should I go for electric fans or not

[Jan-Willem]

My intention was to convert my 1986 2wd van, to electric fan's for cooling, but I am unsure if it is a good idea or not.

The current cooling works fine. It has a new (cheap aftermarket copper) radiator, it has a new fan clutch, and it cools the van just fine. I also did the small radiator mod behind the bumper grill. I have not experienced extreme weather, but the engine temperature seems fine and stable.
My idea was to change the clutch fan, for two high performance 10 inch puller fans, with a fan shroud. I already mounted a bigger alternator, a double-fan controller and beefy wiring.
I was hoping to gain some (10?) extra horsepower by removing the clutch fan. Also it would give me piece of mind, that with electric fans, the car will continue cooling stationary and in heavy traffic. Also I could keep the fan's running for a couple of minutes after shutdown to cool the engine bay.
The thing is, I already have an alternative way to cool down the engine bay, after shutdown, which works surprisingly well. And now I am worried, if electric fan's are able to keep the engine cool on high load.
I was thinking about these fans:
https://www.steeleracingproducts.com/collections/radiator-fans/products/1135-cfm-10-puller-high-performance-brushless-fan
( I like to relatively low power consumption, and the soft start)
I can make a shroud myself.
and if need be, I could have a performance aluminum radiator made.

What should I do? I would like the freed up horsepower of course, and extra cooling when stuck in traffic, but I don't want to make a good engine cooling worse...

[Ian R.]

I am not speaking from experience… but there was/is a thread or maybe it was a YouTube video of a van owner who installed a Subaru turbo in a vanwagon along with a ton of other modifications (they said it was running about 140hp). One of the mods was electric fans. I remember reading (or hearing) that the hp gain was minimal and that the stock cooling performed better. But I do see the added benefit for being stuck in traffic and for cooling after shutdown.

Have you install an after market digital temp gauge? I installed one and it puts my mind at ease. The one I used was from glow shift and also has a oil pressure sender. The gauge digitally reads coolant temp and oil pressure.

[Jan-Willem]

Hehe, yeah I did install two extra thermometers. I had cooling issues before. I redid all of the cooling system as far as I could without taking the engine apart.
I have an extra water temperature sender, in the spare hole near the coolant filler, connected to a VDO meter, and my fan controller. I also installed an 'engine watchdog' This is a temperature sender and alarm, that is fitted to the cylinder head (and gearbox). So it measures the temperature of the metal of the head, not the liquid, the reasoning being that it would give an alarm, if the coolant goes missing or stops flowing.

Although I would like the challenge of an engine swap, lets not go for a subaru engine :wnk: The vanagons flat 4 boxer engine has quite a similar shape to a subaru flat 4 boxer engine.
I think a subaru flat 4 in a toyota van, the the valve covers, and maybe even the heads would occupy the same spot as the control arms.
A VR6 engine from a volkswagen touareg would perhaps be an option :clap: Nah... if in a decade or two, there is a ban on gasoline engines, I think a swap to electrical would be affordable then...