So I bought my Z32 with an aftermarket electric fan that was wired to a house circuit breaker to turn it on and off...
anyway, I scrapped the breaker, and was going to build a circuit to control the fan.

But then I was reading the fsm, and noticed there is talk about radiator fan control. Apparently the ecu can control a fan based on temps and A/C usage.

my question is, was there actually an electric fan, or maybe an electric fan clutch? I know I have a relay labeled "rad fan" where is the connector that goes to this so I can tap into it? and will it even work?

I have looked around and have found no one talk about this.

 

I know that that in front of the main radiator, there is an additional radiator in the front of the car that appears to just be DUCTING. (no fluid)

I think there is an electric fan on the FRONT side of this Ductwork area.

If you've swapped out the main radiator i believe this is just ducting nothing that holds fluid, Again i could be wrong, i havent torn off my front bumper but if you take off the panel for your air filter you can see the ductwork area im talking about. The fan could possibly be there.

 

hmm, i pulled off the cover, and all i see behind the Y intake tube is the radiator. Im guessing the previous owner took all this out. I also saw a connector hanging in that area not hooked to anything, so Im guessing that is the fan connector. Also, what should the normal operating temps be?

 

on my NA my temp Gauge never goes above dead ***** 1/2 way. This was until i discovered a crack in my radiator and had to replace the entire thing.

As far as operating temps, i would check the FSM.

The thermostat opens @ 170F Max valve lift is 194F

the engine temperature sensor is located on page 257 in the FSM
or page EF & EC 114. It's the Connector on the LEFT side of the inlet on the front of the motor. I think mine has a yellow connector on it.

The radiator fan relay is located on page 309 in hte FSM or page EF & EC-166.

http://www.300zx-twinturbo.com/cgi-bin/manual.cgi

hope this helps out a little

 

lol are you kidding? That's the AC Condenser.

Bingo. There is a small auxiliary fan in front of the AC Condenser.

 

looking in the fsm, it says that the electric fan turns on at 221F and shuts down at 219F. so is 220F the proper temperture? or is that too high?

 

Normal running temperature is between 170 and 180 degrees, but the system will run a bit hotter before the temp gauge ever goes up (it was designed to allow some variance because Nissan didn't want people bringing their Zs in complaining of overheating when it was just running a little warm). The aux fan only kicks in when the Z *really* needs some additional airflow (like hot days when you're pumping the AC hard).

Here's a good writeup on the Z32's cooling system:
http://www.twinturbo.net/net/viewmsg...&forum=general

 

thanks. thats what i thought, 220 sounded too high. I guess i wont be able to just tap into the aux fan circuit, thats too bad. I guess I will be building my own fan circuit then.

 

If you're trying to replace the stock fan with an electric, I'm going to save you the hassle right now - don't. Nobody has ever had real success with an electric fan (and I've been around since 2001 to observe the failures). They simply cannot flow enough air for the Z32. With 99% certainty (and I'm a statistician by profession, so take that seriously), you will face overheating issues at some point down the road if you run anything other than the belt-driven mechanical fan.

I hope other members who went against my advice and then realized they were wrong will chime in, now...

 

ive read what other people have said. The previous owner had the mech fan explode on him (left some damage to the hood...) and replaced it with an e-fan. The fan isnt hooked up right now because it is cold enough out where I have never seen the temp gauge go above half way. Im going to stick with the e-fan i have now, and if it proves not powerfull enough, I will deal with it later.

hmm, I was just thinking, I dont have a front bumper, and maybe thats why I have no problems with cooling.

 

How long have you driven the car? The Z32 takes a while to heat up, and as I explained, the stock gauge won't show a certain degree of variation in temperature... it could be running hot, but not overheating, and you'd never know it with the stock gauge.

 

So I drove around today with my consult cable hooked up, and I was reading like 175-190 while driving around, and it was climbing while not moving. I saw about 220 before i got a little concerned and just drove to get it to drop. It seems the dash gauge jumps from below half to above half at about 215.

this was all without the fan running.

Also, its n/a so i probably dont have the cooling needs the turbo guys have.