Electric fan install....

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Electric fan install....

Postby thrashingcows » Mon Mar 14, 2016 8:51 pm

So today I spent a few hours putting the electric fans in....finally. I have only been planing this for at least 4 months....;) The plan is to run the fans in the fall to spring, when max cooling is not required, and I am interested to see if there is any MPG to be gained by this. ;)

OK so here what I did.

First I was going to run a fan from the Junkyard. I grabbed a fan from a 3.8L Ford Taurus, but when I tried to put it on the radiator I did not have enough room...thank my Fluid damper for that. ;)

So I measured how much room I had...about 3.5" from the face of the rad, before I hit the engine accessories. So next I was going to run a single 16" electric fan...slim design...they are about 2.5" deep. But I couldn't find one I liked, nor the CFM I wanted. So eventually I did some measurements and figured I could make two 12" electric fans work.

After ordering the electric fans I first thought of making a plate tight shroud that would use the factory mounting points. But after a bit of math I found that the amount of open surface area for the air to move through was significantly less then the opening in the factory shroud.

Next idea was to make a frame work from 1" angle iron and still use the factory mounting points. This seemed to be the way to go.

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Once the fans were in place I used a very small drill bit to make holes through the fan mounting points...they were already there just didn't go all the way through. Then through the frame and secure with a bit of wire.

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Mounted up....

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I used 4 screws and nuts on the outside edges...2 on each side...to secure the fans. (never grabbed a pic of this, but you can see them in later pics). I also positioned the frame on the rad, and cut 4 legs so that I could mount it in factory shroud location.
1984/93 Dodge Crewcab, W350, 1 Ton SRW, long box, 330K Km's, M&H spacer, 366 spring, fuel pin to deep side, 14cm housing, Piston LP, PS IC, Isspro Boost, Pyro and tach, NV4500, 29 spline NP205, 3.54's.


Check out the build....http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... 05923.html
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby thrashingcows » Mon Mar 14, 2016 8:59 pm

Yesterday I made a plate to slip into the ashtray for my manual on/off switch for the fans. I did not want to rely wholly on the coolant temperature switch. ;)

Here is a link to that thread....

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=17265

here is a pic of it installed in the truck...

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And a week or so ago I installed the coolant temperature switch below the T-stat housing...since I have a NV4500 I did not need that location for the engine coolant lines to the water/oil cooler for the tranny.

The switch is on and 200* and off at 185*, and is a ground to the block as it's switch. It was 3/8" NPT, and I had to get an adapter to fir the block since it is 1/2" NPT.

Image
1984/93 Dodge Crewcab, W350, 1 Ton SRW, long box, 330K Km's, M&H spacer, 366 spring, fuel pin to deep side, 14cm housing, Piston LP, PS IC, Isspro Boost, Pyro and tach, NV4500, 29 spline NP205, 3.54's.


Check out the build....http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... 05923.html
thrashingcows
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby thrashingcows » Mon Mar 14, 2016 9:07 pm

Made up a plate to mount the 85 Amp constant duty solenoid, and 30amp circuit breaker behind the battery using a couple existing holes in the fender.

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Then pull the fan and shroud and get the new electric fans in place. But first I had to find a couple small bolts, and drill a couple holes in the fan frame. Then a slight bit of round file work to make the bolt sit nice and flush.

Image

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1984/93 Dodge Crewcab, W350, 1 Ton SRW, long box, 330K Km's, M&H spacer, 366 spring, fuel pin to deep side, 14cm housing, Piston LP, PS IC, Isspro Boost, Pyro and tach, NV4500, 29 spline NP205, 3.54's.


Check out the build....http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... 05923.html
thrashingcows
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby thrashingcows » Mon Mar 14, 2016 9:16 pm

Then it was wiring time. Not that I don't like wiring, but it's a tedious job to do it right. I mechanically crimp each connector, then solder it, then add dielectric grease, then shrink tube. And then there is my large size to deal with...big body and hands, and long arms does not equate to easy working conditions under the dash. ;)

So a couple hours of wiring and it was all done. I Ran the wire from the Temp switch up along the upper rad hose...fiber tape, and then a zip tie to hold the tape....see how this stands up to the heat and vibrations?

Wired the fans individually into a 4 gang wiring block I had...so each has it's own power and ground, and can be unplugged easily.

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And you can see all the room I have between the fans and the front of the motor.. :)

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There is about a 1/4" gap between the fan frame and the rad, I'm going to see how it cools with that gap left open, but thinking it might pull air from around the frame a bit more then I'd like.....but we will see. But I had planned on running some foam weather stripping from the hardware store to make a tighter seal, and allow the fans to pull air "only" through the rad.

So that's about it...will report back on any MPG I gain, or cooling issues I find....good or bad.
1984/93 Dodge Crewcab, W350, 1 Ton SRW, long box, 330K Km's, M&H spacer, 366 spring, fuel pin to deep side, 14cm housing, Piston LP, PS IC, Isspro Boost, Pyro and tach, NV4500, 29 spline NP205, 3.54's.


Check out the build....http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... 05923.html
thrashingcows
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby CumminsPower59 » Tue Mar 15, 2016 1:10 pm

Let us know how well it works out when you get some miles on it. Looks good :thumright:
Ike

91 W350 SRW, 3.07's, NV4500, 370's, THD LPPP, Super HX40, 2nd gen IC swap, BHAF, Isspro's, 2" lift, 285's on 3rd gen 17"'s.
04 VW Jetta Wagon TDI 5speed
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby thrashingcows » Tue Mar 15, 2016 9:43 pm

CumminsPower59 wrote:Let us know how well it works out when you get some miles on it. Looks good :thumright:


Thanks..will do.
1984/93 Dodge Crewcab, W350, 1 Ton SRW, long box, 330K Km's, M&H spacer, 366 spring, fuel pin to deep side, 14cm housing, Piston LP, PS IC, Isspro Boost, Pyro and tach, NV4500, 29 spline NP205, 3.54's.


Check out the build....http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... 05923.html
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby RumbleFish » Thu Mar 17, 2016 6:52 pm

Subscribed!! This has been on my todo list for a while but wasn't sure which fans to use or how to do it. Thanks!!
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby thrashingcows » Sun Mar 20, 2016 4:44 pm

Well after a week of going to and from work I have to say I like the electric fans...not that they have come on a single time yet. ;)

I am shocked at how cool the motor runs with no fan in place, also how it's that much smoother too as well...especially at higher RPM's...even with my fluidampr.

I let the motor idle for almost 15 min, after I got home from work one evening, and it never did turn the fans on. The temp rose only slightly above the regular "dead center" on the factory gauge. I turned the fans on manually and it took about 2-3 min to bring the temp back down to normal.

Only thing I have seen that is a tad bit of a negative is that it seems to take longer for the turbo EGT's to cool down before I shut the truck off. Turning the electric fans on before I pull into the parking lot at work, then park and let it idle for a min or two seems to bring the EGT's down fine.
1984/93 Dodge Crewcab, W350, 1 Ton SRW, long box, 330K Km's, M&H spacer, 366 spring, fuel pin to deep side, 14cm housing, Piston LP, PS IC, Isspro Boost, Pyro and tach, NV4500, 29 spline NP205, 3.54's.


Check out the build....http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... 05923.html
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby dmerlin25 » Thu Mar 31, 2016 11:57 am

I've been considering this for a couple years. Do you think electric fans would help keep Temps up in the winter. That is a big problem I have, the heater blows cold when it idles for a couple minutes or coasting down a mountain.
Never shoot a large caliber man with a small caliber bullet. Semper Fi
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby thrashingcows » Thu Mar 31, 2016 10:08 pm

dmerlin25 wrote:I've been considering this for a couple years. Do you think electric fans would help keep Temps up in the winter. That is a big problem I have, the heater blows cold when it idles for a couple minutes or coasting down a mountain.


Well it should in theory warm up a tad bit quicker in the winter...especially if your running a winter front. I know my motor will take a bit to warm up in the winter, but it never blows cold....I think you have other issues. Perhaps your thermostat is not functioning properly? Or maybe your vacuum controller heater control valve is not opening?
1984/93 Dodge Crewcab, W350, 1 Ton SRW, long box, 330K Km's, M&H spacer, 366 spring, fuel pin to deep side, 14cm housing, Piston LP, PS IC, Isspro Boost, Pyro and tach, NV4500, 29 spline NP205, 3.54's.


Check out the build....http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... 05923.html
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby dmerlin25 » Sat Apr 02, 2016 4:25 pm

I am seriously considering doing your fan set up. What do you think about the quality of those EBAY special fans?
Never shoot a large caliber man with a small caliber bullet. Semper Fi
1993 W250 LE G360
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby thrashingcows » Sat Apr 02, 2016 10:10 pm

dmerlin25 wrote:I am seriously considering doing your fan set up. What do you think about the quality of those EBAY special fans?


Not bad...but I don't think they pull near as many CFM's as the stated...1750cfm each. They do an OK job cooling the motor down when i turn them on manually. I have not had the coolant sensor get hot enough to turn them on. I have let the truck idle and get very hot...or at least what I thought was hot by the factory gauge, and temp sensor. But the fans never came on. I eventually chickened out and turned them on manually. I want to install a manual temp sensor so I know how hot the motor is actually getting. ;)
1984/93 Dodge Crewcab, W350, 1 Ton SRW, long box, 330K Km's, M&H spacer, 366 spring, fuel pin to deep side, 14cm housing, Piston LP, PS IC, Isspro Boost, Pyro and tach, NV4500, 29 spline NP205, 3.54's.


Check out the build....http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... 05923.html
thrashingcows
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby dmerlin25 » Sun Apr 03, 2016 8:52 am

Are you questioning the quality of the temp sensor? I'm gonna wait a little bit till you get comfortable with yours. I don't want to hook up an override switch in the cab if it can be avoided. I appreciate your work on this.
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Re: Electric fan install....

Postby thrashingcows » Sun Apr 03, 2016 10:09 am

dmerlin25 wrote:Are you questioning the quality of the temp sensor? I'm gonna wait a little bit till you get comfortable with yours. I don't want to hook up an override switch in the cab if it can be avoided. I appreciate your work on this.


Yeah I don't know for sure. Was trying to hook up a temporary temp gauge yesterday, but it would not fit in the only location I had for it. So will have to find another way to test the water temperature to see if/when the fan temp sensor actually comes on.
1984/93 Dodge Crewcab, W350, 1 Ton SRW, long box, 330K Km's, M&H spacer, 366 spring, fuel pin to deep side, 14cm housing, Piston LP, PS IC, Isspro Boost, Pyro and tach, NV4500, 29 spline NP205, 3.54's.


Check out the build....http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... 05923.html
thrashingcows
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