'99 ohv 4.0 cam build

[QueenCitySleeper]

Personally I would not try to custom mount a deeper rad. There is room but I don't see the point. Its not like your crawling the thing. I would try an easy to mount cheap junkyard fan before dropping cash on a custom rad and lots of time into a fully custom rad and interceptor fan install. Ill get pictures of my fan mount up sometime today.

Are you overheating?
Did you install the 185 t-stat with higher compression?

[Dono]

I checked my data logs, and its a 185 thermostat.
Another issue I have is that a couple of years ago I had a rad failure and all I could find was a sohc rad. The rad works, but there is about an inch less room between the rad and the harmonic balancer.
I'm thinking if I need the right rad, I might as well go for an HD one, and use a countour fan. The countour fan is much smaller, and wouldnt be as noisy for sure.

[QueenCitySleeper]

You must have a skinny fan the way it is. I had to grind the motor housing on mine to clear the water pump stub. Start with a contour fan and if its not cooling properly then go for a better rad then just mount the contour fan to that. I paid around 90 for my new rad. I'd try to avoid that cost if ya can. The SOHC rad should be working just fine. I'd stick with that and a new fan if possible.

[jd4242]

Just a fyi.if you can find a thunderbird supercharged fan its the same motor(2speed) as the Taurus fans but the blades are different (larger and more blades, more cfm) and the shroud is A LOT smaller.they fit perfect and if you over heat with it there is something else way wrong.know don has seen this before

[Dono]

sorry about polluting your thread. I found my noise issue with my fan.
It became very quiet, and id just hear a motor running. odd...
So, being a brave (read stupid) soul, I stuck my hand in where the fan should be turning. I could pick up the fan with my hand inside the fan cage.

So, I yanked the fan assembly out and found that the fan had tore off the motor. I had a spare fan assembly from the junk yard, so in it went. Seems to run much quieter now. I'm pretty happy I had that spare (And that its still cold out). This summer I'll be picking up another spare.

[QueenCitySleeper]

Glad to hear it was a simple fix. Cooling should no longer be an issue now that your fan is turning the same rate as your motor!!

[Dono]

Yup, Thinking about it, that could very easily have been the end of my motor. All it takes is 1 overheat. Just 1.

[QueenCitySleeper]

Here's my fan mounted. You can kinda see the brackets. Ill get more pics of the circuit after I clean it up some.

[QueenCitySleeper]

Just installed new solenoid for fan. Explorer won't start. Flashed ecu back to stock. No start. Unplugged battery touched cables together hooked back up without fan power supply. No start. It cranks but no start. Any ideas?

[QueenCitySleeper]

figured it out. too embarrassed to say what it was. Lets just say my driveway has a slight grade to it lol

[Dono]

ok, so now I'm curious. Driveway has a grade.....hmmmm a riddle.

Low on gas!

Anyone who hasnt done something like that at some point is lying.

[Dono]

New solenoid working?

[QueenCitySleeper]

Dang your good. Yea my nerve endings confirmed strong spark, so I proceeded to fuel. Then my brother asked the obvious, duhhhh

Yes the first solenoid I ordered was dysfunctional. So i picked up a temporary starter solenoid for a '65 ford v8. I melted the contacts in it as expected. The fan actually came on while I was in class and killed my battery. I need to wire my controller signal to radio not fuel pump. My replacement 200 continuous amp solenoid works just as it should. That fan is serious. I still need a 100 amp fuse. I blew two 60 amps already.

After I've confirmed everything is working right and is reliable I will post my wiring diagram and components with pics.

[QueenCitySleeper]

Finally made an intake. Found everything I needed in Lowes plumbing isle. Total cost about $25 including paint. 3 inch the whole way. I had some whistling in my airbox so I reshaped the hole a bit.

[Dono]

No doubt there will be a few issues while sorting it out. A dead battery is no big deal. Better to have the fan stuck on, rather than not turning on.

Intake looks great. I always thought that one bend in the intake was pretty restrictive. I guess for the factory, low flow motor it must have been ok

[QueenCitySleeper]

Originally Posted by Dono

No doubt there will be a few issues while sorting it out. A dead battery is no big deal. Better to have the fan stuck on, rather than not turning on.

Intake looks great. I always thought that one bend in the intake was pretty restrictive. I guess for the factory, low flow motor it must have been ok

My thoughts on the fan exactly. And thanks, I also thought the bend diameter was small. It was most likely for air velocity purposes but Ive already messed up the flow dynamics of this engine so much it doesnt really matter.

[QueenCitySleeper]

So far the fan has worked as it should with the new solenoid. The fan only comes on once all the coolant has reached about 200degF. That way its not fighting the thermostat. It comes on rarely, only on 75deg + days while in traffic and stays on for maybe 5 min at a time. The fan is pretty loud if standing outside the vehicle. I have it wired on high and one can feel air being sucked through the grill. My fan brackets utilize the old mechanical fan shroud mounts on the radiator. They are angled up to hold the weight of the fan while two zip ties hold the bottom tight on the radiator. I didnt have to drill a single hole in my explorer. I used existing holes for mounting the fan, controller, fuse block, solenoid and grounds.

My controller is mounted directly to left of the radiator out of sight. Solenoid and fuse block are mounted between the battery and fender. The only wire I had to extend was the fan power wire which went to the solenoid.

Here is the wiring diagram I used. I dug deep and ended up finding it on RPS.
8 gauge is not really necessary even for the MarkVIII fan. Its harder to work with so Id use 10 if I were to do it again. Instead of the Imperial Controller I used the Hayden one from O'Reileys(same thing). In place of the 75amp relay I went with a 200amp golf cart solenoid. My fuse block houses one 40 amp fuse and one 100 amp fuse. I used the closest diode RadioShack had to offer.


This is my controller thermometer location.


Hayden controller buried deep. Just enough room to access the temp adjust.


Fan ground next to battery tray. The wires tied up are for dual fan setups and AC wiring that I wont be using.


Here is my solenoid and fuse block. Keep in mind the solenoid body is grounded. Sand off the paint where its mounted. Red wire on the 40amp fuse powers the controller. Black wire on 100amp fuse powers the fan. One small solenoid post is grounded. The orange wire on the other small post is actually the one that would power the fan if the solenoid was not present. The orange is used to switch on the solenoid sending power to the fan. Diode is on output large post to ground. I painted my fuse cover black and have a black sack for the solenoid to keep them hidden and protected from dust. My signal wire for the controller is on my fuel pump fuse, however any hot 12V source will work.


Junkyard Mark VIII fan: $25
eBay Prestolite Solenoid 12V, 200 continuous amp, 4 pole: $30 shipped
eBay 100amp fuse pack: $2 shipped
RadioShack connectors, wiring, 40 amp fuse, on sale fuse block, diode: $15
Lowes 8 gauge 6ft: $3
O'Reileys Hayden Fan Controller: $36. Can also be found at Advance and Autozone under different names.
total: about $115

This is a good alternative to the pricey DC controllers. Most of the cheaper ones don't even support the Mark VIII fan. This fan will blow fuses and fry relays under 100amp. With a 200 continuous amp solenoid this system is overbuilt and should last the life of the vehicle. Is the e-fan conversion worth it? probably not, but I learned a lot at the expense of little cash.

[jd4242]

Originally Posted by QueenCitySleeper

So far the fan has worked as it should with the new solenoid. The fan only comes on once all the coolant has reached about 200degF. That way its not fighting the thermostat. It comes on rarely, only on 75deg + days while in traffic and stays on for maybe 5 min at a time. The fan is pretty loud if standing outside the vehicle. I have it wired on high and one can feel air being sucked through the grill. My fan brackets utilize the old mechanical fan shroud mounts on the radiator. They are angled up to hold the weight of the fan while two zip ties hold the bottom tight on the radiator. I didnt have to drill a single hole in my explorer. I used existing holes for mounting the fan, controller, fuse block, solenoid and grounds.

My controller is mounted directly to left of the radiator out of sight. Solenoid and fuse block are mounted between the battery and fender. The only wire I had to extend was the fan power wire which went to the solenoid.

Here is the wiring diagram I used. I dug deep and ended up finding it on RPS.
8 gauge is not really necessary even for the MarkVIII fan. Its harder to work with so Id use 10 if I were to do it again. Instead of the Imperial Controller I used the Hayden one from O'Reileys(same thing). In place of the 75amp relay I went with a 200amp golf cart solenoid. My fuse block houses one 40 amp fuse and one 100 amp fuse. I used the closest diode RadioShack had to offer.


This is my controller thermometer location.


Hayden controller buried deep. Just enough room to access the temp adjust.


Fan ground next to battery tray. The wires tied up are for dual fan setups and AC wiring that I wont be using.


Here is my solenoid and fuse block. Keep in mind the solenoid body is grounded. Sand off the paint where its mounted. Red wire on the 40amp fuse powers the controller. Black wire on 100amp fuse powers the fan. One small solenoid post is grounded. The orange wire on the other small post is actually the one that would power the fan if the solenoid was not present. The orange is used to switch on the solenoid sending power to the fan. Diode is on output large post to ground. I painted my fuse cover black and have a black sack for the solenoid to keep them hidden and protected from dust. My signal wire for the controller is on my fuel pump fuse, however any hot 12V source will work.


Junkyard Mark VIII fan: $25
eBay Prestolite Solenoid 12V, 200 continuous amp, 4 pole: $30 shipped
eBay 100amp fuse pack: $2 shipped
RadioShack connectors, wiring, 40 amp fuse, on sale fuse block, diode: $15
Lowes 8 gauge 6ft: $3
O'Reileys Hayden Fan Controller: $36. Can also be found at Advance and Autozone under different names.
total: about $115

This is a good alternative to the pricey DC controllers. Most of the cheaper ones don't even support the Mark VIII fan. This fan will blow fuses and fry relays under 100amp. With a 200 continuous amp solenoid this system is overbuilt and should last the life of the vehicle. Is the e-fan conversion worth it? probably not, but I learned a lot at the expense of little cash.

How hot does that 8g wire get? I would have used something a little thicker but basically that's about the same setup I use.what tstat are you running?

[QueenCitySleeper]

Well this fan seems to pull(based off fuse blowing) about 80-90 amps at startup. Running Ive read its about 40 amps which makes sense. So 12V x 40amp = 500 watt fan. I think 8 gauge is more than adequate. I have not noticed any heat at the wires, connections, or solenoid after use. The heavier gauge stuff is just a pain to work with. I using the cooler t-stat. 185deg I believe. Stock I know is 195.