2nd Generation Specific (1986-1992) 1986-1992 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections.

Ok since I have been doing some stuff on my car I want to start planning my e-fan mod

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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 08:36 AM
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Ok since I have been doing some stuff on my car I want to start planning my e-fan mod

What is the part number for the variable thermostat and what other parts do I need? I want to use a fiero fan but I might not be able to find one here. If I have to use a flex-a-lite I will have to save up since it costs a good bit of cash. I basically need the etire parts list for the mod. If anyone can point me to a link for a good write-up I would appreciate it.
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 10:46 AM
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DAMN I SEARCHED AND COULDNT FIND THE ONE I WAS LOOKING FOR BUT it was entire write up on the forum about using a thermostat and putting a fiero fan in.....
i have heard that n e dodge turbo cars have great e-fans... keep this in mind.... turbo cars get hotter than n/a's therefore they need a good fan to keep them cool....
im just gonna hook a switch str8 to the fan to turn on ... im not gonna use a thermostat... how bout if that thing breaks and ur stuck in traffic?
dum da dum dum dum duuuum .
u know how it goes..."expect the worst"
jack
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 10:57 AM
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Perma-chopper all the way if you can't find a fiero fan.

I've had nothing but good luck with my unshrouded perma-cool and thermoswitch in the filler neck on the stat housing.

Jack, if you're gonna be dumb and just run a switch (that you could easily forget to turn on) make sure you still run the fan directly off the battery through a relay.
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 11:04 AM
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stupid but


perma-chopper??
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 11:07 AM
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Here's the link:
http://www.rx7.voodoobox.net/howto/efan/efan.html
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 11:12 AM
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hehehe Someone called it a perma-chopper in one of the threads and I liked that name better than perma-cool.

Jeg's PN 771-19115 High Performance E-fan

Has to do with the aluminum fins being capable of doing some damage to your fingers if you get them too close.

Perma-cool is the brand, but they have dumb names for their products so its hard to talk about them other than brand recognition. Besides, they only have one line which is capable of cooling the rotary and that is the High Performance ones.

Last edited by Jimmy325i; Apr 21, 2003 at 11:21 AM.
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 11:15 AM
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Perma Cool is the brand You can by the thermostat at Autozone. And I think they carry perma cool. Not sure though. Might wanna couple this upgrade with a water temp. gauge. So that way you can tell if the up grade was worth it or not. And tell if your really overheating if your fan doesn't cool well enough.

You live in a warm place man I am sure it could over head fast.

James
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 04:45 PM
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how do you install a water temperature gauge and a thermostat. isn't basically the only place to mount in in the thermostat filler neck?
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 06:16 PM
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Some have an electronic sensor that you can slip under the edge of the rad hoses.
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 06:43 PM
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I don't recommend using a Perma-cool fan unless you have a shroud. You need a shroud for any kind of fan you use to make it efficacious for its job. Otherwise, it'll pull air mainly around itself and whip it about. Having it shrouded and sealed, it'll pull only through the radiator (atleast).

B
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 07:36 PM
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Is this the write-up you were looking for?

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...ight=fiero+fan


And a word of caution about Flex-a-lite fans. They're a great product, they move a hell of a lot of air and...

THEY ARE LOUD AS ****!!!

One of our local guys has one in his FB and when it kicks in you can't carry on a conversation beside the car without almost yelling (and this is with the hood DOWN.)
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 07:59 PM
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Originally posted by Amur_
Is this the write-up you were looking for?

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...ight=fiero+fan


And a word of caution about Flex-a-lite fans. They're a great product, they move a hell of a lot of air and...

THEY ARE LOUD AS ****!!!

One of our local guys has one in his FB and when it kicks in you can't carry on a conversation beside the car without almost yelling (and this is with the hood DOWN.)
I am sure I can get over that since at redline the DUALS are LOUD no big deal.
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 08:50 PM
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Originally posted by BDC
I don't recommend using a Perma-cool fan unless you have a shroud. You need a shroud for any kind of fan you use to make it efficacious for its job. Otherwise, it'll pull air mainly around itself and whip it about. Having it shrouded and sealed, it'll pull only through the radiator (atleast).

B

First of all... The fan is only efficacious (as you put it) at vehicle speeds where the air being forced through the radiator is less than the fan's capacity to draw air. So the fan is only functional at low road speeds and while the vehicle is parked.

If we determine the radiator is 26x19" this equates to a frontal area of 3.43ft square. Multiply that by the rate of travel to determine how many cubic feet per minute the radiator is passing while the car is in motion.

I'm not hell bent on proving my point here so I'm not gonna do all the math and make substantiated relations, but I'm positive if you were so inclined you would see that any fan (even engine driven) are pointless in the speeds where you're making the claims that one is better than another.


I can make a logical arguement against shrouds too. If you make the shroud too shallow (as most people want to do with e-fans to conserve space under the hood) you increase the air pressure on the back side of the radiator effectively reducing the flow potential of the entire unit. Rather than passing all the air the radiator naturally can, you create a high pressure zone which reduces the flow through the radiator and limit its potential to what it can effectively pass through the shroud. This is the same thing as air filter restriction. you don't make the hole in your CAI smaller than the pipe going to the TB do you?

The efficiency of an unshrouded fan is going to be less than that of a shrouded fan because of simple physics. The shroud requires the fan be moved further away from the surface of the radiator as to equally draw from its entire surface. However, If the fan is placed in close proximity of the radiator and left unshrouded, it will indeed pull its air from the area of the radiator it covers, not merely "swirl it around" as you put it. That my e-fan blows hot air from the rear of the radiator is proof enough that it does do "some" amount of work.

I have a thermostatic switch on my car which runs the e-fan through a relay. While parked, my cooling system is capable of reducing coolant temps below the point of the thermostat (both switch and t-stat are rated at 180) and turn the fan off in mid-summer heat. I would argue that is proof positive that my unshrouded fan is more than capable of removing any unwanted heat from my engine.
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 10:40 PM
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No kidding about the Flex-A-Lite Black Magic #150. I can hear mine from the cabin! I love It.
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Old Apr 21, 2003 | 10:47 PM
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This is the only way an electric fan should be wired up


Last edited by NZConvertible; Apr 21, 2003 at 10:50 PM.
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Old Apr 22, 2003 | 08:30 AM
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"NZConvertable"
I think you need a diode in the AC wire, or your AC will try to draw current from the temp switch signal.
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Old Apr 22, 2003 | 11:55 AM
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Originally posted by NZConvertible
This is the only way an electric fan should be wired up
can you explain why?
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Old Apr 22, 2003 | 02:33 PM
  #18  
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There are a lot of variations, but the above is the base line.

On mine, the temp switch source is unswitched.
After I park, it may run another 30 seconds.
That way I have fewer heat soak issues.
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Old Apr 22, 2003 | 02:38 PM
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could someone explain that to me. I never got the hang of reading these things.
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Old Apr 22, 2003 | 04:10 PM
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Originally posted by SureShot
I think you need a diode in the AC wire, or your AC will try to draw current from the temp switch signal.
Yeah I think you're right. Good spotting.
You only need to hook that up if you don't have the stock electric fan, which runs with the A/C.
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Old Apr 22, 2003 | 04:15 PM
  #21  
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Originally posted by SureShot
I think you need a diode in the AC wire, or your AC will try to draw current from the temp switch signal.
Yeah I think you're right. Good spotting.
You only need to hook that up if you don't have the stock electric fan, which runs with the AC.
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Old Apr 22, 2003 | 04:26 PM
  #22  
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Originally posted by Trav
can you explain why?
Electric fans draw a lot of current (particularly as they're switched on), so they should always be powered directly from the battery via a fuse, and never straight off some random live wire in the engine bay.
A thermoswitch should always be used too. Running them whenever the engine runs is pointless and a waste of power, and using a manual switch is asking for a cooked engine, because one day you will forget to turn it on...
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Old Apr 22, 2003 | 04:31 PM
  #23  
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Originally posted by 1987RX7guy
could someone explain that to me. I never got the hang of reading these things.
Once you see the bottom of the relay it should all be self-explanatory. If you're unsure, get someone else to wire it up.
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