Electric fan conversion (advance auto parts style)

[SE_XRUNNER]

e-fan = win!!! it looks so much better than the stock fan and does the same thing. not sure why Toyota didn't put an e-fan on it to begin with.

 

[PUREVIBEZ]

was wondering that myself. its normally one of the first mods i do. even on the evo that comes with a E fan from factory its a big bulky metal frame heavy fan. this always saves a good amount of weight and free's up alot of space for a big turbo.

 

[revobreaker]

cant wait to see yalls pics w/ the shroud on:top:

 

[teamben158]

Shrouded = moar better

This may not be relevant but I just wanna put the info out there. A shroud forces air to go across the entire radiator for better cooling. Guys with smallblock chevys in S10s have had overheating problems when they just put the fan on the radiator.

Anyways good info, but I have a question: What did you do with the rad overflow? I though it was attached to the stock shroud:dontknow:

I'm not sure how applicable it is, but in the streetfighter scene, most people make there own coolant overflows. Assuming a truck works the same as the motorcycle one, it should be pretty easy. Most people use an aluminum bottle (old CO2 bottles from paint balling are popular). Just drill two holes, take one hose and make it go to just a little above the bottom of the bottle, then take another hose and make it so it's just barely in the bottle and routes away from everything in case it does overflow.

I'm not sure a truck works the same way, but I'm not sure you'd need the second hose. Maybe just vent the bottle? I'm too lazy to walk outside and see what it looks like, plus it's dark outside.

 

[sixstringdave]

My E fan mod

Well, i got her all buttoned up and it works great! Definately can feel it on the butt dyno. Very pleased with the results. I will have to connect the ACC. wire to the radio power wire(as VIBES mentioned) when i have more time cause right now they stay on until its cooled off. Took me about 2 1/2 hours. I was taking it easy and making sure i had the wiring good and secure. Also i had some set backs as i went, but nothing i couldnt handle.

Before

First i pulled the engine cover and top piece. Then the fan and shroud must be pulled up together

This is what it looks like after those are removed

I mounted the fan against the rad but forgot to snap a pic of this. It looks just like VIBES pic in his original post. I had to loosen the top two rad mounting bolts and one of the lower ones in order to get the fan mounting rods to go through and get my hand down in between the rad and the AC condenser. This shot is the rad mounting bolt(top mid of pic) that i had to loosen. The lower one i loosened is down under next to my horns here, but you cant see it. It really helps to loosen it.

You can see there is hardly any room to work is why. It looks like more room in the pic.

I mounted the thremo control box down in front of my power steering res. The probe was a style that pushes through the fins in the radiator. Be careful not to screw it up. I taped up the wires coming out of it a bit but plan to get some convoluted tubing to wrap everything in a day or two. You can see my ground for the box goes behind the power steering res and i just used an exsisting bolt to secure it.

Next i connected all the wires and ran them across the top of the radiator. I had a hard time getting the shroud back over the wires and the E fan but i bribed it to cooperate.

The thermo kit i had was very descriptive in the instructions. I recommend getting a good quality one so you can just follow what it says to hook everything up to. Basically a power to battery. A ground. one wire goes to the fan positive wire. Then ground the fan to the hood release assembly. I found the same place VIBES used for the ground. And then an ACC. wire that i still need to take off the battery and connect it to a radio one or whatever.

All done!

 

[KETCHUP]

another EFM! Grats to ya! :top: Looks good.

 

[PUREVIBEZ]

nice!!! told you brother, thing feels awesome when done. wait till you get your pulley's on :top:the smiles dont stop.

 

[STONER-X]

just as a question...... since it is hooked up to the radio fuse......

what happens if you turn the radio off? or is the fuse just an ignition on off regardless to if the radio on or off? there should be plenty of fuses near the battery that would be a good source of ignition and one with more amps plus less wire to run and hide....

is there an inline fuse to the wire going to the radio fuse? i couldn't imagine that fuse being large enough to supply the amp draw from a fan safely.... the fuse on the fan is probably larger than the radio fuse i would guess fan 25 or 30 amps and the radio 5-10 amps..... you have a large chance of blowing the radio fuse before the fan giving it a larger failure rate....

the motto i try to remember is more wire more problems... meaning... keep it as short as possible.....

the more wire the more surface area to rub a short on or get pinched... i also think of my mechanical boost gauge as 5 feet of a vacuum leak problem and want to go with a electronic one....

good going on the e-fan i plan to do one later down the road.. :smile:

 

[SE_XRUNNER]

the radio fuse is a 30 amp mini fuse in my truck and the fan fuse in the thermostat kit i got from vatozone is a 25 amp. the fan wont blow the fuse unless it shorts out anyways. which leads to this next statement

to solve the rubbing or pinching you can get wire loom in just about any color to prevent that.

 

[DoubleD]

Yep I'm going to start working on this one :smile:

 

[STONER-X]

the radio fuse is a 30 amp mini fuse in my truck and the fan fuse in the thermostat kit i got from vatozone is a 25 amp. the fan wont blow the fuse unless it shorts out anyways. which leads to this next statement

to solve the rubbing or pinching you can get wire loom in just about any color to prevent that.

Thirty ok that's good enough but as for rubbing and pinching.... Why use more wire than u have to? I'm not trying to argue, but if there is a better spot closer why not use that? That's just extra work to get it inside the truck when there is a pleathera (spelling iPhone lol) of options 2 inches away instead of 3 feet and a journey down the yellow brick road... Ever head of the term "kiss" keep it simple stupid... Not calling anyone stupid so no offence.... I my self have used the raido fuse to fuel some options on the inside of my car in the past, I would just see it being better to keep thng in the same area. It would just make trouble shooting more isolated even though it is one wire. That's just how I see it really there is no problem putting it there... It works right so use it.... I would chose another spot closer to the heat... Like I said with the kiss thing nothing to no one here just a term

 

[sixstringdave]

In the thermo control kit i got, it said to mount the sensor probe near the radiator inlet hose. Otherwise i would have mounted it all on the other side next to the battery, thus having a shorter distance and using less wire. The wire for the sensor to the control box was only like a foot long, so i didnt have much choice.

And there is no worry about radio fuses blowing or having to handle both loads and whatnot. The control power to the fan from the box has its own 25 amp fuse. That is in between from the battery power and the fan itself in the series. Hooking my 'yellow' wire from the kit to the radio or other accessory is just telling the control box "hey the key is on, you can start working now." or "Hey, the key is off, take a break!" :laugh:

Also, you wouldnt be having to run wire into the cab of the truck to hook into the radio or similar acc. Just run into the fuse box near the battery.

 

[rexrunner]

I used a 16" s blade spal fan
dccontrol.com - variable speed fan controller (best on market), 9 volts with a/c on and variable volts from there

that was enough for a turbocharged xrunner to keep it at around 185

 

[LD X-IN]

how does x runners do w/ the E. fan, in hot parking lot traffic like on Oahu, same as stock?

 

[rexrunner]

you need a fan controller that turns the fan on atleast somewhat to pull air through the condenser to keep the ac cold:top:

 

[SpcWashington]

Just ordered some nst pulleys, and Ill be doing this at the same time. Thanks for the right up. It gave me the confidence to do this mod too. (also electrical knowledge impaired).

 

[SpcWashington]

Well.... I couldnt wait on the pulleys. Lol. I just got my e-fan all buttoned up. I am curious though,. What did you guys do with the a/c overide wire (green in my case)? It works good but I too put the acc wire on the + batt. terminal for now. I will probly change it tomorrow. I didnt have any wire and it wouldnt reach the fuse box. It was however perfect length for the battery. Thanks for the write-up and the insperation. :top:

 

[sinister07]

Does putting the efan on there really make a power difference you can feel? I am just always worried that an efan will let me down on a hot day and I would just want to know the mod is worth the trouble.

 

[5H4D0WD347H]

Does putting the efan on there really make a power difference you can feel? I am just always worried that an efan will let me down on a hot day and I would just want to know the mod is worth the trouble.

Stock fan is def more reliable IMO.

 

[sinister07]

Stock fan is def more reliable IMO.

So would you do the mod or no?