electric fan in place of OEM
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G
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·a good electric fan set up will cool better, and you will get a little power from the motor not having to turn the mech. fan
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2,064 Posts
hey thats my next mod. ill keep your name and pm you when i install it. and ill tell you exactly what i noticed.
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5,246 Posts
Electric fan mod, very popular. Do a search and you'll find lots of threads on this subject.
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140 Posts
If you like a challange and are mechanicly inclined you can get it done really cheap.
1. Watch ebay or go to junk yard and find a good used fan. Mine came from ebay for $17 + shipping. Was from a mazda 6 cyl. and moves pleanty of air. Be sure it will move alot of air.
2. Believe it or not, an electric water heater thermostat works great. They are designed to be surface mounted. I mounted mine on the lower tank of the radiator. Water heaters have two thermostats: the lower simply turns on the lower element upon temperature drop.....not what we want. The upper thermostat is double throw meaning that on temperature rise, it turns off the upper element and sends power to the lower element thermostat. That is what we want. You can buy a new one in home depot for about $10 or less......or you can take one from a descarded water heater. They leak before the thermostats fail and can always be found by the dumpsters at your local plumbing supply house.
3. The rest is wiring and fabricating brackets.
4. You have the distinction of showing your friends your one of a kind custom mod.
Remember that the fan (or fans) need to come on upon temperature rise of the coolant in the radiator, AND whenever the A/C operates. This is a simple relay application.
PM me if you want help along the way.
1. Watch ebay or go to junk yard and find a good used fan. Mine came from ebay for $17 + shipping. Was from a mazda 6 cyl. and moves pleanty of air. Be sure it will move alot of air.
2. Believe it or not, an electric water heater thermostat works great. They are designed to be surface mounted. I mounted mine on the lower tank of the radiator. Water heaters have two thermostats: the lower simply turns on the lower element upon temperature drop.....not what we want. The upper thermostat is double throw meaning that on temperature rise, it turns off the upper element and sends power to the lower element thermostat. That is what we want. You can buy a new one in home depot for about $10 or less......or you can take one from a descarded water heater. They leak before the thermostats fail and can always be found by the dumpsters at your local plumbing supply house.
3. The rest is wiring and fabricating brackets.
4. You have the distinction of showing your friends your one of a kind custom mod.
Remember that the fan (or fans) need to come on upon temperature rise of the coolant in the radiator, AND whenever the A/C operates. This is a simple relay application.
PM me if you want help along the way.
G
Guest
·As others suggested, do a search and you'll find lots of info.
One point I don't remember seeing though, is the fact that the factory relay and wiring will most likely not handle the current draw of the fans, without excessive voltage drop, or a mulfunction of the relay (my burned out).
The flex-a-lite fans draw 30 amps once spinning, and substantially more at start-up (if I remember correctly).
That's a lot of current. Make sure to upgrade the wires, and use a relay that can handle this current (the "Hella 40 Amp" automotive relay works fine).
One last tidbit of info:
Electric fans produce airflow directly proportional to the voltage supplied (more or less, gets more complicated than that). So the less resistance you have in your wiring/relay, the more airflow you will get from the fans.
Best Luck......Sdude.
One point I don't remember seeing though, is the fact that the factory relay and wiring will most likely not handle the current draw of the fans, without excessive voltage drop, or a mulfunction of the relay (my burned out).
The flex-a-lite fans draw 30 amps once spinning, and substantially more at start-up (if I remember correctly).
That's a lot of current. Make sure to upgrade the wires, and use a relay that can handle this current (the "Hella 40 Amp" automotive relay works fine).
One last tidbit of info:
Electric fans produce airflow directly proportional to the voltage supplied (more or less, gets more complicated than that). So the less resistance you have in your wiring/relay, the more airflow you will get from the fans.
Best Luck......Sdude.
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409 Posts
does anybody have a pusher fan as well as a puller fan...meaning one in the front of the radaitor and one on the back side..?.or is that a waste of money...?.-lky-
G
Guest
·The stock turbo car has a pusher fan, in front of the air conditioner core. Not sure if the N/A does, but I think so. Unfortunately it's not sealed to the radiator core, and hence it's not very effcient at helping out the radiator cooling .lkychrmz79 said:
Extra pusher fan:
That would work good, as the core of the radiator is only approximately 1/3 open, so we get high static pressures, on the fans (higher static pressure = less flow from fan).
The big hurdle is where to get the extra power, to power these fans. An extra 12" fan, at 15 amps, is a lot of load on the charging system, that wasn't designed for it, assuming you already have the dual flex-a-lite setup (30 Amps alone).
I have a 150 Amp alternator (stock is 70A for N/a, 80A for Turbo), and I don't think I could even run 3 of these fans, with my stereo on, at idle, without discharging the battery.
Better idea is to increase the efficiency of the flex-a-lites, by making a stand-off shroud. It's almost like getting something for nothing.
Cheers.......Sdude.
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