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Electric Rad Fan?

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Old 07-13-2008 | 11:46 PM
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Question Electric Rad Fan?

has any one here converted to an electric fan?
i'm thinkin about doin it later on but i dont have one thing down, i found a link to some guy that changed his (i belive) zx to an electric fan but he junkyarded alot of the little things like the thermoswitch and then had to modify it. couldnt you get a 120F switch from something like a nother nissan and jam er in there?

and also i remember him using a "unused" spot arround the thermostat housing, that doesent make much sence to me wouldnt it benifit more if the switch is in the radiator the fan is cooling?

i'm gonna try to find the link but has any one else tried it?

edit this is the guy:
http://www.jrdemers.com/280ZX/overheat/overbase.html
i donno, in his fan pics check out his rad, that may be why this guy was having heating problems, i'm just thinkin the electric would be nicer and could potentally wire it into the a/c as well to get it to blow colder like on newer cars atleast one fan seems to pop on when the a/c is on wither the car is hot or not

Last edited by Niku-Sama; 07-13-2008 at 11:51 PM.
Old 07-14-2008 | 05:53 AM
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Old 07-14-2008 | 07:06 PM
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yea how hard?
Old 07-14-2008 | 08:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Niku-Sama
yea how hard?
I love that question...

Can you cut & spice wires? Can you hook up a relay? Can you pull some fan ties through the radiator? If you can, it should be "relatively" easy. There's lots of web sites on "how to" install an electric fan on a radiator.
Old 07-14-2008 | 09:09 PM
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Originally Posted by NismoPick

Can you cut & spice wires?
what goes good with wires? cumin? coriander? paprika?
Old 07-14-2008 | 09:31 PM
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At this point, I'm gonna have to say "cumin"...

I installed both an electric fan and an electric water pump. It's about as easy as wiring in a car stereo.

You put the sensor in the thermostat because you want it to operate based on the water temp (180F) BEFORE it goes into the radiator. If you're tripping your fan on at 180F temp AFTER it's been cooled by the radiator, you're already screwed.

Last edited by lww; 07-14-2008 at 09:35 PM.
Old 07-14-2008 | 09:49 PM
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the other way i have seen it is 150 to the radiator but its also dependant on if its the inlet or the outlet side of the rad too. if i am catching it close to the inlet than at 180F i wouldnt be screwed because it hasnt gone through the rad yet.
Old 07-14-2008 | 10:03 PM
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Old 07-15-2008 | 09:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Niku-Sama
and also i remember him using a "unused" spot around the thermostat housing, that doesent make much sence to me wouldnt it benifit more if the switch is in the radiator the fan is cooling?
No, because you don't care what temperature the radiator is, you care what temperature the water is BEFORE it goes into the radiator.

When you have a port on the thermostat housing, which is specifically designed for a water temperature sensor, why would you use a less optimal solution that gives you less accuracy?

Last edited by lww; 07-15-2008 at 09:16 PM.
Old 07-16-2008 | 05:40 AM
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Originally Posted by lww
At this point, I'm gonna have to say "cumin"...

I installed both an electric fan and an electric water pump. It's about as easy as wiring in a car stereo.

You put the sensor in the thermostat because you want it to operate based on the water temp (180F) BEFORE it goes into the radiator. If you're tripping your fan on at 180F temp AFTER it's been cooled by the radiator, you're already screwed.
My fan controller came with a torpedo-shaped probe intended to push into the radiator fins, so how would one get that to work on the thermostat?
Old 07-16-2008 | 06:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Heat Rave R
My fan controller came with a torpedo-shaped probe intended to push into the radiator fins, so how would one get that to work on the thermostat?
You'd have to get the probe as close to the coolant as possible to make it effective. The L28ET does have an unused thermostat housing port, and at one point I did want to try that Honda temp sensor trick... but I'm going this route now:



Old 07-18-2008 | 01:27 PM
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Originally Posted by NismoPick
You'd have to get the probe as close to the coolant as possible to make it effective. The L28ET does have an unused thermostat housing port, and at one point I did want to try that Honda temp sensor trick... but I'm going this route now:
Unfortunately for me, that other thermostat housing port is being used by something else. ^^;
Old 08-02-2008 | 04:02 PM
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Originally Posted by NismoPick
You'd have to get the probe as close to the coolant as possible to make it effective. The L28ET does have an unused thermostat housing port, and at one point I did want to try that Honda temp sensor trick... but I'm going this route now:




your going japanese?

i had another question,how many of you have the auxilary fan on the front of the radiator?
Old 08-02-2008 | 05:17 PM
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Originally Posted by Niku-Sama
how many of you have the auxilary fan on the front of the radiator?
The stock turbo one? Or do you mean the actual radiator fan? I have mine behind... I doubt it makes much diff, but I just don't like something blocking air flow to the rad.
Old 08-02-2008 | 06:11 PM
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i donno if its turbo cars or not but one of my books says something about some cars have an aux. fan on the front.

shows a pic, its on the lower corner on the passenger side.

i found a small ish fan at the junk yard, i'm going back later in the week to get a new rear bumper and some interior parts, i may just do that
Old 08-02-2008 | 07:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Niku-Sama
shows a pic, its on the lower corner on the passenger side.
Yep, that's the a/c condenser fan for the turbo model.
Old 08-02-2008 | 10:27 PM
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so its just on when the a/c is on, thats kinda what i need now
Old 08-03-2008 | 08:18 PM
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So you're looking for a supplementary radiator fan for more cooling, or you want to remove the clutch fan & go entirely electric? Because the stock turbo fan isn't enough to cool the entire radiator. You'll need a single 16" or dual 10" / 12".
Old 08-03-2008 | 10:03 PM
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i want to go completely electric but i also want something to come on when the a/c is on because when it is and i drive a while the condenser gets to heat soaked it doesent do much and my temp starts going past half way some times quite a bit. could be scorching hot and i could drive all day with out the a/c and its almost as if its stuck half way.

i figure get a little fan (i found one at the yard i'm going back for) and get it taken care of for the a/c before i swap the clutch fan out.
Old 08-04-2008 | 06:55 AM
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Ah... roger that. A smaller fan reversed on the front will help. Then just wire up a relay & switch.
Old 08-04-2008 | 12:21 PM
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i think i am going to try to tie it into where the a/c is on so i dont have any ugly extra switches in my car, i just finally rid it of the ones it had and the damn security system that would go off and cut the ignition off for no reason (that was fun)
Old 09-17-2008 | 10:54 PM
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alright i am going to ressurect this, any issues with mounting fans on the front as opposed to the inside of the engine bay?
Old 09-18-2008 | 07:31 AM
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Some people mount them on the front... most behind. I personally don't like the idea of items blocking the air flow INTO the radiator, so I will likely keep mine behind unless someone can convince me otherwise.
Old 09-18-2008 | 07:55 AM
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both zach and i use the flexalite 220 series. dual 12" fans, 2500cfm each, cools my car with ac, and his v8z easily. i mounted mine to ignition power for now, im going to use a thermo switch, you can get them from summit and every car parts store around. always use a relay.

Old 09-18-2008 | 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by NismoPick
Some people mount them on the front... most behind. I personally don't like the idea of items blocking the air flow INTO the radiator, so I will likely keep mine behind unless someone can convince me otherwise.
well i dont see much difference, the areas blocked by a shroud or the fan parts would be blocking the air before it gets to the radiator on the front but on the back it would stop the air flow through the radiator so still nothing was flowing through it. and in all reality either way there wouldnt be much being blocked.

them flex a lite fans are friggin spendy!


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