I want an electric fan

[pkn]

Guess what I went and did!

Stuffed a 10" pusher in front of the condenser to assist with better a/c performance at low speeds.

Taking advantage of the fan controls and relays from the previous failed engine cooling e-fan,, ,,e-junk.

Install took 1 hour. Nice!

Gained a 10 degree drop when sitting at traffic lights. Also Nice! Ice... ..

Stupid thing is loud though! But I like 56 degree air when it's 105 out-side.

Great! That's a setup I'm planning now, too: keep main cooling fan mechanical, but add a pusher to keep A/C alive when idleing.

Could you please tell the make/model/CFM/thickness of the fan?

I'm looking at Spal 30100401 (~$75 amazon) 16" Straight Blade Pusher - that's the thinnest (63 mm only!) 16-inch pusher I could find... but if you used 10-inch fan with good results, maybe I'm overkilling it a bit?

I do, in general, like overkills, but I'm not sure the 16"-inch fill fit in front of condenser - I also have transmission cooler there.

 

[FR-425]

Great! That's a setup I'm planning now, too: keep main cooling fan mechanical, but add a pusher to keep A/C alive when idleing.

Could you please tell the make/model/CFM/thickness of the fan?

I'm looking at Spal 30100401 (~$75 amazon) 16" Straight Blade Pusher - that's the thinnest (63 mm only!) 16-inch pusher I could find... but if you used 10-inch fan with good results, maybe I'm overkilling it a bit?

I do, in general, like overkills, but I'm not sure the 16"-inch fill fit in front of condenser - I also have transmission cooler there.

I used a Hayden, part # 3670. got it at O'Rieleys. $34 I believe.

I used the trans cooler mount holes and the existing holes on the passenger side for the air inlet snorkel thingy with a 3" x 8" piece of 8 gauge scrap for a bracket.

Only drilling was on the bracket I made.

Slip the bracket behind the air snorkel and the fan mount on the cooler side behind the cooler. Did not have to modify the fan or the vehicle.

Mounted the fan using the factory hardware.

Oh. I only used three of the fans corner mounts. plenty for the little 10 inch. So the lower corner on the cooler side is not mounted to anything.

I think you can tell in the picture that 10" is gonna be the max.

The relay is connected to the compressor clutch so it only runs when the a/c is on.

 

[pkn]

I used a Hayden, part # 3670. got it at O'Rieleys. $34 I believe.

I used the trans cooler mount holes and the existing holes on the passenger side for the air inlet snorkel thingy with a 3" x 8" piece of 8 gauge scrap for a bracket.

Only drilling was on the bracket I made.

Slip the bracket behind the air snorkel and the fan mount on the cooler side behind the cooler. Did not have to modify the fan or the vehicle.

Mounted the fan using the factory hardware.

Oh. I only used three of the fans corner mounts. plenty for the little 10 inch. So the lower corner on the cooler side is not mounted to anything.

I think you can tell in the picture that 10" is gonna be the max.

The relay is connected to the compressor clutch so it only runs when the a/c is on.

Thanks!

Definitely seems the right way to go. I need to find some free time and finally start working on it...

 

[mr cribb]

Guess what I went and did!

Stuffed a 10" pusher in front of the condenser to assist with better a/c performance at low speeds.

Taking advantage of the fan controls and relays from the previous failed engine cooling e-fan,, ,,e-junk.

Install took 1 hour. Nice!

Gained a 10 degree drop when sitting at traffic lights. Also Nice! Ice... ..

Stupid thing is loud though! But I like 56 degree air when it's 105 out-side.

Peek: Dang paint is really peel'n off that grill all of a sudden!

sounds like winner winner chicken dinner

 

[Number4]

In cars designed with an electric fan, I'm pretty sure the fan runs constantly when the AC is on. If you don't, your high side pressure may build and shut down the ac.
I say this at the risk of being ignorant, I've not studied up on ac systems.
Anyway, the clutch switch as a trigger will leave the fan off too much and it causes it to constantly start up and shut down. Remember, the ECM runs the fans in cars with OE e-fans.
In my 04, I installed a switch, when I push the ac button, I 'flip' the switch as well. This way the fan stays on until I turn off the switch. AC runs mutch cooler with this setup. As I'd originally done the clutch switch route as well.
I ditched the fan clutch. Engine warms up much quicker and idles down sooner at start up.
Overall I've gained about 1 more mile per gallon.
Modified early 2000 Mustang GT fan. Modified meaning I cut it to fit.
Flex a lite inline hose adapter
Flex a lite fan controller with threaded temp sensor.

 

[boominXplorer]

I know in my ranger I used a violet wire coming from the the hvac head unit for a/c turn on. It sends a 12+ constant once you turn the a/c on so you don't have to use the clutch turn on wire.

 

[Maniak]

I've done a few Electric fan conversions (not on an X yet) and on each one we did a puller setup AND connected it to when the a/c is turned on (not the compressor) the fan is on. This really helps keep the A/C nice and cool (more than with the engine driven fan) when in town BUT it's just wasting energy when on the freeway. On top of that, the air coming into the radiator may be going much faster than what the fan can pull. That would mean the fan is actually restricting air flow.

On each conversion we have put on a manual bypass switch which will turn off the A/C's control of the fan. If the engine gets warm it will turn on but when your in the Southwest US, you can drive 1 hour on the freeway and just be getting to the next town and the entire time you don't need to be running the e-fan. Your gong over 45 mph so why bother having the e-fan running?

For simplicity, we did modify one of the last conversions by putting flaps on the shroud. That way if the fan was running while the vehicle was going 75 mph down the freeway the air going through the radiator would have a way to get out without having the fight "through" the fan.

This issue can also happen if your running a pusher type fan for the A/C or trans cooler. As your going down the freeway, the running fan can actually be restricting the air. For this reason I have my pusher trans cooler fan setup so it will only run when the torque converter is not locked up. When not locked I'm doing < 50mph AND that is when you generate more heat.

~Mark

 

[pkn]

... As your going down the freeway, the running fan can actually be restricting the air. For this reason I have my pusher trans cooler fan setup so it will only run when the torque converter is not locked up. ...

Could you please share were exactly do you get this "torque converter locked" signal from?

I'd like to do the same, but my attempts to find this signal in factory service manual diagrams failed miserably so far...

 

[Maniak]

Could you please share were exactly do you get this "torque converter locked" signal from?

I'd like to do the same, but my attempts to find this signal in factory service manual diagrams failed miserably so far...

I'm running a 700r4 so the way I did it won't help you.. BUT...

There are signal wires coming from the ECM on the first gen that go down to the A4ld. The red wire (out of the 3) is the 12v power from the EM to the TCC and 3/4 solenoids. I can't remember the other 2 wire colors BUT they are in that 3 wire harness that runs down the back/driver side of the motor that falls into the exhaust manifold when the hanger the for harness fails. The signal wires put a ground signal to the solenoids to enable them.

It isn't a true ground BUT I believe you could put in a small (smaller than bosch size) relay and have the signal ground from the ECM kick the relay (use it in NO) which would let you know when the transmission was electronically told to go into lockup.

AFAIK, using your own 12v source and the ground from the ECM "should" work. Maybe ask the people at bandit customs... they know the electronics the best.

The other option would be to have the 12v from the ECM and the ground signal from the ECM control the relay. If it is a small relay it shouldn't pull too much power. I do know if you put that 12v from the ECM to ground it will pop the ECM fuse. This "might" set a code (not a CEL though) for the tcc solenoid as it may throw off the impedence that the ECM sees. It's been a long time, but I believe it wants to see 26-40 ohms...

~Mark

 

[pkn]

I'm running a 700r4 so the way I did it won't help you.. BUT...

There are signal wires coming from the ECM on the first gen that go down to the A4ld. The red wire (out of the 3) is the 12v power from the EM to the TCC and 3/4 solenoids. I can't remember the other 2 wire colors BUT they are in that 3 wire harness that runs down the back/driver side of the motor that falls into the exhaust manifold when the hanger the for harness fails. The signal wires put a ground signal to the solenoids to enable them.

It isn't a true ground BUT I believe you could put in a small (smaller than bosch size) relay and have the signal ground from the ECM kick the relay (use it in NO) which would let you know when the transmission was electronically told to go into lockup.

AFAIK, using your own 12v source and the ground from the ECM "should" work. Maybe ask the people at bandit customs... they know the electronics the best.

The other option would be to have the 12v from the ECM and the ground signal from the ECM control the relay. If it is a small relay it shouldn't pull too much power. I do know if you put that 12v from the ECM to ground it will pop the ECM fuse. This "might" set a code (not a CEL though) for the tcc solenoid as it may throw off the impedence that the ECM sees. It's been a long time, but I believe it wants to see 26-40 ohms...

~Mark

Thanks! Somehow I did not realize that additional relay might interfere with the ECM sensing the solenoids... I'll need to look into it again