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Electric fan conversion and rad flush

12K views 26 replies 4 participants last post by  tspot 
#1 ·
Started my electric fan install today and doing a rad flush at the same time since I pulled the rad to install the fan. Made good progress. All old parts removed, fan mounted to rad and rad reinstalled. Rad flushed out and ready for new coolant. Rad definitely needed to be cleaned out. The drain barely worked when I was trying to empty it the first time. I ended up pulling the entire drain plug out because I was getting impatient and made a huge mess. But got her done. I could have sworn I ordered a 180* thermostat but the one I have says 195* on it, hopefully this will be ok. Complete with jiggle pin but my thermostat sits flat so im just going to install it the same direction as the old one, jiggle pin towards driver side.

Picked up some 1/8" x 1" flat aluminum stock and ended up using it to mount the fan controller and the fan. Mounted the fan controller using the bolt for the washer fluid tank. Nice little spot for it there by the fuse box, close to battery and the fan. Used 4 pieces of the aluminum to mount the fan to the rad using the bolts for the old shroud. The trickiest part was actually getting everything off the motor. I had to unbolt the shroud then unbolt the fan from the bearing then the whole unit lifted out. Then it was easy to get the rad out and I was able to just sneak the rad back in with the fan installed on it. I also removed the entire bearing assembly from the motor and used the shorter belt to run only the alternator, this also creates alot of extra space. Its tight squeezing the rad and fan in as one unit but once its in place and bolted up there is lots of clearance all around. Also managed to install the temp probe AFTER I had reinstalled the rad because I forgot, lol somehow found some space.

Tomorrow I put the new coolant and thermostat in and completely wire the fan. Taken a few pictures on the way Ill post them up tomorrow also.
 
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#2 ·
Several folks want to do this so the pictures will be a great help.

Smart move to put the shorter belt on. It really does give you more room.

UPYOURKIA
 
#3 · (Edited)
Going to go through the electric manual right now and find what I need but what did you guys use for ground ignition and AC wires?

I am extremely grateful for the free service manual that I found on these forums, however there were some changes over the years and when it comes to pictures and diagrams, my 00 looks a bit different than the truck they used for the book and sometimes it can be hard to tell what youre looking at exactly. ex. The thermostat housing in the manual says it has 2 bolts and the thermostat sits on a roughly 45* angle. my thermostat housing has 3 bolts and sits horizontal. also my evap canister is square and the one pictured in the manual is round. Just something I thought Id point out.
 
#4 · (Edited)
well wired everything in, let her warm up, and nothing.

ign wire i tapped into what i think is the wiper motor power. confirmed 12v hot with ignition on with volt meter. AC wire, well i see one wire leading to compressor and one short one leading out that is grounded to the top of the compressor, so I tapped the wire that was leading to the compressor. I have the ground for the fan controller and the ground for the fan itself in the same spot, on top of the ac compressor. power to the battery. i dont know what i did wrong, and electrical isnt my strong point. i will change the ground and report back

also confirmed fan is working by connecting directly to 12v
 
#5 ·
i dont know, im pretty sure I have the correct AC wire but even if that was the wrong wire the fan should still run when it gets up to temp. I let the car get up to temp and I adjusted my controller as far as I could both ways and nothing. I guess I have to go through every connection but I was going slow and im pretty sure all my crimps are good. which leaves me with probably a bad controller. DOA in fact. im not sure how to troubleshoot the controller to determine if this is in fact the cause. like i said electrical not my strong point, i figured it couldn't be that hard with instructions. I do have a digital volt/amp/ohm meter.
 
#6 ·
also confirmed fan is working by connecting directly to 12v[

Your issue is on the power side, either the module is not getting good 12vdc or the thermo probe is not activating the switch...

Also remember, if you flushed the engine and heater core, not all the fresh water will drain, so the first jug of coolant must be 100% (not diluted)...

.... Philip
 
#7 ·
Your issue is on the power side, either the module is not getting good 12vdc or the thermo probe is not activating the switch...

Also remember, if you flushed the engine and heater core, not all the fresh water will drain, so the first jug of coolant must be 100% (not diluted)...


.... Philip
Thanks I actually thought about it and did exactly that, first liter of coolant was 100% then mixed the next 2 more and more.

I confirmed 12v on the battery side of the fuse and the controller side of the fuse on the wire from + side of battery to the controller so 12v is making it to the controller, but the fan is also not running with AC on soo... bad relay in the controller? very frusterate now. admittedly I didnt buy a very costly controller however it wasn't the cheapest, i expected to get some time out of it.
 
#8 ·
Recommend changing your common ground point to the main Negative ground tray bolt, look between side of battery and Intake manifold - the Neg. battery cable and motor ground strap bolt to that ground point.

--

What brand / model controller did you purchase? If you post that info. up, will try to help.

Regards,
GottaCruise
 
#10 ·
Fan Controller:

Black = 12v ground, connected to common ground point,

Red = (+) 12v power feed, connected directly to (+) battery terminal bolt,

Yellow = (+) 12v switched feed when Ignition is (ON),

Green = (+) 12v A/C override feed, turns fan ON when A/C is on, regardless of coolant temp.,

* Blue = (+) 12v output to 2nd Fan Motor in a (2) fan setup, not connected if using a (1) fan setup.

Fan wiring:
--
Orange = (+) 12v output to Fan Motor, connected to (+) lead on Fan,
(-) lead on Fan, connected to common ground point.

--

Temp probe inserted in radiator, near (upper) radiator hose inlet,

Adjustable (white) dial on controller to the left (counter-clockwise) position, once the motor warms up to operating temp / coolant is flowing to radiator, dial is turned gently to the right (clockwise) to the point where the fan(s) turn on.

--

If the electric fan does not turn on when the A/C is engaged, check to make sure there is a FUSE in the Orange wire fuse holder.

If a fuse is present and the Fan is not running, check to make sure there is (+) 12v on the YELLOW Ignition wire going to the fan controller.

--

To ensure good grounding, relocate your controller and Fan grounds to the battery tray ground point.

Hopefully above makes sense, post back if anything is unclear above,

Regards,
GottaCruise
 
#11 ·
Thanks GottaCruise that all made sense

ok i think i solved the power issue, i think my connection to the ign 12v was not good enough. got that fixed, moved the grounds, cant get the fant to turn on with the AC. haven't tried warming the engine up to see if it turns on from the temp switch yet.

my question is what kind of voltage should i be expecting to see on the + AC wire with the key in the on position and the AC turned on. I just checked the wire i have the AC wire connected to and Im seeing 0.0V with key in the ON position an AC turned on, blower at setting 1. There is a fluctuation of 0.1V occasionally then back down to 0.0V. Am I connected to the right wire?
 
#13 ·
^ +1 ^

--

You can tell the if the A/C is working by:

A/C condenser fan in grill will be running,

* A/C compressor clutch will be engaged -> turning when +12v is energizing the compressor clutch (the long thin wire w/ the barrel connector -> leading down to the compressor),

--

For testing, a Heat Gun and an InfraRed (IR) therometer are really handy tools for verifying temp ..

* If you have an OBDII scanner, recommend hooking it up, setting to observe Engine Coolant Temp. (ECT) sensor / another method to determine coolant temp & set the engage temp on the controller...

--

The Sportys here like to 'cruise' at 185-187 degrees (F) for normal operating temp. - I set the SPAL controller engage fan engage temp @ 195 degrees,

* but I am running a 180 degree thermostat here *

So if you are running a 190 / 195 degree thermostat, you may have to bump up the engage temp. several degrees, e.g. 200 degrees on setting,

Verifying consistent engage temp. and fan operation are key to a issue-free install, I would concentrate on that, vs. the A/C override first.

Again, any questions, post up, will try to help,

Regards,
GottaCruise
 
#14 · (Edited)
so weird I can only see one wire going to the AC compressor so i figured that had to be it. but it is def seeing 0.0V with ignition and AC on.

So what if i put the AC override wire from the controller and hook it to the power wire for the AC condenser fan. This wire I just confirmed sees 12V with ignition and AC on. is this an acceptable fix?
 
#15 ·
yes the one long thin wire with a barrel connector that comes from the passenger front area of the engine bay. that is what i tried to use for AC override but not working. I will skip AC override and make sure the fan is running first with temp switch. I dont use AC much anyways.

And yes I have been monitoring engine temps with TORQUE app
 
#16 ·
It lives! the 12v ign wire must have been the culprit. fan now triggers with heat probe. seems to be working right have it activating when the coolant gets to 87*C and shuts off at 85*C (188*F and 185*F). The thermostat I bought, the box even says its a 180* thermo, but stamped on the frame it said 195*so im still not sure. Idling in the garage everything seems to be working now to take it for a spin and see how she holds up.
 
#18 ·
Thanks Philip! This is embarassing but for the greater good of hopefully preventing someone else from making my same mistake... I used one of those "self stripping" clamp on splicers where you put it on the wire you want to tap into then put the end of the new wire beside it, and you close the little plastic bit and the metal inside slices through the insulation and makes the connection, in theory. But i just used the plastic to close it and the plastic wasnt strong enough to push the metal through, so i had to open the connector up and actually clamp the metal itself with a pair of pliers and this pushed it in properly. all good now.

ok took it for a spin. seems ok and yes i believe it is a 195* thermo now. cruisin around city streets seems to hold around 90* (194*F). Did a couple of pulls up the steepest paved hill near me, saw it spike to 94* (201*F) then gradually drop back down to 90-91*C range. Also did a pull up the hill, got it to 94*C then at the top of the hill pulled over and idled. Within 2 mins the temp was down to 89*C (192*F). Then it would drop to 88*C and seem to just sit there for a long time with the fan running. Should I turn the fan up a bit more so its shutting off at the 90*C mark? Right now I think the fan is shutting off at 87*C or a low low 88*C but since the thermo is closed by this point the coolant stops circulating and thats why the temp just sits at 88*C for a long time with the fan running. Is this correct?

off to button up the loose ends and ill snap a pic of the final product, thanks for all the help guys!
 
#20 ·
Nice job tspot, congrats on the install.

re: engage temp., best to establish a baseline, from what you wrote yours is about 192 - 194 degrees (f), then I would set the fan engage point 5 - 7 degrees higher, that way the fan will not run continuously.

* Baseline for fan engagement on most (snap-switch electric fan equipped) 4 cylinder vehicles is 200 degrees (f), e.g. Toyota, Honda, etc. - so kicking up the engage temp. a few degrees will not hurt anything, this is FYI.

--

If the A/C compressor was working prior to the electric fan install, and you used a quick-tap (plastic) connector on the compressor clutch wire, recommend checking for voltage at a point -before- the tap splice: the tap may have cut/damaged the wiring.. That wire is pretty thin to begin with, you may have to splice in a new piece of wire -> out to a point near the clamp on top of the compressor. A 14 gauge wire should do it, IIRC.

If you can, soldering connections and using shrink-wrap tubing over the solder points is best, but if not, providing the quick-tap is installed inside the passenger cabin, not exposed, and is working ok, then would just make sure it is securely fastened to the existing wire loom with electrical tape and/or plastic cable ties: make the wiring added as durable / factory as possible, in short make it a durable, professional install for worry-free operation.

Congrats on the install !

GottaCruise
 
#21 · (Edited)
AC worked before and still does work. I taped up the section where I had the splicer connected, Im not sure why I dont see voltage there with AC on however I have just taped this wire off and if I really need it I will hook it up later. I ran the AC for a bit and with the AC fan and the rad fan going it kept up with the heat no problem

Got the fan right in the sweet spot now. Switching on at 93*C (199*F) switching off at 91*C (195*F). Seems to keep up to everything so far. Saw 96*C (205*F) briefly while sitting still with AC on, which quickly came down to 91* (195*).

While I did not solder my connections (tsk tsk) ALL of my connectors were heat shrink wrapped and taped. Only the splice connector for the IGN 12V wasn't shrink wrapped because it was too big to fit inside my heat shrink. I did however tape the $h!t out of that one. All the wires that I added on were 14G.

I didn't do step by step pictures but I took a couple of the process and a few of what it looks like completed.

Mounts made for fan



So the two black rails on the side of the rad. This is where the OEM fan shroud bolts onto and I got my rad out by unbolting it from those two rails. For fabrication purposes it is much easier to have them on the rad. From there it was easy just cut 4 pieces of aluminum and use the 4 bolts that bolted the shroud on to mount them on the frame then just grab some hardware to bolt them to the mounting points on the fan. With a strip of EPDM rubber between the fan and the rad the fit is snug and doesn't rattle. With the OEM fan and bearing assembly completely removed from the motor I was able to drop the rad and fan combo in exactly the way its pictured

Thermostat housing



As you can see the thermostat on my 00 sits horizontal. You can also see the new alternator belt installed here from just the crank to the alternator. My part number was GATES K040335. Another alternative is 4K335 - Unknown brand. You can cross reference it on rockauto.com and it will find something. It is 14mm x 864mm or 9/16" x 34" 4-groove belt



So much room



With the fan and the bearing assembly and bracket there is ALOT of extra room at the front of the motor.

Controller mount



A small piece of aluminum makes a perfect mounting spot for the controller to be able to access it to adjust the temperature settings. I used the plastic pop rivets that came with the controller, although I can see them working loose over time and me replacing them with some small screws.
 
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#22 · (Edited)

Wiring Diagram




In this pic you can see I also put a strip of EPDM rubber at the top of the rad to help make a seal to the AC condenser. There was about a 1 1/2" gap between my rad and AC condenser so I couldn't make it air tight all around but I did what I could to help it. This is how the engine bay looks all complete, only missing the flimsy piece of plastic that goes on right above the grill.
My AC override wire is just taped off where it show in the picture for future use. The wires run infront of the evap canister and then the ground wires run underneath one of the vac lines coming off of the evap canister, this is to hold them in place.

The troublesome connector



These things kinda suck, although they are extremely handy. Use pliers, make sure the metal bit is pushed ALL the way into the wires

Original ground on AC compressor



So here you can see the original location I used to ground the fan and the controller, the top of the AC compressor. The two wires to the left are the ones i just installed, the one on the far right is the AC compressor ground. And the wire in the middle is what I thought was the AC + wire, which i used to try to connect the AC override wire. However I couldn't find any voltage on this wire with ignition on and AC switch on.
Not sure whats going on there, AC still works...


New ground location



As suggested by GottaCruise, I moved the controller and the fan ground to the location on the battery tray underneath the intake manifold.
 
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#23 · (Edited)
Fuses and controller all taped up



So to help protect the fuses from the elements I stacked them on top of each other then took some 1.1" heat shrink tubing and melted that around them. This heat shrink actually has glue in it to help protect against moisture. I heated up the heat shrink with the fuses out, then put them in and used electrical tape to seal them off while still letting them be accessible.

IGN 12V splice all taped up



This is where I found my IGN 12V source, the wiper motor wire. Red w/ black stripe wire.

Fan power and temp probe taped up



This is the fan power an ground and the temp probe wire. I zap strapped them onto the bracket for the EVAP canister so it doesnt flop around too much. Thats my temp probe sticking out of the rad, directions say it might not stick all the way into the rad, so I just pushed it flush with the front side and locked it in there.

Just a better pic of the finished buttoned up engine bay




Thats all I can think of for now, if I remember any other important details I will add them in. I feel like there is a few more HP pulling up the steep hills now, and Im sure my motor will appreciate the lessened strain on cold starts as my OEM fan clutch was seized. I feel like the spinning fan assembly had quite a bit of weight to it and I am hoping I see some MPG gains. I will post up results after the first tank of gas.

Any questions or comments are welcome, and thanks again to all who helped me figure out this install!

I added some pics below with more detailed instructions on how I removed the OEM fan.
 
#24 ·
GREAT WRITE UP!

Maybe you could list the belt size for others.

I'm going to redo my engine bay wiring and will be using the 12V key ignition spot going forward!

Very Clean!

UPYOURKIA
 
#26 · (Edited)
Reading through the write up for electric fan install on 4x4wire.com seems like that guy had some trouble removing the stock fan so I thought I would write down a couple more directions because although that space is tight I didn't have to remove the thermostat housing or anything else to remove my stock fan and pull the rad out.

Back of fan



So there are 4 nuts that hold the fan blades onto the bearing. Its a 10mm wrench, get it on there and hold the fan still by sticking a long screwdriver between the two studs on the opposite side of the one you're trying to loosen. Mine were not difficult to break loose this way.


Separate the fan from the bearing



Once you take off all 4 nuts the fan blades will slide forward. So if you do this AND remove the 4 bolts that hold the shroud onto the rad, then you should be able to slide the shroud and the fan blades straight up at the same time.

Remove the bracket



Which will leave you with only this left on the motor. Undo the 2 bolts on the right side which also have a bracket that extends on that side. (That bracket is useless now and can also be removed) and the 3 larger bolts on the left side, and you are then ready to install your shorter alternator drive belt.

Hope this clarifies things.

Impressions after driving for 5 days.

Everything working well. I have fan turning on at 93*C(199*F) and turning off at 91*C(195*F) and I have a 195*F thermostat so this is perfect. The fan is only running if the thermostat is open, and when in stop and go traffic the fan will come on and run for 2 minutes max before it has pulled the temp low enough to shut off again.

Now I think I was overdue for new coolant also because my OEM fan was seized and would always run, and even then on the hiway (100km/h(60mph)) I would cruise at about 93*C(199*F), now I know my fan is not running on the hiway because I am cruising at 89*C(192*F).

The motor seems smoother on cold starts. Definitely quieter without the fan spinning always. My driveway has a short incline onto the street and when the car is cold in the morning I notice it takes less throttle to get up that hill now. I also noticed that on a flat road the truck would be very very difficult to get moving if you tried to do it in 2nd gear before the swap, now I can get her going in 2nd on the flat without any trouble. Also a slight increase in passing power on the hi way. In 4th gear doing 100km/h(60mph) she seems to have a bit more pep in her step, I dont have to push the throttle all the way to the floor to get her going.

Overall I am happy with the conversion and on a motor that is only rated at 127ft/lbs I think any power you can get back is going to be a good thing. These trucks should have come with an electric fan as OEM.

I cant comment on fuel economy yet because half the tank was the old fan and half the tank was the new fan plus I did all my testing on the fan on that tank of gas as well, but I will comment at the end of next week about any changes in fuel economy.
 
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#27 · (Edited)
Ok a couple of notes I wanted to ad and then comment on fuel economy.

First note is that it seems for some reason this mod can trigger a P0326 CEL, which refers to the knock sensor. I had this happen to me as well as GottaCruise when he did an electric fan install. After clearing the code with a blue tooth OBD reader it has not returned after 300+ kms of driving. Im still not sure if its directly related but it was a strange coincidence that it happened to both of us, so I thought I would mention it.

Second I wanted to make a note about adjusting the fan to the right temperature, specifically with the controller Im using, but the concept should be the same for any other adjustable fan controller.

I find the instructions for adjustment that come with the fan, which are the same instructions that GottaCruise posted earlier in this thread, for the Hayden 3647 adjustable fan controller are a little misleading. The instructions state

Adjustable (white) dial on controller to the left (counter-clockwise) position, once the motor warms up to operating temp / coolant is flowing to radiator, dial is turned gently to the right (clockwise) to the point where the fan(s) turn on.


So when you are looking at the controller and you turn the adjustment dial all the way to the left, (seems very delicate, use very light pressure, full adjustment range is only 3/4 of a turn), that is the lowest temperature setting which is 90*F on the Hayden controllers. 210*F is the max. So that means that if you let the car warm up and wait for the thermostat to open, the fan should already be running. So when they say turn the dial to the right until the fan turns ON, this does not make sense. Instead you need to turn the dial to the right until the fan turns OFF. That will set the lower limit of the controller to the same temp as the thermostat which is ideal to stop the fan from running when the thermostat is closed, which is pointless. On the Hayden controller there is about a 5*F difference between the temp that will turn the fan on and the temp that will turn the fan off, so if you use this method the fan should be turning on around 200*F and off at 195*F.

A means of monitoring true engine temperatures is essential with this mod. Either a gauge or an OBD reader, do not simply rely on this method of setting the adjustment to control your engine temperatures, make sure you can confirm it. And after driving around the city for half an hour, I sat there for a good half an hour with my OBD reader and torque app and watched the temp go up, the fan go on, the temp drop, and the fan go off. I made incremental adjustments until I got it shutting off right at 195*. I even took into account the delay between the OEM temperature sensor, which is what OBD is reading, and the temp probe for the fan controller.

So to the fuel economy. I have seen improvement. around 1.5-2MPG improvement. The local stations recently switched over to winter gas, so mileage has been bad lately, I was getting much better numbers in the summer. But right before the fan swap I was getting about 12-13L/100km which is 18MPG - 19.6MPG and first full tank after the swap (about 50/50 hwy/city driving, hwy is 100kmh(60mph)) I got 11.75L/100km or 20mpg. I have also been using the AC a lot more lately because the defroster has been on in the mornings. (I want to find a way to turn off the AC when the defroster is on) So I suspect I will get better numbers come next summer. But this past summer with the OEM fan still and summer gas, on the same drive I got 10.9L/100km or 21.5mpg so I hope to beat that number. So a small improvement but over the life of a vehicle this can add up. The power gains aren't huge either but they are noticeable, and the motor just seems to run smoother. Overall I am still happy and believe this is a worthwhile mod.

I also had a pinhole leak develop in my upper rad hose this week. So I ordered a new one and kept topping the rad up with water, and as the coolant slowly changed from a mix to straight water the operating temps climbed by almost 15*C or 30*F! I kept a close eye on temps and the new fan kept up and kept everything under control until I could put the new hose on today!
 
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