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I recently was on the lookout for an E-Fan to replace my rather poor "16in no shroud ebay fan" that I was rocking for the last 4 years. The Taurus and Villager's E-fan being hard to find nowaday, I needed to find something else.
Also I wanted to ditch the on/off system for something smoother like PWM.
So going around in the junkyard a friend of mine pointed out a 2011 Hyundai Elantra's E-Fan. I pulled it out, checked measurement and it was almost a perfect fit with a bit of triming. These can be found on Hyundai Elantras from 2007 to 2012.
It is a normal 2 wire fan that has some kind of heat resistor speed controller which we don't need and is in a part of the shroud that we need to trim anyway. Core coverage is fairly good (approx. 19in X 24in) Here's installed picture on a normal Koyo radiator.
Here is a close up of how I mounted it, pipe strap and rivets. This one lined up perfectly with a 10mm bolt but the others are ziptied.
Now for the PWM part, I use an MS3Pro ECU but any ECU that can configure an output as PWM and create a curve will be able to do it.
So I picked up a PWM module that you can easily find ON the fan assembly of many Volvo between 2000-2004 and some Ford Fusions around 2010. Do not confuse it with the relay module that some use for 2 speed fans off of some Volvo. Like I said its ON the fan assembly. So I sniped off the wires and unscrewed the module using a torx bit. Picture show the Volvo unit, the Ford unit had nice built in connectors.
***When working with an E-fan make sure battery is disconnected and that you stay aware of where your fingers are...not in the fan***
The module itself is really simple, 2 wires on one side and 3 on the other side. The side with 2 wires goes to the fan, the other side 2 thick wire goes to battery and the thin wire to your PWM output from the ecu. Fan side wires are Red and Black so it should match the fan wires, for the battery side I could'nt find any scematics for polariry but here's a tip: When the fan is hooked up to the module and you hook up the module to a battery it should not do anything since there is no PWM signal yet. If you hook it up backward the fan will simply start spinning backward.
When everything is hooked up, the last step is to configure your ECU output with a PWM curve vs CLT and you should be all set. Here is a shot of my current setup in TunerStudio.
Don't forget to monitor your CLT and make adjustment to your curve accordingly. I won't be responsible of any damage due to overheat if you don't take the time to make sure the fan setup works good.
So any idea how this compares to the super fans of yesteryear (Taurus/Villager as you mentioned)? I currently run a Villager with a FMIC, and it seems to be adequate, but not impressive. I always ponder doing something else, but I barely drive the car.
So any idea how this compares to the super fans of yesteryear (Taurus/Villager as you mentioned)? I currently run a Villager with a FMIC, and it seems to be adequate, but not impressive. I always ponder doing something else, but I barely drive the car.
I can't say for sure that the fan out perform the older setups as for CFM ratings but it does move air and a lot of it. I'm pretty sure you could use the PWM module with those older fans as long as they are two wires fans. So you can benefit from the progressive ramp up that PWM provide over an ON/OFF system that make your lights blink when it come on.
Also I think that cooling performance also come from how well air flow integrity is kept like having foam around the shroud of the fan in a way that maximum air is pulled through the rad. Front mount intercooler won't help air flow at low speed and traffic that is for sure but I'm pretty sure that decent ducking can help improve the situation.
For me so far in 92F outside temp, traffic and cruising in town, I did'nt saw CLT go higher than 192F and stayed pretty linear. Also max fan duty so far has been under 20%. Still waiting for higher outside temps to really test it out and ajust the PWM curve but so far its great !
So I drove the car in pretty hot weather and in traffic last friday, it was about 95F outside. Temps stayed under 199F (93C) for about 40% fan duty cycle. Did'nt make any changes to the PWM curve in the main post so far.
Good work on this. I've been considering implementing PWM control on my current setup but I am of 2 minds about whether or not it is a good thing.
Traditionally I have set up my e-fans so that they turn on 100% at about 92'C then turn off at 87'C. This ensures that coolant temps stay at around 85-90'C (thermostat opens at 82'C) during most driving conditions and the fans stays off, but when in traffic/hot days etc, the temp won't rise higher than 92'C and will quickly drop back to 85-87. This means the fan hardly runs. It comes on for 30 seconds at a time and that's it.
Now say I implemented PWM control and had the fan ramp up to full duty at 92'C from say 87-88'C, this might mean it's less likely to reach 92'C, but it does mean the fan is probably running at lower duty for considerably longer periods of time. I'm not sure tihs is better from a durability, noise or electrical load point of view. Spal Extreme fans, for example, expressly warn against running the fan for long periods of time as it was prematurely wear the motor. I know this comment was directed at 100% duty use, but I'd be worried about premature failure.
Well I'd say, if you implement PWM, you don't want to have 100% duty at 92C. If you would do so I guess your fan would pulse up and down rather quickly from the water temp change. What I would do is start the curve a few degrees after thermostat opening then ramp the fan slowly to 40% at target temp and up to a 100% duty in event of temps creeping up higher. Then do some testings and see where temps settles with thoses settings and fine tune the curve just so it reach your 92C target in most of your driving.
As for durability I'm pretty sure a lower duty cycle and smooth start (no big amp draw) would already make the fan super reliable even if it means the fan run for longer periods. As long as your fan does'nt run while on the highway or in conditions that it should'nt I'm confident it would be fine on the long run.
06-23-18, 11:12 AM
