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Thread: Isntalling electric fans on your IC 1st gen....

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    Isntalling electric fans on your IC 1st gen....

    So last weekend 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.



    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.



    Mounted up....





    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.


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    The other day 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....

    1stGen.org ? View topic - Putting Rocker switches in your ashtray....

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



    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.




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    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.



    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.






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    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.





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





    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.


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    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.


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    Quote Originally Posted by thrashingcows View Post
    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. http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/im...ilies/wink.gif

    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.
    It's about time you got around to the electrics. This is my third diesel with them. The bad news is, and I finally have something to pick on, Your work has been impeccable so far. The fans are too small.

    The ones I had on my 04 were the first Flex-a-lite attempt. The fans were about that size in a plastic shroud. They replaced them with the current design. The fans are about 35% bigger and spin faster. The motors on these are big! What I found is the truck would heat up at slow speeds with a tow. Over heat going up hills in a lower gear. It was always a relief there was a down slope at the top. If you could stay 45 and above it wasn't too bad.

    The other thing I like is the controller on these will run the fans even if you shut it off. The controller is also a soft start and will throttle the fans according to the need. Between those electric fans and the turbo timer I have a pretty good rig now. The shut down is only prolonged on the hottest of days.

    Sorry Brian. . . .Damn kids. LOL


    2003- 3500 RWD Automatic.
    S & B intake, BD Intercooler, Pusher Air Horn, MM3 Double R Tuning, Turbo Timer, electric Flex-a-lite fans, FASS 95,
    50 HP tips, upgrade to 351 turbo, 3.42 gears, Twin air compressors, air bags, Remote dual oil filters, Hellwig sway bar, Front Winch. Home made Fuel Heater, BD Exhaust brake with Torque Lock. Tons of TLC

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