Sam and I got this baby put in today. Cut off 2 tabs and a corner off for the lower radiator hose. Got it relayed through the trailing coil, for signal to turn on and off. All in all, the bugger is so much easier and willing to rev. On the interstate drive home, I ran into traffic and basically idled or was in 1st gear at about 2ooorpm. No heat issues, and ran a touch colder than with the original clutch fan. Got to speed at 75mph and watched the engine temp drop more, and my oil temp never rose above 140*. I can definitely tell the motor got a little more peppy.

Stock Ford Taurus fan, running on low setting. Pictures in the morning.

 

Should run a thermostat to trigger the fan to come on. That way you won't have any issues with it running too cool, you have to remember you get optimal performance at the engines operating temperature.

 

I like not having the risk of a leak. I am sure everyone will be like "Oh but if you do it correctly you won't have a leak" and etc, but I don't feel like taking the chance. I would rather it run a little cooler than a little hotter, my engine likes cooler air

Also, the fan is on the low setting at all times, and that pushes as much if not more than the stock fan did, and I lean on the latter there. High setting was just too intense.

 

You can pick up an adjustable fan controller at Autozone for under 20 bucks. Works great. This will keep the fan from running constantly (especially when trying to start the car). I've had mine for a couple of years and have had no issues.

 

I don't mind the fan running before startup. I am a minimalist I guess

Here are some Pictures of it installed. Tight fit, but nothing rubs.





I have a video if it starting up. First start up in the afternoon, I turn the car on and let the E-fan get completely sped up (about 2 seconds) and turn the car on. You don't have to do that, I normally don't, but just showing that even with the fan running full tilt before you start it, it doesn't effect it (that I noticed), and startups for me are a wee bit faster. Youtube is down, so it will be up later.

 

Another thing is that electric fans draw HUGE current so thats another huge plus for a adjustable thermostat. It may seem like a pain, but it would be a very smart idea...

 

Running continously, you will be dealing with:

heavy electrical draw at all times
increased wear on alternator and fan
draw on battery
lower miles per gallon etc...

18 bucks is cheap to prevent all of that in my opinion...

 

Well, to see how much I was taking, I went to my local handy dandy autozone. The stoners must be out today, I got a testing done. Thing is, he put the positive battery clamp on the positive battery terminal, the negative clamp on the negative terminal.... and then he slipped the alternator test clamp ON THE POSITIVE CLAMP connected to the battery. So he tells me my alternator is bad, it is only putting out a little over 12v.



I will be going to another place tomorrow to get it tested where there are hopefully more sober people working. This number difference is intriguing to me.

 

Looks good Stu! (if I do say so myself!). I hear all the crap about the fan running constantly. If you are running the low end alt (at 35 amps), you may have a problem. But I got you hooked up on a 50 amp alt., right? I have run this same setup on my turbo FB for almost 2 years that I helped Stu put on his car. No problems guys. If you use a 30 amp relay to power to the fan directly from the battery, and use the swith side of the relay from a low voltage source, the power to the fan is not having to travel through the whole car which makes the alt. have to work harder. BTW, I have also been running the 2GCDFIS w/TT on my turbo FB for almost two years. Most people "half ***" the wiring install, then they have a problem and blame it on the part. If you install it right the first time, no problems. Sorry to rant, but I get paid good money to build and troubleshoot electrical componets on $150,000 trucks all day that put 100,000 to 200,000 miles on them a year. I think I know a little about how to wire an electrical fan.

 

Don't really care what you work on all day. Running a thermostat so the engine can operate at it's optimal temp range will give better fuel mileage and less wear on the engine internals when the oil and coolant are at the proper temperature. I run one with my e-fan and it works fine, keeping the coolant temp at 180* all day long.

 

180 F? I need to adjust my temp trigger, then. Thanks for the tip.

And, daaammmnnn, that is CLOSE.

 

Well after reading this thread I want to get an E-fan for my SE, are there any recommendations, of where and what efan to get for the application..... I am running a stock alternator, so I would like to add a thermostat to the set up
Thanks ahead of time

 

Yeah, mostly do to the fact that I still run AC on my car

 

Ford Taurus with the 3.8L engine, if I remember. I forgot to add a pic of the lower coolant hose cut out.

 

lol thats what i did worked pretty well beats payin 160$ for a new fan

 

I don't mean to come off as hardheaded, but I really do not see the point of having a thermostat controlled fan unless you have the fan set to HIGH at all times. If having the fan stuck on when you first start the car is bad and a huge no no, please do me a favor and take a look under a stock first gen's hood. When you start the car, what does the fan do? It spins. Difference = None. I do not tend to granny my car around. I do not shift at 3kRPMs at all time. I am somewhat "hard" on my car. I do not do burnouts at every stop light. I do not power shift. I will shift at 4k minimum, so my car generates more heat than it would if I shifted at 3k. Honestly, if you want to get a thermostat then go for it. Plug in a sensor. My car may run cooler than it should by a few degrees, but it is not like I am knocking icicles off my apex to get it to turn over. My car runs a little cooler and a lot better.

Not bad for $10.

end rant lol

 

Look under the hood of any new vehicle after starting it, the electric fan waits until the vehicle is at operating temperature to kick in. The whole reason you were replacing the mechanical fan sounds like it was for a performance benefit, you would get even more performance out of a thermostat controlled setup.

At the end of the day it's your car and your decision, I just wouldn't recommend others follow that same route, it's too much on the electrical system and there is no reason to have it run all the time. Like Scott mentioned your car runs optimally at it's operating temperature so why prevent it from reaching that?

 

sounds hardheaded to me lol

i agree with dan.. any modern car dose this and there is a reason

 

Ooops, I thought we were working on 20 plus year old cars here. Btw, We are not looking for the "best gas mileage situation" here. If you knew as much as you claim about preformance, these engines make the most horspower between 160* and 165*. Take the 180* crap to the track, and se how long your engine last then. I am not going to argue with you guys. If you can put it on a dyno, and prove me wrong, then I will listen. But the whole reason most people go with e-fan is because of the performance gain, right? If you are wanting fuel mileage, put your rats nest, smog pump, and cats back on. Bam.......20+ mpg. And BTW, you should care where guys like me work, because it's guys like me that set this stuff right from people who think they know what they are talking about .

 

The E-Fan should be on a thermostat so that when the car is at speed, the fan is no longer running and drawing current adding extra load to the alternator(and engine).

Once your going faster then around 30mph the mechanical or electrical fan isn't the one doing the cooling. Which is the point that an efan can be switched off when not needed.

 

Ahhh, Stu now I need to efan my SA or i'll look bad at the next meet. Looks like a good install to me and I'm not wading into the thermo control debate, to each his own. The important thing is was it fun to do and is it doing the job.

Me I'm going with a dual mr2 fans and thermostat to control it. I saw a thread where the mr2 was real easy to install on the existing mounts of the shroud. Now I just have to find the junkyards around here for imports ...

 

1st gen MR2?

Just checked out Pull A Part and they don't have one.

 

Yeah I think thats it. PM me with other places to look around town would ya? Thanks.

 

The last time I was at Pull-A-Part, they had a but load of the Taurus 3.8, and the Lincoln 3.8 cars there. You can pick them up for about $13.00 with tax and your $1.00 entry fee.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6yxbdQAZmk