The problem with electric fans is that pretty much no one actually bothers to use a fan that pulls the CFM actually needed. That includes the manufacturers that sell them, including Griffin, which used little toy electric fans that only put out a pathetic 1694 or 1730 CFM depending on the version. So, close to HALF of what is probably the bare minimum CFM to cool the car properly (~3,000 cfm). People buy a radiator and electric fan set up from a manufacturer like Griffin thinking that it's a properly set up combination, but fail to actually look into the requirements. And Griffin set up a
lousy fan package.
That's not a problem with electric fans in general, it's a problem with people not using the correct fan for their application. If you put a mechanical fan on the car that only moved 1730 CFM it would fail to cool the car as well (the factory mechanical fans typically pulll about 4,000 cfm, depending on options).
Pretty much all of the radiator and electric fan "kits" out there have fans that don't move enough CFM. There are electric fans out there that cost several hundred dollars and do not flow enough CFM to keep one of these cars cool, so, spending a ton of money on a brand name electric fan doesn't guarantee success either. You need an electric fan that can pull at least 3,000 cfm for most Mopar applications, and that's a minimum number that needs to increase with how much horsepower the engine makes and how the car is used. When I was out stuck in traffic in 110° weather the high speed setting on my fans was kicking in, so, that was taking 5k cfm to keep my car in the temp settings programmed into my fan controller.
I can absolutely guarantee that there are electric fans out there that will work just fine if your cooling system is set up properly. I can also guarantee that everyone that says they had an electric fan that didn't work and switched back to a mechanical fan screwed the pooch on their electric fan set up. Period. Either not enough CFM, or a lousy controller for the fan, not enough amperage in the electrical system to run the fan at full capacity, etc, etc.
Like I said, I've been cooling the 400+ hp all iron 340 in my Duster with a '95-2000 Ford Contour dual electric fan set up for over a decade now. I still commute with the car, I've driven it in 110° weather in traffic, it runs whatever temp settings I program into my Dakota fan controller. It had a Champion CC374 in it for most of that time, so just a 3 row 26" Champion radiator. It finally started leaking, so now it has a KKS374 in it from KKS. It's essentially the same size core with the same size tubes.
This I agree with. The car cools at speed which means it's usually not a radiator problem. It is likely a low speed air flow issue, ie, the fan pulls less than 3k cfm which isn't enough. The pulley ratio might be adding to this, especially with the AC system, depending on what that ratio is and what water pump is being used. Air flow at speed can mask more than one issue
This isn't true. You can do more than enough with an electric fan set up. And there are off the shelf, cheap *** reproduction OE fans that will absolutely do the job and not be any bulkier than the mechanical system is.
The fans on my car are just Dorman reproduction fans for a Ford Contour, #620-104. Price is up to $166 bucks now, I think they were a bit more than $100 when I bought them in 2014.
This is my fan set up in 2014 with the Champion radiator
This is the same set of fans in 2024, now on a KKS 374 radiator (26" core, 3 row radiator)
View attachment 1716530210
I still run the same Dakota PAC- 2750 controller, I run the same 1:1 March pulley set up and the same high volume water pump as I did 40k+ miles ago. Note that the OE Mopar ratio for a non-ac car with a high volume pump was .95:1, and for an AC car was 1.3:1 but with a standard water pump (spin the fan faster, but keep the water flow similar)
The contour fan set up is 3" deep in the middle, and 3.5" to the back of the fans, but they're offset from the water pump pulley.
