A/c Fan Question

[g.ruff561]

I know somebody has retro fit an after market or another auto manufactures electric a/c fan into an E30. I cannot find a lot of discussion nor any video or pics. I have my stock a/c fan wired to run when ever my a/c switch is activated. My a/c is close to 45 to 55 degrees at the vent. Conversion is 134a.

Down here in Fla. I knew my c/fan would wear out faster than normal. Still to have cold a/c here in Fla is a must. My qestion is, is there an electric condenser fan out there that is comparable to the stock fan in size and power? Does anybody manufacture brackets to fit the stock location for this fan? Does that fan have quiet operation? I would rather pay to have an electric fan wired into my system then to have the stock temp fan when it goes bad, make so much noise. And the stock fan is costly.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

[g.ruff561]

Follow up question to the above: does anybody have any technical data on the stock fan? Part # 64541381395. Fan size, cfm, power rating???? Or what web site I can go to for technical info?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[jlevie]

It would be possible to swap in a generic electric fan in place of the stock aux fan, though some fabrication would be needed. As best I can tell the stock aux fan's capacity is greater than 1800cfm. A generic fan of that or greater rating will be about as loud as the stock aux fan. The big gain would be to replace the serpentine condenser with a parallel flow unit for greater efficiency.

[g.ruff561]

Thank you for your response. Maybe I did not explain the loud noise clearly. My point was when the stock fans bearings wear out it makes a hell of a racket. I was thinking newer design urethane bushing fans would be quieter, less power, more efficient, economical price. Stock fan list is $400. Sells for $330 at local dealership.

What size is the stock fan?

Again, thank you sir.

[jlevie]

I've never measured the stock fan. But I know that a 16" fan can fitted in it's place. You'd need one rated for 2000cfm or better and a high quality one of those (like an SPAL) will run $150-250 depending on the rating. For A/C in Florida, I'd use the highest capacity fan I could fit in. While worn out bearings will be noisy, the fan itself is normally what you hear. All high performance fans that I know of (the OE fan included) have ball bearings. So eventually they'll all suffer the same fate.