I know ya'll prolly thinking what did that idiot do to his wires now? :D Actually is there an electric fan circuit in our cars?
If not what would it do if I just hooked an electric fan up to a toggle and ran it that way until I could get a temperature controlled switch for it?
The reason I ask is I have a dual electric fan that I ran across which was in a truck but could be made to fit in the car. It was also the best price.... FREE.
careful on the rotation,, a member a couple years back >joefriday i think< did this and overheated when moving which was odd and he finally found out the oncoming wind was nulling out the fan or slowing it down due to the rotation of the blades and the angle of each blade.
as for wiring,, i would use a relay. Send power to the input side of the coil in the relay and wire up the ground side directly to the coolant temp sensor.(small guage wire will be fine). wire up the fan from 12v with an inline fuse across the contacts of the relay but use a larger guage wire due to the fan and its ampacity pull. if you need a diagram, ill do one up.
Nope... AFIK the '94-'95 Stang has the only 5.0 processer that has fan controll...
Scott that ain't a word(well maybe it is in WV) :)... Amperage or current draw would be correct
That would be sticky-worthy, methinks.
Well the turbo coupe all the way back in 83 had a seperate fan controller. The best option I can think of would be to buy a after market fan controller. I have a Hayden fully adjustable model it is real nice. It even has a A/c signal wire so the fans come on with the A/c. I also added 2 hayden electric fans. But you could use it to run those fans you've got. I bought it a Oreilly auto parts for about $35. As for the fans you've got to double check whitch side the fans are mounted on the factory vehicle. that should tell you whitch side of the raditator that you need to mount those fans you've got.
jcassity..... would that speed and slow up the fan as the temp changed wiring it to the temp sender?
ipsd..... I was actually looking at a controller through summit but I didnt know you could get them that cheap though all the ones I saw were like 80 bucks or more.
And on the fans they were hooked up on the inside of the radiator if I remember right between the engine and radiator. when its running the air comes through and goes onto the motor so Im guessing its hooked up right.
tom,,,yep its a word (short for amerage capacity of a conductor with relation to its size, awg type stranded or flex, material and temperature coeficient with respect to length),:hick: http://www.okonite.com/engineering/nec-ampacity-tables.html
Master_xzavior
sounds like your fan is going the right way.
jkirchman and Master_xzavior
here is the drawing,,, the coil of the relay would get power only when the coolant temp sensor thermaly closes and provides a temporary ground due to the intake coolant heating up the thermal coolant temp sensor. When this happens, the magnetic field created by the coil pulls the contacts closed and the second circuit delivers power to the fan which has a fixed ground.
The hayden unit has relay built in. Also it has a temp probe for the raditator. It is made to run two fans. Check your local Oreilly auto parts. They stock the one I bought in most stores. A toggle will work just make sure you turn them on when you are in town or when the A/c is on. Even goin down the roan at 60mph.
Sticky! Sticky!;)
I had to read that twice to understand it lol. Geez I hate just waking up not long ago. Doesn't sound hard at all.
Now would I have to buy a fan specific relay?
Also would I just splice it into the temp wire that's already there?
and if so is it going to matter that the sensor runs a GUAGE and not a light?
I was under the impression that the ohm-age of the sensor increases or decreases between a certain amount as the temp raises and lowers.
If thats the case would the relay slowly charge and uncharge or does it just kick in at one certain Ohmage?
Inquiring minds want to know :D
I stand corrected.....:sorry:
no, not really,, any auto relay will do
i would, the guage is seeking ground through the temp sensor as well as the relay,, and you make a good point that the resistance of the sensor tips the balance with the resistance of the cluster guage. I would say give it a try and see, either way it wont be any loss IMHO. turbocoupe50 or thunder chicken would know this stuff a little better,, ive not dickered with any of what i am talking about on my coug but there isnt any reason why it wont work. Its just a copy cat of what is existing everywhere in most every relay application anyway. Relays are used primarly to create a circuit isolation without burning up harnesses. They also offer as control devices to be supervised as to when they go on or off.
yep, if you go out and read continuity from the tip top of your temp sensor (single wire sensor), it will read open if the engine is cold,, and some nominal resistance if hot. i forget exactly what a very hot temp sensor reads,, likely along the lines of something under 100 ohms or thereabouts..but that may be incorrect. all i know is that your relay needs a ground at a certain point. i wonder if the engine would have to get hotter than normal to kick on the relay??? give it a try. the concept exists in cars with factory elec fans anyway so do a stare and compare. At worst case,, put a toggle switch inline with the ground side of the relay coil up in your dash. Run the ground wire of the coil to the switch and wire the other side of the switch to chassis ground with a short wire somewhere in your dash.
no, the relay does not charge , its a switch that is activated by magnetic field it produces when the coil side gets a ground. in this case, its simply waiting for a ground to be given to it via the coolant temp switch. SO,,, as the temp sensor heats up ,, an eventual event will happen and a ground will be developed which the realy has patiently waited for. When the relay gets that ground it needs,, the contacts will close and deliver power across the larger wires up to the fan and make it run. Of course,, as the fan cools your engine down,,, the sensor will increase in resistance and force the relay to not be able to hold the contacts closed that power the fan.
naww,,,:giggle:
But aint it a fun word? people look at you like,,,huuu???:D
So its a sucker word HUH???:rollin: Was a new'n ta's me...
tom,,,,any comment on my second and third comment up there?
I'll just add this...
For the relay you need a HEAVY DUTY type that will handle 30+ amps if you don't want to burn it up in a few days. Few if any relays used in our cars will handle that much current...
You'll need a different type sender as the resistance of the gage unit is variable and probably won't activate the relay coil till the engine is too hot. Also it should be a different sender than the gage is connected to. As it will feed back through the relay coil and likely read high contunally....
Basially you'll have far fewer potential problems if you just install all new wiring. BE SURE to use at least #10 or larger to feed the relay and fan... The size of the wire from the controller or switch to the relay coil ain't a issue...
Almost sounds like Id be just as well off buying a kit for installing an electric fan that has the relays and stuff in it then. Thanks everyone for the help. Time to start shopping for fan stuff
You can not use a viariable resistance ground for the relay. It will cause it partially engage and burn it up. Kinda like holding a house light switch at a certian position half way in its throw. You can see the light flicker and the switch will sizzle like bacon. You don't want the same to happen to your relay.
I got my fan controller from autozone. cost me like 24 bucks I think. I do not like the probes that go into the slots in the radiator, but it does function rather well.
And a third thing. I have dual cooling fans and a 3 core radiator. This past winter I had to unplug one of the fans so that I would have heat. The guage would run nearly to the bottom.
The guage on mine hardly got above the bottom letter on the word norm while the car was running for a long period of time I shouldnt have that problem but now that you said that its got me wondering if I'm going to have that problem.
I didnt turn the heat on it was like 90 out but it didnt get very high on the guage.
Master_xzavior
Ok,, i got around to testing this out over the past few days off and on and evidently, the resistance of the temp sensor does not decrease in resistance quickly enough to give the relay a ground. You would be near an overheating situation by the time the sensor reached the resistance required for the relay to get a ground.
so,,,,,,,it would work fine if the sensor were a little different but we live with what we have.
I did have sucess like CougarSE using a thermal couple or the variable resistance switch to activate my relay. I had a normally open temp switch that use to be in a space heater of my garage. Its temp range seemed to be about 200 deg judging from the part number. It was held in place by two rivits but anyway, i mounted this switch on the radiator below the upper hose.
I wired up a large headlamp to the contact side of the relay and put the thermal switch in line with the relay coil ground. The relay clicked on when my needle was about 5/8 to 3.4 the way on my cluster.
well with my guage barely hitting the lower letters I need to actually find out what temp my motors running at when the needle quits going up. the cars pretty much stationary right now with my other wiring problems and such. I swear whoever said the wiring on these cars is simple needs smacked or something :D this things turning into enough of a pain Im seriously considering selling the car even though I know Id kick myself in the ass for it later on.
evidently,, either your sensor is bad or the needle is out of calibration and possibly the voltage regulator that creates 5vdc in the dash cluster. there's not much to the cooling circuit at all.
well my fan runs constantly at the moment unless I put a toggle in it. Im wondering if maybe its not cooling to much. If I recall right though the fan was in a honda car so I wouldnt think it would cool a 302 that much but I could be wrong.
http://www.hoffind.com/thermal.htm
experiment with one of these switches. Google "thermal switches". THey are cheap, durable and last a long time. You must find one that is normally open "N.O." and is rated to close at your desired temp range. Id suggest one that closes at 200 and resets at 180 or there abouts.
you can just mount this device anywere that allows the flat part to be touching areas that get hot on your engine bay,, try different locations on the engine to activate the switch. you can find these in different things people end up throwing away. Put this in line with the ground lead of your fan and it will come one at the correct time.
how did you end up wiring your fan up anyway?
I grounded it to the radiator support and ran the other end to a hot with the key on. So basically if the keys on the fans on.
Which this way would be fine if I had a fan controller that slowed it down to where its not cooling at full capacity.
edit
are you talking about the piece that screws into the tank itself or the control box itself?
edit
Dredging this back up.
ipsd, how is that controller working out? Still strong?
I'm worried about the draw on it. It says it's rated for 30 amp, but don't the fans draw near 100 on start up? Or is the 30 for continuous draw?