Working on car for 11 months...Posting for 5 days.
Yes factory coils,but all 3 are on leading bases and
Ignitors. (runnin WOLF 3D standalone)



Off the topic,Click Here!!!

 

That vintageair/becool setup is straight from UR project RX7. I've posted the link several times after seeing all those shoddy, halfass, lame installations that didn't work.
Love how that shroud covers the entire radiator.

Electric fans work. Mechanical fans work. OEMs use both with success. I guess that all it takes is proper installation and component selection. Pretty simple!

Until someone dynos the mech vs e-fan(on & off), HP gained or loss is inconclusive.
But, the mech fan is like a flywheel. The efan should be thermostatically switched, and only an as needed temporary alternator load.
Guess which gets my vote for more power more of the time and can be wired for driver control for precooling?

 

NZ and Icemark have pretty much covered everything I would reply to, but I want to add one more point.

The FC electrical system is already close to the maximum output of the stock alternator from the factory. Adding an electric fan that can pull 50 or so amps to start up, then 10-20 while running does nothing for the health of the alternator or battery. Combine that with the fact that many people don't wire them properly and you have the makings of bad situation.

FWIW, I have an electric fan on my Tina. There are two reasons:

1. My stock fan clutch died
2. I had the fan sitting in the corner of the garage already

I also have a Fluidyne rad, which has a MAJOR impact on the performance of the cooling system.

 

I put my stock fan back on a few weeks ago replacing my 16" permacool finger choper. and didn't really notice any diff. might be a bit better with the stock one.

but I enjoy the simpleness of the stock one. my e-fan was pissing me off. my black magic adj. thermostat failed a few times in less then a year.

when / if I go to a standalone ECU. I'll put the e-fan back in as I can run it off that.

and for the poeple commenting on which fans are better (directed more at fingers ) do you even have an aftermarket water temp gauge? or are you just guessing?...

 

yeah the black magic thermostat sucks, I've seen a number of them fail on cars, some not even rx-7's... simply does't seem to last long, i'ts not exactly sealed either so that could be part of it.

If I didnt have an E6K controlling the thermofan now, I'd probably wire in a plain ole thermoswitch w/relay instead of using the thermostat it comes with... though initially I did use the thermostat (like in the picture) and it did work fine, I consider myself lucky there.

 

The thermostat failed (because of my wrongdoing) so now I need a new one. As well, the fan was attached with plastic nylon straps, and they weren't holding the fan on FOR ****. Today, i did some cutting and dremel-ing, and mounted the fan properly with heavy duty brackets. I'm now quite a bit more satisfied.

My first problem was that the wires were reversed by the previous owner of the fan. So the fan was blowing instead of sucking. In traffic it was just dandy, but as soon as i accelerated, the temp gauge started to shoot up and went almost 3/4 of the way. I instantly shut down the car and inspected it. (this was a few days ago). Now everything is working just dandy. Except i still need a new capillary tube... its wired by ignition now (I know i know, but it's just temporary, i promise!!)


Scott, you asked me how i knew it performed worse, the explanation is just above... it was my fault more than anything. I did order a temp gauge and an egt gauge, but they have not come in yet. They will be in by the end of this week, so I'll let you know the outcome. I have been measuring the temperature with my mechanic's infra-red thermometer. With the stock fan, my temperature was 174 degrees farrenheit at idle shortly after a spirited drive. I have yet to see what temperature i get now at the rad.

Thanks for your help guys! And remember -- don't trust that damn thermo-controller!! ITS CRAP!!! And don't use Summit Racing nylon straps to keep the fan in (even though thats what they were DESIGNED for).

Now then, onto a new topic -- what to do with the thermoswitch? Should i replace it with an identical unit? ($60CAN from my mechanic) Or what else can I get? Are there actual thermoswitches that you tap into the rad that turn on at 180 degrees?

 

SCOTT 89T2....



Did you notice an improvement in cooling with that mazdaspeed intercooler duct replacement? It looks to vent heat, but i wondered if it really makes a difference or not.......

 

I think it helped a bit. it would be better with an e-fan... my problem now is the stock fan sits right under it. and the fan trys to pull air in through the vent...
so I'm goning to try to make some more ducting between the rad and hole to get away from the fan.

 

I have an answer to the problem.

If it works, don't fix it.

 

i went back to stock stuff because the efan broke or else i would have kept it.

 

I still have my control unit from the black magic fan, I removed it when wiring up the E6K since it gets wired straight to a relay in that setup. Email me if you want it, it worked fine when I used it, just for part of one summer before oil control rings forced a rebuild wich turned into an endless 12 second NA project car. You can have it for like $20 or whatever you think is reasonable.

 

What exactly are those MSD boxes and why do you need 3 of them if you dont mind me asking

 

You got yourself an pm, my friend

 

I love my stock fan...No heating problems at all. And when its 110 degrees out, cooling a TII comes to be a little bit of a hassle.

 

there is nothing wrong with using an e-fan.... the problem is that you must use an adaquate shroud, so you are actually pulling air through the radiator. otherwise e-fans tend to pull air from the edge or end of the blade. basically, if its easier for the air to come from other places, then from through the radiator it will...

It bugs me when people criticize a perfectly good mod because they are not doing it properly. thats why companies make these products and you don't. Homemade **** only works if its done correctly.......

 

like cmon folks.. use your brains.. if you plan on doing anything that uses more electrical load, just do yourself a favour and get a BIGGER ALTERNATOR. it will put out more amperage with MUCH less strain on the charging system, and then you wont have to worry about electrical current when you add on anything else that uses electrical load..

 

I plan to buy a bigger alternator, but 99% of people have NO CLUE about their electrical system. They do hackjob stuff like wiring their e-fans to a switch on the dashboard, or the IGN line so it runs all the time, or god-knows what else. This is half the problem.

 

I do, and i have it wired through a relay to the ignition because I have no choice!!! i'm not going back to the stock setup for a week... thats a whole lot of work if i'm going to pull/replace the electronic thermostat anyway.

 

This is my biggest heartache with giving advice on this forum...everyone wants the cheap easy fix. There is no point in doing a mod if you aren't going to do it right

 

I love the blackmagic fan on my old TII, i mounted it closer to the side with the inlet/outlet because i noticed that on the driver side of the radiator it seemed cooler. I guess its because the coolant has to travel further to the outlet and therefore has more time for the radiator to do its job.

 

 

 

While were halfway on subject about wiring e-fans, what if the battery has been relocated to the storage bins? Just use a slightly heavier gauge wire from battery to fan?

 

well ideally when they relocated the battery they would have run 0 awg wire forward to a charge post at or near where the old battery was. It would be fine then to get your power for the Fan relay, fused from that charge post.

It still would not solve any weak alt or charging problems.