I have not seen the Dakota. That would be a nice function using the engine's thermostat. More accurate.

I would want to install a good temp gauge if I could not plug in a scan gauge though.

I really like the Rob Francis sturdiness. I just would not want to rely on something flimsy. I'll look forward to hearing your experience with the Dakota.

 

There's actually a plethora of cheap obdII port splitters on the market, so you can run several devices off of you one under dash port. That's literally the only reason I'm picking the DD over the Ron francis. Otherwise the both check the same boxes.

 

i did not know that. Let us know how it works.

 

Update: mustang fan is not stout enough for city driving in 80+ ambient Temps. Not enough for my liking. Hasn't over heated, but isn't cooling as well as the stock fan. Saw 201 on my 5 mile drive and the fan was running pretty much continuously.

Sooo, off to ebay for a Lincoln fan. Also, I found a continuous duty solenoid at napa for $30, which should solve the issue of the ridiculous amp draw of the mark VIII fan. The cheap Parts store controller is working for the moment but is getting pretty hot, as I knew it would. So I'll use it to trigger the solenoid for the time being.

 

Before you do that, with my GTO Fan Unit which has 2 fans, my temps will still get to 204, and on the highway higher at 75mph plus. They are more consistently low, but depending on how hard you drive it the temp will get higher. In my estimation, it is just what that cooling system can handle. I've had a flex a lite 15", a Taurus Fan, both a stock and heavy duty viscous clutch fans on, all with 180 degree thermostat, and they all got to 200.

 

At 201 you're not seeing a fan limitation, you're seeing a bypass cooling system limitation. Switch over to the inline thermostat and that will drop down several more degrees. Did for me, not that 201 will hurt anything.

 

I'm not at all worried about the a 201 temp. I'm worried that it got there in only 10 minutes of driving and without the AC on. Whereas the stock fan only allowed Temps that high after a full day of driving in city traffic with the AC on full.

I intend to drive it home with the AC on to see how it performs but my guess is that it will tip 205+ and that's not cool with me.

 

I doubt it. Are you city or highway driving? In the city my temps stay in the 190-195 range.

 

I never used AC, but I towed plenty and never saw over 201 at idle. Even with the Motorad thermostat on 90 degree days.

 

187-194 is usually where mine stays in the city, if I don't have to sit in traffic with the AC on for long periods. hence why I'm not happy with this fan.