven, one of my more common riding buddies was pretty surprised. His words were along the lines of "Wow! When I think of electrics, I think of you!".

I was a huge proponent of electric fans, and I still think that they help on a N/A rig. But, I'd had my share of trouble with them and when the investment came up to $350 (my initial cost was under $200), I bailed.

I'm S/C'd now and the electrics don't show much gain. The durability of the mechanical is worth more to me than the kick & novelty of the electrics. But, that's not to say that 99% of the people on the forum that have them aren't enjoying them. Don't let my troubles turn you off of the concept. The physics of the solution are real.

rugerm44

I thought about just mounting a small pusher fan in front of the condenser and keeping the stock one.I know some of it is due to 134.That crap dosent cool as good as r12.My old 87 4 runner would run 34 deg at idle.The 134 at idle is only 48 deg.As soon as you give it gas at idle standing still.It drops to 40 deg. You know that thing never once overheated and thats with a winch bumper and winch in front of the radiator.It also had 2 kc 6 inch lights also.Starting to wish I kept the old girl.Hey, thanks for the information.

midiwall

I dunno that's gonna do a lotta good.

Air conditioning works by removing heat that's created by compressing the refrigerant. The compression happens in the (umm) compressor , then the warm (hot actually) refrigerant is pumped out to the coils that are in front of the radiator where it can cool. Moving air across the coils will increase the efficency of the cooling, and turn cool into cold. The coils provide a lot more surface area for the cooling than the condensor can will. For the same amount of airflow that you'll generate with a given fan, pushing it across the coils will do you a lot more good than pointing it at the compressor.

Ironmike4x4

Not going to work by putting a pusher fan, you want a puller fan instead. Also you can take it to a professional MVAC mechanic and have them to "tweak" the A/C to get it cold. First I would check the usual such as leaves and crap in front of the condensor or in between the condensor and radiator.

kevin444

Im back to stock clutch fan. THe fan controller took a dump and sold the bare fan for $45. There was a tad noticeable jolt in take off but thats it. It wasnt that quite noticeable though. Your better off putting those funds into something else.