Electric Fan Install

[CDL1542]

Hi Everyone,

I'm installing dual electric fans in my Z shortly and was wondering where the majority of people put their thermo switches. To my understanding I would want this to be the engine temperature and not the coolant temperature via the radiator bung. Does anyone have any suggestions or input? Thanks!

Chris

[Mike W]

First, I used the Dakota Digital fan controller.  It is all digital and fully programmable so you can set how long the fans run after the engine is off, as an example.  You can also set turn on and turn off temp.  Well worth the $$ in my opinion.

I mounted the temp sensor in the block drain plug that is on the drivers side below the exhaust manifold and near to the firewall.  I believe they are all in the same position for all of the different block types.  I needed to get an adapter to adapt the threads of the sensor to the threads of the drain plug, but that was pretty simple.

Hope that helps.

Mike.

[CDL1542]

On 1/30/2016 at 8:03 AM, Mike W said:

On 1/30/2016 at 8:03 AM, Mike W said:

First, I used the Dakota Digital fan controller.  It is all digital and fully programmable so you can set how long the fans run after the engine is off, as an example.  You can also set turn on and turn off temp.  Well worth the $$ in my opinion.

I mounted the temp sensor in the block drain plug that is on the drivers side below the exhaust manifold and near to the firewall.  I believe they are all in the same position for all of the different block types.  I needed to get an adapter to adapt the threads of the sensor to the threads of the drain plug, but that was pretty simple.

Hope that helps.

Mike.

I mounted the temp sensor in the block drain plug that is on the drivers side below the exhaust manifold and near to the firewall.  I believe they are all in the same position for all of the different block types.  I needed to get an adapter to adapt the threads of the sensor to the threads of the drain plug, but that was pretty simple.

Mike, Thank you very much. I've done quite a bit of research and while setups, diagrams and the like are widely available, this seemed to be a detail that was left out. This makes sense to me and I think I'll go ahead and follow this for the location of the sensor. I'm thinking that one of the two fans should be wired to go on once the car starts and the other should kick on via the sensor which is easy enough to do. Thanks again!

[Mike W]

Glad it helped.  However, I don't understand why you want to have one fan turn on at ignition and the other at temp.  You will be running one fan all of the time which will shorten it's life and consume power when it's really not needed.

I have mine set up so that both fans turn on at the desired temp and shut off once the temp has decreased to the desired level as well.  That is one of the advantages of the Dakota controller.

One other piece of data that could be useful for you as well.  My original setup used a Champion radiator as well as the "generic" 12 inch fans that came with it.  Frankly I was not at all happy with the build quality of the radiator and also did not find the cooling capacity of the radiator coupled with the fans to be much better than the stock setup.  Ultimately I went to a radiator made by Wizard Cooling (located in NY and made in the USA) and fans from Spal.  The radiator is a work of art and the fans sound like a turbine engine when they kick in.  The fans are a big improvement over the generic ones so even if you do decide on a less expensive radiator like the Champion, my advice would be to go with the best fans you can afford.  I can now sit in 105 degree weather in Austin, TX at a stop light and my temp never gets much past midway on the gauge.  It's an awesome setup.

Hope this helps.

Mike.

[CDL1542]

23 hours ago, Mike W said:

Glad it helped.  However, I don't understand why you want to have one fan turn on at ignition and the other at temp.  You will be running one fan all of the time which will shorten it's life and consume power when it's really not needed.

I have mine set up so that both fans turn on at the desired temp and shut off once the temp has decreased to the desired level as well.  That is one of the advantages of the Dakota controller.

One other piece of data that could be useful for you as well.  My original setup used a Champion radiator as well as the "generic" 12 inch fans that came with it.  Frankly I was not at all happy with the build quality of the radiator and also did not find the cooling capacity of the radiator coupled with the fans to be much better than the stock setup.  Ultimately I went to a radiator made by Wizard Cooling (located in NY and made in the USA) and fans from Spal.  The radiator is a work of art and the fans sound like a turbine engine when they kick in.  The fans are a big improvement over the generic ones so even if you do decide on a less expensive radiator like the Champion, my advice would be to go with the best fans you can afford.  I can now sit in 105 degree weather in Austin, TX at a stop light and my temp never gets much past midway on the gauge.  It's an awesome setup.

Hope this helps.

Mike.

You do have a good point about them both being engaged by the thermo switch but my thought process was if the sensor became an issue that I would still have at least one working fan. Now that I think about it more, I think that I'm just going to wire both of them to the switch and not worry about it so much.

[ktm]

Most "dual fan" setups are rather inadequate if you try to run one fan at a time.  Believe it or not, most high horsepower builds (not just S30s) use the Ford Taurus of Lincoln Mark VIII fans.  They are a two speed, single fan that blows around 4,500 scfm at hi-speed - nothing aftermarket comes close, especially from Spal (I used to run their dual fans on my L28ET build).

I have a Champion radiator (build quality is actually quite good - I used to have an Arizona Z-Car radiator) along with a Taurus fan in my LS1 swapped 240z.  I almost never have to use the high-speed setting, the low-speed blows 2,500 scfm and will cool the car down at lights.  If I really need the extra cooling capacity, I wired up the high-speed to a switch. The high-speed is typically engaged (via the PCM) at engine temps over 220 degrees or when the A/C kicks on - I never see temps that high nor do I have A/C.

As to your original question, my "thermo switch" is in the block - I put it in quotes as the coolant temp sensor sends the signal to the PCM which also controls the fan.

[Chickenman]

Another fan that also moves a ton of air is the large single fan from a mid 1980's Camaro or Firebird. 1984 or 1985 non/AC V8 cars have them. They are larger in diameter than the double fans and come with a shroud. The shroud is very important as it makes the fan much more efficient and pulls air through all of the fins of the Radiator.

I always ran my Fan relay connected to the ground side of the fan. Then i could add an additional fan to a Toggle switch that grounded the relay, so I could use it as an over ride when necessary. This came in very handy when I was sitting on the start line at an Autocross or Hillclimb. Kept engine temps from climbing too fast and causing fuel peculation on really hot days. ( 450 hp Carburated Camaro )