Flex fan

[Q_SHIP]

Has anybody gotten rid of their bulky, non flexiable cooling fan and gotten a metal flex fan? If so, did you notice any gains or no? Im looking to pick one up at the same time I get the trans cooler.

[squeefoo]

Don't. Just buy one from Joe. It's worth spending the extra $.

Search and you will find.

[Q_SHIP]

I tried the search and came up with nothing. What is special about the one that Joe sells?

[elwesso]

Ive wondered about this too.. Id like to have something that pulls a little more air, even if it uses a little more power.....

i know the 90-93 use a different style fan and shroud than the 94s do..

[Q_SHIP]

Actually, the purpose of a flex fan is to gain power, not use more. Our stock fans don't flex and the blades grab the air and that takes more power to run. A flex fan will straighten out as it spins faster and uses less power. It will actually pull less air at higher RPM's. I have heard of this giving a noticable gain but I figured I would ask you guys first to see if it's worth it.

[squeefoo]

If the viscous coupler is fine it won't save you save you much... if anything. POS search function won't do anything for me either used to work great.

I did find this: http://www.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=4246

Edit: I've had friends who've had them blow up = expensive on a Q See if it's rated to 7200 rpm

[91QAZ]

Good find squee. AZ, did you ever do the experiment? If so, what were the results?

[sijoko]

The stock fan setup on the Q will consume less power than the Flex fan because of the viscous coupling which only engages the fan at certain temps.

Most of the time, the fan is freewheeling. There is always a slight drag from the viscous coupling, but it is not using power all the time as a flex fan would.

-sijoko

[Jeff Williams]

You forogt to mention, that flex fans are annoyingly loud.

My coupling froze, and I had to drive aroud for a full week, keeping the engine RPM below 2300 RPM. The belts started squealing, when the torque got too high on the tensioner.

I had a flex fan on my 455 Olds, and it was louder than the Holley carb and flowmasters!

[sijoko]

Yes, the flex fans are also noisy.

Back in my high school days, one of my friends had a 72 Hurst Olds that had a flex fan. It made a loud, whiny sound at high rpms. The car sounded like it had a blower in it. We thought it was cool in then.

But that was a different time and a different car.

If you are really interested in saving some horsepower, then you should go with an electric fan setup. Provided, that you find one that can cool the radiator sufficiently.

-sijoko