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HOW TO: Control an electric fan with a factory thermoswitch

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Old Feb 17, 2010 | 12:46 PM
  #26  
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From: Phoenix
Originally Posted by junito1
I use one o those push in probes with fuse and relay w/ adjustable temp.

NO splicing just wired to the battery. It was hard setting the thing to its proper temp but i havent had any problems yet.

But i like the set up you guys are using. I might switch to that style soon. with s5 switch=)
I'm assuming you used a good temp gauge when you set it? Those probes are a terrible indication of how hot your coolant actually is.
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Old Feb 17, 2010 | 03:24 PM
  #27  
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I use a laser thermo thing to set the temp switch. I didnt go by the water temp guage.

ANd i bought mine at auto zone=) for about 30$ +- came with relay and fuse. adjustable.

The hard part was getting the switch set at the right temp. The switch was easy to adjust in the lower temps. Until you get to about 170. Then no matter how little you move the adjuster it would jump to from 170 to 190. then i got lucky at 184 or so=D left it there.
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Old Feb 17, 2010 | 03:47 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by arghx
^ I've never met a single person who has gotten those things to work, on an Rx-7 or any other car. Consider yourself lucky.
I'm using one too. It works like a champ once you get it set correctly. My probe is pushed into the fins just under the radiator inlet and the controller is mounted just behind the passengers side headlight.

The only splice I made was to switch the relay with 12V ignition power and I think I pulled that from the AAS harness connector that I am no longer using.... so it wasn't really a splice at all.
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Old Feb 20, 2010 | 12:34 PM
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Originally Posted by FC3S_nataku
i would like to do this with my taurus fan on my s4 t2 but i cant make heads or tails of the wiring diagram. im wiring diagram retarded lol. is there a way you could post pics of what needs to be spliced and the wires used. thanks
That diagram is about as simple and straight forward as it gets. I mean no offense, but if you can't make heads or tails of that schematic, you probably shouldn't be attempting it in the first place. Try to find someone who has done some car stereo/alarm installs who knows the basics of a bosch relay. They look confusing, but are actually very simple once you grasp the concept.

Pole 85 and 86 really just turn the relay on or off - thats it. The relay typically rests on 30/87a and when you energize the coil (poles 85/86), the relay just switches to 30/87. Pole 30 is just your feed - it an be 12+ or ground - or whatever.......

arghx - GREAT post. Thanks. Its always good to visualize the schematic before digging in. And to the others - yes, you can wire it many different ways, but this appears to be the best in my opinion. Please don't criticize the mans post or way of wiring it if it is different from yours.

Again - AWESOME post and great schematic!
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Old Feb 20, 2010 | 12:51 PM
  #30  
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From: Rohnert park
great post! I hate heat. Do you have the pics of this set up?
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Old Feb 20, 2010 | 01:39 PM
  #31  
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From: cold
Originally Posted by The CzAR
It's a metric size, M16x1.5
Just in case anyone stumbles upon this writeup and wants the thread size to use an aftermarket switch.
just caught this post, thanks for clarifying.
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Old Mar 22, 2010 | 05:55 PM
  #32  
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Thats beautiful thank you!
Just wired it up but waiting on the new fan..
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Old Mar 27, 2010 | 10:41 PM
  #33  
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Just wanted to add something relevant and useful to the thread. Here's my schematic for wiring a 2-speed Taurus fan the proper way on a S4 using the OEM thermoswitch. The red relay has to be a high current one since it operates the high speed mode. The only thing I couldn't figure out was to only use the idle-up function when the hi-speed mode was active, so I left it always on.

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Old May 5, 2010 | 02:01 PM
  #34  
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From: cold
for those of you who may be running a factory thermoswitch now, do you have any feedback now that the weather has been warming up?
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Old May 6, 2010 | 06:06 AM
  #35  
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THANK YOU
This is by far the best and most useful write up i have read in the 5 years on this site. Mine run on a switch with a relay and im going to swap it over asap. Even my stupid haltech can seem to get it right. nice work man

ARCHIVE
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Old May 6, 2010 | 08:25 AM
  #36  
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From: cold
One thing I want to point out:

In the diagrams I label the idle up as requiring a BAC valve. But even without a BAC valve supplying extra air past the throttle plates, when the ECU receives the idle up signal it will still advance the ignition timing about 15 degrees--or at least, that's what the training manual says. I haven't verified it with a timing light, but I don't see why that wouldn't be true. The additional timing advance should help keep idle speed stable. So it really couldn't hurt to hook up the "idle up" function on cars which have had the BAC valve removed.
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Old Jun 2, 2010 | 11:27 AM
  #37  
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While this is a great write up and install diagram, I think this has pretty far beyond a simplistic thermo-trigger setup.

As long as you set, say your high setting to the thermostat (new, replaced), and the low to always on (or low to thermo and High to a manual toggle), there shouldn't be any issue.
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Old Jun 2, 2010 | 05:26 PM
  #38  
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These diagrams are about as simple (safely) as it gets. Are you not using a relay or fuses in your setup?
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Old Jun 2, 2010 | 06:06 PM
  #39  
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Quick question:

Why would you wire it up so that the fan can stay on after the car shuts off? It seems to me that since the water pump stops when the engine stops, all that would do is cool down the radiator and not the engine itself.
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Old Jun 2, 2010 | 06:28 PM
  #40  
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From: Whitby
Originally Posted by Liltoflm

If I was gonna do it this way what could I tie the 12v ign wires to??
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Old Jun 3, 2010 | 12:36 AM
  #41  
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From: cold
The +12V ignition power for the relay can come from the green diagnostic connector if you are s4. As for the fan power itself... I'm really reluctant to recommend a particular factory ignition-switched circuit for that. Electric fans pull a lot of current. I'm concerned there would be problems if you didn't use a relay and pull it right from the battery.
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Old Jun 3, 2010 | 02:39 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by MadScience_7
Quick question:

Why would you wire it up so that the fan can stay on after the car shuts off? It seems to me that since the water pump stops when the engine stops, all that would do is cool down the radiator and not the engine itself.
No, no, ya loon. I meant that it was always on while the engine was running, regardless of thermo trigger....


Sheesh.
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Old Jun 3, 2010 | 03:03 AM
  #43  
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Sorry, that was meant to be in reference to these earlier posts:


Originally Posted by arghx
With that configuration there is always a risk of the fans running for an extended period of time during hot weather. This may result in unacceptable battery drain, especially if you have a powerful fan and the engine experiences major heatsoak. That's why the FD OEM fan control module only allows the fans to run for 10 minutes after the car is shut off. I personally am not comfortable doing what you suggest on my own car, but to each his own.
Originally Posted by Karack
my black magic pulls enough amps and i still have no worry about this at all, the only people who should have to worry are the ones who use motorcycle batteries in their cars because they want to save 5lbs and love to walk when their battery dies after 10 seconds of cranking.

my fan runs for 3 minutes at most when i shut it down, im sure it may for a little longer on really hot days but the reality is that if you have a decent battery(which you should) then it should take 30 minutes for even a HUGE fan to kill your battery.

but to each his own.
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Old Jun 3, 2010 | 11:24 AM
  #44  
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OH. My bad.

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Old Jun 5, 2010 | 02:21 PM
  #45  
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i have an s4 and to simplify things im setting it up with an s5 thermo-switch since its the same threading. Does the original engine harness plug for the thermoswitch lead back to 1O??? that way i can set up the idle up function easier?
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Old Jun 5, 2010 | 03:30 PM
  #46  
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From: cold
S4 engine/"emissions" harness, turbo or non turbo, is pin 1E on an s4 ECU for idle up. S5 engine/"emissions" harness is pin 1O for the S5 ECU idle up. So if you are using an s5 thermoswitch in an s4 car with an s4 harness/ECU you still need pin 1E to trigger idle up.
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Old Jun 5, 2010 | 04:13 PM
  #47  
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sorry, read the wrong pin number. Does the original engine harness plug for the thermoswitch lead back to 1E???
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Old Jun 5, 2010 | 05:40 PM
  #48  
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From: cold
Pin 1E is an input to the s4 ECU to tell it that the A/C has been engaged. The idle system is designed so that when the A/C is engaged the idle speed is increased and the ignition timing is advanced. When you run a wire to pin 1E (1O if you have an s5 ECU) you're "tricking" the ECU into thinking the A/C is on, even if you don't have A/C in the car. The A/C idle up helps maintain battery voltage from the additional electrical load of the electric fan.
Attached Thumbnails HOW TO: Control an electric fan with a factory thermoswitch-s4_fan_stock.jpg   HOW TO: Control an electric fan with a factory thermoswitch-s4_fan_stock_2.jpg  
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Old Jun 5, 2010 | 06:06 PM
  #49  
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thanks for the info. so im guessing from this info its not the wire leading to 1E

Last edited by GOT-RTRY; Jun 5, 2010 at 06:25 PM.
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Old Jun 5, 2010 | 08:47 PM
  #50  
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the s4 and s5 thermo sensors are the same thread pitch of m16x1.5 right? if so advance auto parts has failed me!!

i'm concerned this is the stock s4 one, let me know if its not - http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Det...6SB_0213378799
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