E-fan question

[zonianbrat]

Hi all,

It is very late and I havent done much searching but figured I would just ask.

I planned on doing the e-fan swap in my old 97 Nissan pathfinder. I got a fan from a taurus at a JY. It is the fan that cooled the 3.8 ltr V-6. It apparently has two speeds. Well my pathfinder is goine and I now have the 98 Explorer XLT 4.0 SOHC. Will this e-fan work for my new to me truck? If so what model controller do I need to buy? I want to have it hooked into the thermostat or somehow inline with the thermostat so that it automatically turns on and off but I also am going to run a switch inside so that I can turn it off manually if/when I go through water crossing etc. Thanks all advice and help is much appreciated.


Bri

 

[gijoecam]

Flex-a-Lite, SPAL, Troyer Performance, and (???? Brain fart... can't think of the 4th) all make one that'll work. The FAL has overheating issues, the Troyer unit has relays that are prone to failure, and the SPAL I've heard nothing but good about, but it's a bit pricey.

If it's reliability you want, SPAL is the name of the game. If you want cheap, Troyer's is decent, FAL is a little more high-tech.

-Joe

 

[Maniak]

Dakota Digital PAC-2000 is the one I just used on a friends f-150.. the Taurus fan (single speed) with the normal 2 core radiator and a 302 stays nice and cool, even in 108F weather with the a/c on.

~Mark

 

[zonianbrat]

Thanks for the reply guys. Looks like I might just sell my tauras fan (pretty sure its a two speed) to a buddy and look into the SPAL fan and Dakota Digital Pac-2000. You guys wouldnt have any links would you? I should do a search and I will probably find one there. First thing I think I am going to do is try to switch to all synthetic fluids. I want to get all the maintanence/reliabilty issues covered before I take on more serious mods. Man I am getting the mod bug big time.

Bri

 

[Maniak]

This is the pac-2000.. Its a two fan (kinda a two speed) NON PWM fan controller.. We used it as a one speed controller on a single speed Taurus fan.
http://www.dakotadigital.com/index....category_id=-1/home_id=-1/mode=prod/prd43.htm

As its setup now it does the following.

Waits 5 seconds after it see's 12V switched power before turning the fan on (helps startup current draw)

Turns on the fan if the a/c is on (we added a switch to manually bypass this for long freeway drives).

Turns on the fan when the water temp (not radiator temp) gets 210F. Turns the fan off at 200F (even if the a/c fan control is turned off).

If the fan is on when you turn off the truck the fan runs for 30 seconds to try and cool things down.

In addition we added a manual bypass switch to manually turn on the fan if we want it on for some reason.. Also added an LED to tell us power is going to the fan.. That way we can know if the circuit breaker trips or if the relay died (the led won't turn on when the fan is supposed to be on)..

We used this breaker.. http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2008061915564007&item=11-3198-120&catname=misc

and a bosch 75 amp relay..

to power the fan.

I also used a couple small (normal bosch relays) for the manual fan override. The PAC-2000 switches ground, not 12v so I had to make the lighted switch switch ground and you need a relay to do that.

 

[zonianbrat]

Extremely informative Maniak thanks! I am a bit of an electrotard so I will have help but atleast I know what I need and have good ideas. Do you know if the taurus fan was for the 3.8 ltr? If so that is the one that i have. I could have sworn it was a two speed but I could also be totally wrong. If it is the 3.8 ltr that would be great as I already have the fan. All I would need is the controler, switches, relayes etc. and to possibly fab up a shroud.

 

[Maniak]

Most are 2 speeds.. My friend won't use Junk Yard parts unless he has to.. so he called his friend at a ford dealer somewhere back east.. I gave him the p/n (8c607) but some of the p/n (which I didn't have) is what determines what year its for.. The year he sent was a single speed.. It was $100 cheaper than the other one (same general part #) so thats the one he sent.. It took me a bit to figure out what the heck happened since the fan still has 3 plugs but once I saw the wiring diagram I knew it was a 1 speed..

Yes it was for the 3.8 motor...

We got the fan for a 1998 Taurus I think.. We should have gotten the one for the a 1993-1995 (possibly 95-97).. I'm 90% sure we got the f8lz 8c607 (not sure about the suffix after that)

~Mark

 

[zonianbrat]

I dont remember what year the taurus was that I got the fan from. That part number does sound a bit familiar but it could be coincidence. I will have to find a way to test the fan to see and make sure it it is infact a 2 speed. I am just happy to know that the fan should work. I need ot take a class or something to learn about basic electonics so I dont have to rely on other people to help me with what seems like a simple job.