[rlith]

Of course there are a lot of threads on this board and all the other s10 boards regarding electric fans, flexalites, and clutch.... Everyone has their own experiences and doing a search for fans bring up a multitude of threads and opinions... I figured I would throw my hat into the ring for informational purposes... Opinions may vary, but like assholes, everyone has an opinion....

Since I did my 3" Trailmaster body lift on my 1st gen I installed a 15" Hayden/Imperial e-fan because my clutch fan didn't line up with the radiator anymore and I didn't want to relocate the rad.... It seemed to work well for my 4.3 CPI Vortec... Well, that is until you ran the AC... When running the AC and being stuck in City traffic (Pittsburgh Rush hour) and blowing steam out of my rad 3 times.... Not seeing a justification for the price of the dual magic fan ($200.00) or even a used LS1 fan ($125.00) I decided to hunt down the popular Taurus dual speed electric fan.... After finding one (there were several) in my local wrecking yard, I picked one up for $35.00 (a bargain considering my hayden/imperial cost me 80 bux from Advance Autoparts)...

Since I already had my thermostat wiring, power, diodes in place for my hayden (using the s-seriesforum.org efan how-to for the wiring) I simply removed the top portion of my OEM 4.3 fan shroud and cut the zip/fin ties that held my Hayden/Imperial 15" fan on. (These are the same ones that come with most fans, they can be bought seperatly at advance for $2.00 for a pack of 4).

Taking my new/used 1996 Taurus 3.8 e-fan I lined it up against the rad and as everyone else claimed it fit damn near perfect. Only thing is you will have only an inch or so of space between the old fan studs on the water pump. If you feel unconfortable with this, simply gind off the excess studs down to the nuts.

I then drilled 2 holes on the top lip of the e-fan shroud and on either side of the lower cowling to run my sips through. Relingned the fan again against the radiator and drilled matching holes along the top side braces on the rad. Ran all the zips through the top and the fins towards the bottom and secured tightly... Replaced my oem fan shroud (with no cutting needed) to rebrace the top of the radiator...(I only used the OEM shroud because I was too lazy to fab my own braces for the rad).

I rewired my relays for dual speed (rather easy because I used edge connectors for all my wiring) and made new power connectors for the taurus fan. (It had the oem pigtail on it that I didn't want to cut it, it only took an additional 10 mins of making those connectors).

So I was ready to fire the fan up again (I had tested functionality with bare wires to the battery on the high and the low side and it was 93 degrees out). Started my truck and kicked the ac on just to fire the fan on the high side, worked fine)... After letting my truck warm up to operating tempreture and watching the readout on the Scantool (wasn't taking chances with my bargraph digitial dash temp because I wanted EXACT readings) I allowed the truck to climb to 200 degrees farenheit. Adjusting the themostat to come on at just below that (195) I let the truck idle in the driveway for about 25 minutes. The temp according to the scantool didn't get above 191 on low speed kick on. (low speed comes on at around 185 degrees farenheit). So I drove it hard around the area for about 10 mins watching the temp readout on the Scantool, and it only hit 195 once and immediately backed down to 190-191) Parking it back at my house I then put it to the real test, switcing on MAX AC, I let it sit and idle (This is with the hood closed) and doing work around the garage and cleaning up tools I popped my head inside the car every few mins to look at the scan tool... Still holding at 191 degrees farenheit!!! I decided to take a chance and go in the house and check my email, get some coffee, and have a cigarette... Forcing myself to stay in the house for almost 45 mins... I walked outside and checked the Scantool...It was at 192 degrees farenheit! (I'm not gonna quibble over a degree or 2)

Then I started thinking, is my sensor actually good? So as a final test I cut power to the fan and withing 2 minutes I was at a whopping 220 degrees farenheit! Arrg, damn thing works, I plug the power back in and watch the Scantool... Within 45 Seconds it was at 202 degrees, then in another minute it was back at 191. (This was with AC on). So I now know that my sensor works properly and I'm quite happy with the speed of the cool down aspect of this fan...

There is some debate on this fan as to the CFM output. I've seen everything from 2500-4000 with nothing definitive. I plan on talking to the local ford dealer and getting exact specs...

The bottom line is that I feel this is a good mod and a good fan overall. It's simple, it will work on any 4, 6, 8 cyl engine on any 1st or second gen truck. (Provided you have the engine cavity room on the 8 cyl). Wiring is simple, mounting is simple, you free up a few ponies by not having the engine drag of a clutch fan, it's quiet (no jet noise) and it's cheap!

My truck now runs at a solid tempreture instead of fluctuating wildly between 190 and 220 which I hope will translate into better/consistant gas miledge..we shall see. below I will post some pics including the s-seriesforum diagram which was well thought out. If you use the diagram, ignore the diode spec, any diode with a 5watt 500 volt load or better will work fine...It's just a diode...


Pictures of Taurus fan in my 1st gen 92 Blazer with a 4.3 Vortec CPI motor.

Note the space of the water pump studs from the fan... It actually is more than enough room, but you can grind them down to nuts..

A direct down shot of the same thing... Better perspective

This is a pic of my relays. I bolted them to the fender well. Note the use of covers and heatshrink. Also these relays are meant to be used for all purpose weather because they are sealed...Try not to use cheap relays that aren't epoxy sealed...

A Pic of my thermostat. The probe is attached the the rad about 2 inches from the inbound flow of the rad (hottest part of the radiator) The control unit is also attached to the fenderwell. I have 2 30 amp fuses inline. (You can use a single 50 amp fuse if you prefer) You can pick up this thermostat for $15.00 at your local Advance autoparts store...

 

[rlith]

s-seriesforum diagram...

 

[rlith]

I hope this thread helps people. Perhaps if enough interest is generated it can be made a sticky so we can get some of the redundant threads from getting started...

 

[VegasGMC]

If you live anywhere that the outside temps get over 100 Id suggest going up to the Mustang fan like I have. Its basically the same as the Taurus fan but with 18" blades instead of 16". Even when it was 115-118 here my engine temp never got over 210 with a/c and in traffic. If the temp is under 105 then engine stays between 180-190. It almost covers the whole radiator and it was great to get rid of the fan shrouds. Plus the a/c works alot better because there is constant airflow over the condencer. The only down side is I had to go to a HO alternator because my stock one couldnt handl it when the fan was on hi, the a/c was on and the headlights. The engine would almost stall.

 

[bg's]

That seems to be working out good. I'm running a flexi 60.
It works good, but if it craps I'll go with this, and I never thought
I'd ever say this, Ford Tarus fan mod. I just wonder if getting
a 180 temp switch and putting it in one of the head's water galley
ports wouldn't make things a lil easier as far as turning the fan
on. I understand there would have to be something for the fan
to come when the A/C is kicked in. Maybe wire the low speed for
the water, and the hi speed for the A/C. I don't know.

Had no idea the NE rusted stuff up like it does..I guess that roadsalt really eats up steel.

 

[rlith]

just get an adjustable thermostat and attach it to the fins next to the inbound waterhose on the radiator (the hottest point) then wire part of it to the ac switch (see diagram) that way it will only come on when needed or when you hit the AC...

 

[1988S10]

what would work in a fullsize chevy with a 350? i'm thinking of getting a fullsize truck(s-10 goes to my dad).

 

[ZR1 S10]

All I can say for efans is, if you have hte money get the 210 or LS1 fans otherwise the taurus fan is the way to go.

It was around 95*-98* where I was last week, and I had the A/C on MAX. And my driving style aka nuts well it stayed right where it normaly is at behind the first line on the temp gauge. Meaning it never went over 165 or so. I am soo pleased with my 210 setup.

To any1 with out an efan, it is a great mod very cheap $35 and can be VERY effective, even better than the stock clutch in some situations.

 

[rlith]

ls1's and the taurus push about the same amount of cfm's 3000-3500... It boils down to what works for you astheticly and costwise.... I think for the cost the taurus was the better choice, they wanted 150 for the ls1 fan from a 99 trans-am

 

[tom3]

Only thing I see to think about is the current draw starting that fan on high speed with the AC. I have a Contour fan on mine that draws 100 amps on direct high speed startup. I wired the AC and a temp switch to the low speed with dash switch for high. Have yet to need the high speed here in So. Ohio, but this is a 2.8.

 

[rlith]

I measured the immediate amp draw when kicking on, it didn't go over 26 amps, drawing only 14.3 amps at normal run...(atleast that was what my meter read)

 

[rlith]

'

 

[Rick X]

tom3--
100 amps ??? Are you sure ?
That's 1200 watts!

 

[rlith]

sorry, typo, 26 startup around 14 continuous running

 

[railstop]

another excellent fan is the Lincoln Mark VIII fan. I have one in my mustang and cools like nobody's business. they can be a bit pricey, but they cool much better than the taurus, late mustang fans. just a thought.

 

[89yellows10]

Will a e fan off a newer Ford Tarus?? And what guage wire should i run to the fan for power??

 

[mat1583]

A few questions... what guage wire did you use for everything?

Also, what switched 12+ source did you use? I used the wire that goes to my abs. It's fused, so I figure if something happens, I can just replace the fuse.

I'm having one big problem with mine too, and I can't really pinpoint what it is. The fan turns on fine on low speed when I start my truck, and the thermostat makes it kick up to high when it needs to as well. The problem I'm having is that when the temp gets high enough and the high speed has been running for a minute or two, the fan just completely shuts off. It doesn't even go back to low. After a minute or two of being off, it switches back on to high for about 20-25 seconds, then back off again. It keeps doing this, and the engine heats up pretty quick without any air blowing through. When the temp is low enough and the high speed isn't needed, the low speed stays on fine. Could this be bad wiring, or maybe a bad relay? The high speed also switches on fine when I turn the A/C on, but it does the same thing and eventually keeps cycling on an off. I originally thought it had something to do with the A/C, but it even does it with the A/C off.

I'm not trying to whore the thread, I just thought this would be a good place for anyone who needs to troubleshoot as well.

edit: i just thought about it more. I do have a circuit breaker for the power source. I can't remember what amperage. It's either 30 or 50. Either way, if it flips it resets itself...so could it be possible that the circuit breaker is being thrown then resetting itself and doing that when the fan is on high speed? I'm not good at troubleshooting electrical problems. Doh!

 

[mat1583]

alright, I double checked the diagram. There was only one thing different. Instead of splicing the two wires that go from the 30 on the relays to the circuit breaker, I just put ring connects on the ends of each wire and connected both to the same post on the circuit breaker. Is that not the same as if you just spliced them together and put one connector onto the post? I'm not sure about it.

 

[jeffawong]

just get an adjustable thermostat and attach it to the fins next to the inbound waterhose on the radiator (the hottest point) then wire part of it to the ac switch (see diagram) that way it will only come on when needed or when you hit the AC...

rlith - did you mount your temp probe under the efan shroud or outside it? The fan I have has room to do either - Thx Jeff

 

[bg's]

alright, I double checked the diagram. There was only one thing different. Instead of splicing the two wires that go from the 30 on the relays to the circuit breaker, I just put ring connects on the ends of each wire and connected both to the same post on the circuit breaker. Is that not the same as if you just spliced them together and put one connector onto the post? I'm not sure about it.

Don't see why that wouldn't work. If a line in spliced into another that is routed to
the circuit breaker, that's two lines going into one to the breaker. Instead of splicing
the line into the other one and running just it to the breaker, you elected to run
both to the breaker eliminating the splice. Sounds right to me, but the Doctor
says I'm slowly losing it, so take my reply for what its worth..

I do think you may have to get a lil bigger breaker, like a 40 or 50 maybe. Maybe
not, but why not try it and see what happens. You can always go back to the 30.