PCMFORLESS NEW E-Fan Setup and PCMFORLESS INTAKE

andy702252

Original poster
Member
Dec 22, 2011
76
Okay guys so a few months ago I was just on the right post at the right time when I was given the offer to loan my truck to PCMFORLESS so that they could make a prototype e-fan. This fan would automatically turn on unlike the manually operated ones before. In addition to the E-fans, they sent me an e-mail last Tuesday asking if they could make an intake also. So of course I agreeded and boy o boy was I impressed. Not only at the new found sound, but at the throttle response, fuel economy, and just flat out fun to drive. Now of course as soon as I picked the TB up I took it down the road to get a little wild, and it roared. I have aftermarket exhaust already on my truck but the addition of their intake made it awesome. It is not like other intakes that I have heard go down the road whistling or making noises, it adds the true sleeper element. The intake stays hidden till about 2500 to 3000 rpm. I have never had so many guys wanting to race at lights 2 back to back. Anyway on to the big topic at hand fuel economy. I filled up my truck after leaving their shop. I have drove 276 miles and still have 1/4 of a tank, I know what your thinking the gauges are not that accurate. But even if they were lying I still would be happy. The truck was drove in the range from 70-100 for about 80 miles on interstate on the way back home. Then I had to made some stop and go's in my home town adding about 15 miles, of course putting it to the floor between each stop. Then I left for school adding another 80 miles of torture. Now I wont go on about all my stops but I would say it would be pretty much equal with city vs. highway driving with about as much drive time in both. Normally I would had been at the gas station 2 days ago filling up again. If you guys have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
:undecided: Got any pics of your new intake? :yes:

no-pics.gif
 

06Envoy

Member
Dec 4, 2011
419
Pics of both please!!!!


That explains the I6 efans coming soon link on thier webpage!
Can't wait to see the pics!
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
06Envoy said:
Pics of both please!!!!


That explains the I6 efans coming soon link on thier webpage!
Can't wait to see the pics!

I thought they had efan kits listed for a while already?

Hmm maybe it is a good thing I haven't even started on my efan conversion, maybe their setup will be a lot more straightforward and worthwhile than some random homebrew thing I was going to cook up :undecided:
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Interesting that the sensor goes in the lower (cool) hose, not the upper (hot) hose.
 

Mark20

Member
Dec 6, 2011
1,630
Isn't the lower hose the hot one in our 4.2L engines? It comes from the thermostat.

I like all that free space.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
I always figured the upper was the hot one, since hot liquid rises and cool falls. Yeah, I know it is being pumped so it is a moot point but just seems to stand to reason to me. Obviously I could easily be wrong because I just assumed and have no proof to back it up with :tongue:

View attachment 20202
 

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andy702252

Original poster
Member
Dec 22, 2011
76
View attachment 19909
I know I posted something like this up top but here is a better review I think.
2002 Trailblazer I6
265,200 Miles
I am going to post the review here and also on the GMT website. So here it goes, upon receiving my trailblazer after the new goodies, I was speechless to say the least. The shop is about three hours from my home and a buddy was driving my trailblazer back, so I had to play in it just for a second before I turned it over to him. Now at the time the intake was the first thing I was interested to hear and see what performance was added. Now in summary the performance parts I already had installed on the truck included aftermarket flowmaster exhaust, SuperSparkz, PCMFORLESS Tune, and Royal Purple Synthetic Oil. So I pulled out of there lot and headed to the closes straight road. At first I just got down on it from a rolling stop. Whoa! Is all I can say the RPM’s shot up and brace yourself, my trailblazer actually pushed me back in the seat some. The intake adds a sleeper profile to the truck. The intake is unheard at anything below 2,500 RPM. Whether you stomp the throttle or lay into it gradually it sounds as if a beast is ready to be unleashed. Given I know this is not a SS by a long shot, but hey let a college student dream. As for under the hood, the intake looks as if it belongs there, it mounts straight to the throttle body and just gives of a clean gleam. Now, because I had two installs with great PCMFORLESS parts done at the same time it is tough to say which did what, but it’s obvious that both are well worth installing. Now for some performance in the way of horsepower and gas mileage; first lets tackle the first on my mind with being a college student away from home, gas. I stopped to fill up the truck about 80 miles from my home, and when we got home the gauge had barely moved. Now given from things I have read the gauges are not that accurate however I put another 250 miles on it and I am now just venturing into the area below a quarter tank. Now I know this is not excellent but you must factor in all the playing that the truck had to take over about 4 hours of travel and a fair amount of city driving. Especially hard in between lights when some little punk tuner felt he needed to rev up his 93’ civic. I will be the first to say that my trailblazer is not an idea candidate for baseline performance mods. Being that my truck now has 265,200 miles on it and to say the least the transmission has seen better days. That’s okay though, from the performance and gas mileage I have gained I can hardly wait to see what it does after my tranny rebuild in the summer. Now on to the E-fans, unlike the intake you will barely know its there at all. Maybe a little bit of noise at a red light if you’re really trying to pay attention, quite frankly it was a lot better than the clunky fan that previously occupied that space. The staff was super informative on all aspects of the mods my truck received. Kelly came outside and gave me a walk through and was super polite. If anyone is thinking about dealing with this company it is an absolute no brainer. I have dealt with them thru mailing in my PCM and in person. They are fast quality workers at the least. To design, fabricate, and install an intake and new E-fan setup in a week flat is more than impressive. I can say that I was very impressed with all the products I received from PCMFORLESS. If you use your trailblazer for commuting or just flat out wanting performance with horsepower and gas mileage they have your solution. They have now started offering bundle deals and occasionally you can catch them with a seasonal sale. The prices are more than fair in comparison to other parts in more franchised realms of the performance industry. Hope you guys enjoy all the parts you buy from PCMFORLESS in the future it will be well worth it and with gas going the direction it is headed, the new parts will pay for themselves in no time. To the guys at PCMFORLESS my truck is ready for loan at anytime, keep up the good work.
-Andrew Jacobs
 

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06Envoy

Member
Dec 4, 2011
419
Thanks for the pic of the intake tube and the writeup! Very informative.

Is it possible to post a pic or two from different angles of the efan kit installed?

Thanks again. :smile:
 

andy702252

Original poster
Member
Dec 22, 2011
76
Sure will. I have a video I recorded looking at the entire setup breifly. I will post it once I get out of class this afternoon.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Is that Spal fan single speed or dual speed?
 

Hatchet

Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,405
I'm still running the original E-fan proto-type they did the first time. Still works good. Going on a few years now.

Running it off the coolant temp and guessing one of the taps is connected to the ac compressor?
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
marshall@pcm said:
Single...

Ah OK. I already have a dual fan that I bought for a homebrew conversion, but I was thinking maybe I could buy a half kit from you guys to operate it (everything but the shroud and fan basically). Since it is a dual fan setup however (low and high) that might not work as well as I was hoping. Hm.

Where does the temp sensor tap go?
 

Shdwdrgn

Member
Dec 4, 2011
568
Marshall - have you made any changes to your tune to enhance the intake? There are quite a few of us here who have home-brewed a similar setup, and I was thinking about sending my PCM in for a couple adjustments anyway. It would be great if you guys found a way to get even better performance out of these.
 

DenaliHD66

Member
Dec 4, 2011
597
Dang I was just thinking today how I might drop in E-Fans when I change spark plugs. Didn't know PCM4less made an actual drop-in fan kit. Anyone else install this fan yet and satisfied with it? I'm looking at the site now and its pretty slim, so I'd like to know how well it cools compared to OEM fan clutch.
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
Shdwdrgn said:
Marshall - have you made any changes to your tune to enhance the intake? There are quite a few of us here who have home-brewed a similar setup, and I was thinking about sending my PCM in for a couple adjustments anyway. It would be great if you guys found a way to get even better performance out of these.


Just sent mine in, Will you be having these intakes for sale soon? Any price range on them? I just sent an email regarding changing my selection on the ordersheet from filter drop in to CAI.
 

DenaliHD66

Member
Dec 4, 2011
597
I was waiting for my efan install to change the settings on my pcm. I like it in its current mode, but I have always wondered if 93 octane will boost it up at all. Oh, and I'm not sure if mine got torque management removed or not. I don't know if thats a standard thing when you get a pcm4less tune or not...
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
I believe you can specify how much to remove. None, some, most, or all.

I was personally thinking of removing it all. I can manage the torque via my foot well enough I think. That's how cars used to be, and both my previous cars were.
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
DenaliHD66 said:
I was waiting for my efan install to change the settings on my pcm. I like it in its current mode, but I have always wondered if 93 octane will boost it up at all. Oh, and I'm not sure if mine got torque management removed or not. I don't know if thats a standard thing when you get a pcm4less tune or not...


I beleive if you say you dont tow, They remove it. If you say you tow and specify the amount you tow, (I Said I tow appox. 1500lbs alot) I emailed them and they said they would remove about half the torque management for that. So it all depends on what you told them...
 

Mypetropig

Member
Dec 29, 2011
226
I was under the impression that even if you selected no towing that they would still leave about 20-25% of torque management in it. I am sure that Marshall or somebody from PCMforless will chime in at some point to verify.
 

DenaliHD66

Member
Dec 4, 2011
597
Mine still doesn't feel like its fully open and linear with the accelerator. So excited about this new efan though.
 

Mypetropig

Member
Dec 29, 2011
226
DenaliHD66 said:
Mine still doesn't feel like its fully open and linear with the accelerator. So excited about this new efan though.

Sorry to hear that, they will work with you to resolve it as they have the absolute best customer service. I am stoked about this e-fan as well, just have some other issues to resolve first.
 

DenaliHD66

Member
Dec 4, 2011
597
Yeah I spoke with the lady a little while back, because I was wondering about the torque management issue and the efan patch, and I asked if I could get a discount or just pay shipping since all I wanted changed in my pcm from them was 93 octane and the efan patch, but they said I would have to pay the $150 or whatever it was (the same prize of buying a new one and sending back the core). I wasn't too thrilled with this option, but maybe when I order the efan along with it, something could be done. I just hate to spend another $150 just for the efan patch and 93 octane switch.
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
What are the advantages with this Efan when towing?
 

DenaliHD66

Member
Dec 4, 2011
597
They don't pull enough air to cool the engine. Constant stress or strain on the engine, i.e. towing and hard off roading, aren't ideal for them. Unless 90% of your driving is regular.
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
DenaliHD66 said:
They don't pull enough air to cool the engine. Constant stress or strain on the engine, i.e. towing and hard off roading, aren't ideal for them. Unless 90% of your driving is regular.


Damn that put E Fans out if the question.
 

DenaliHD66

Member
Dec 4, 2011
597
03envoy said:
Damn that put E Fans out if the question.

I think the LS1 dual efans are better at pulling more air, because they are controlled separately and variable speed, but yeah still prob not best option for towing. Could also just take the hood off... who needs that anyway?
 

bagdvoy

Member
Nov 19, 2011
92
Interested to see if this option is better then the original one they did. I have that version and I wonder if, as did someone above, if this would be a better option? Can we just upgrade the control part and continue to run the dual fans?
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
DenaliHD66 said:
I think the LS1 dual efans are better at pulling more air, because they are controlled separately and variable speed, but yeah still prob not best option for towing. Could also just take the hood off... who needs that anyway?


Lmao yea who needs that!
 

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