A year ago I bought a Flex-A-Lite e-fan. I have had nothing but Hell with it. The guy's at Flex were great. After they replaced two controllers that burned up they decided I needed a whole new fan assembly. I told them I really did not want to change the fans out but they insisted. The fan is a bi!ch to install but I put the new one in. After all that work it knocked! It was embarrassing to sit at a light or pull off the road course and hear the thing knock and rattle. I called the customer service manager at Flex and told him I just wanted my money back. To my amazement he agreed. Flex has a problem with this fan and they know it. There is no other way they would give me my money back after more than a year. I will say I was impressed with their customer service.
I contacted Mark at LFP on Thursday of last week and a new e-fan was in my hands on Monday. I installed it Monday night. The install took about 2.5 hours (including removing the old Flex unit). This fan is great. The install is very clean. If you did not know better you would swear it came from Ford with the e-fan. On the Flex unit all the wires were hard to hide. Plus you had to find a place for the controller. On Mark's unit everything is in wire looms. The relays are also water proof for extra protection. The Flex unit was loud as hell. While I can still hear the LFP fan, it is not nearly as loud, and has a much more pleasant tone. The only thing that sucks on the LFP unit is installing the thermostat in the block. I did not drain the block and tried to do it quick. I still got hot water all over me. I know the LFP fan is like a few others but I don't have any experience with anything except the LFP and the Flex units. The choice is clear between the two!

Jerry

 

I have had my flexalite since october and have had absolutely no issues with it. I mounted the VSC out of harms way in a plastic box by the battery, and I also soldered all the connections.

It is loud but I kind of like the sound, and it hasntmade any knocking sounds or had any other offensive behavior yet.

After hearing about others having issues I bought the kit anyway, as I feel alot of it's problems come from using crimp connectors and installing it according to flex-a-lite's horrible horrible instructions. Mount the VSC away from heat and moisture, (NEVER on top of the radiator), and I use dhigh quality electronics solder and gold palted connectors for everything. Most of my wiring is completely hidden but even that will go away since with the SCT software I can make the PCM control the fan.

If you are willing to step up and install this kit the way flexalite should have set it up for, it's great, but don't try and use it out of the box. It's a shame because those fans pull alot of CFM and really cool down the motor.

 

No problems with mine, and I even put the controller exactly where flexalites instructions said. I used everything the way it came and have not had a single problem since last September.

MisterGadget- How are you going to wire the fan into the PCM. I have the diablo, and I don't think it offers any fan control with the Lightning version. That would be awesome to have the PCM control all the fan settings.

-Mike

 

www.superchipscustom.com

www.modulardepot.com

The PCM is essentially the same as any mustang or crown vic with the factory efan, and the SCT software allows you to "Activate" that part of the PCM and let it control your aftermarket fan. I still need to pick up the relays and actually do it though hehe.

 

HI!... I have been running electric fans on a F-150 longer than almost anyone here. I'm running two 16" DERALE electric fans now for over 5 years with *ZERO * problems.

 

Those huge fans would be alot more effective if they were shrouded.

Dual 16's is pretty big. I think the flexalite uses dual 15" fans.

 

HI!... ACtually these fans are SO effecient that they have NO NEED for a shroud. 90% of the time I only run one fan. Two is overkill, but at the dragstrip in the pitts if I turn both on. I can go from 205 DEGREE's down to 140 degree's in about 15 minutes tops.

 

I did not mount the controller where the instructions said to. I mounted it to the starter solenoid cover. I also soldered all the spade connectors to the wires. The connectors are not tight enough IMHO even though I crimped them as per the guy's at Flex. My first fan was pulling 28.5 amps! The wires would get very hot any time the fan was running. When I installed the new fan assembly the wires never got hot or anything but one of the fan motors was junk. You should not have this many problems with properly designed parts. I got sick of screwing with it! Mark at LFP used to sell the Flex-A-Lite unit also but he had a bunch of them fail. I bought the Flex unit because I also thought that it would move way more air than the others available. It does but it just has to many problems.

Jerry

 

Neal,

Could you share where did you get the fans from? and how much did you pay for them?

Thanks

 

HI!... They are 16" DERALE electric fans. 5 years ago when I bought them from SUMMIT RACING they were $92(U.S) each. Now they are $119(U.S) each.