You can type here any text you want

Chevy Volt PWM fan conversion

Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

SignUp Now!

MarkJamesGN22

New Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2023
Messages
18
Hi Guys,

I'm new here. I inherited my 87 GN last year from an older friend of mine after he passed from cancer. Car is a clean 87 GN with 28k, body is clean garaged but had a lot of issues I'm sorting out and the radiator was one of them. Stock radiator was completely plugged so for a temporary fix I found the aluminum replacment radiator with the plastic tanks that was drop in. I live in Sacramento so I know when I fix the AC the stock fan and that 1 row radiator won't cut it.

Coming from European cars, I kinda like to over complicate my modifications. I live in a pretty hot area during the summer. I will be using my AC a lot and wanted to make sure It had sufficient cooling. I know the intrepid fans work perfectly fine as an upgrade, but having used PWM fans on other cars I am going to do the same to my GN. Also the variable speed is nice especially because you don't have to hear the high speed Fan constantly when not needed.

Scored and NOS aftermarket aluminum radiator from Facebook market place.

Found a bunch of info on pwm fan conversions from: Brushless Cooling Fan Conversions

Also just ordered PWM fan controller from ebay:


Since it was labor day weekend and pick and pull salvage yard had a 40% off sale I tried to look and some chevy volts that they had. All of them were crashed in the front or fans were missing :( OEM used fans on Ebay run anywhere from $250-$350. Too much for my experiment so I called a local dismantler and he had one for $100. Just picked it up and it is the perfect size.

I store the car at my father's house during the summer because it's cooler there but will have it back here in a month and will update with the progress. If anyone else has done this conversion, please chime in if it doesn't work or any hurdles you may have encountered. Looks pretty easy though. I work on cars for a living and electrical is my specialty so the wiring should be cake.

I have attached a picture of the new aftermarket aluminum radiator and a picture of the Chevy Volt fan on the original GN radiator.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20240730_162852_Facebook.jpg
    Screenshot_20240730_162852_Facebook.jpg
    653.6 KB · Views: 63
  • 20240831_115243.jpg
    20240831_115243.jpg
    3.8 MB · Views: 62
Did you ever get anywhere with this? I just got the A/C working on my car, and with the big FMIC, the intrepid fans aren’t keeping up.
I have all the parts and even upgraded the alternator to 200 amps, added a postive post, but no time to actually fit the fan yet. I also got a chevy volt harness from a dismantler for $35. I want to make it look as oem as possible, so it won't be a rush job. I will update as soon as I get started on it. All the measurements are there and it will fit. Just need to fab a few brackets. The aftermarket radiator is doing decent with the factory fan and AC, I do run E85 and that is supposed make it run cooler. PM me if you need the parts list.
 
I have all the parts and even upgraded the alternator to 200 amps, added a postive post, but no time to actually fit the fan yet. I also got a chevy volt harness from a dismantler for $35. I want to make it look as oem as possible, so it won't be a rush job. I will update as soon as I get started on it. All the measurements are there and it will fit. Just need to fab a few brackets. The aftermarket radiator is doing decent with the factory fan and AC, I do run E85 and that is supposed make it run cooler. PM me if you need the parts list.
Shoot me those numbers if you could. My car is on E85 too, but still got up to 225 with fans running full time. Granted it was 100+ degrees today, but these aftermarket intrepid fans aren’t anything amazing. Tried to send a DM but it wouldn’t let me.
 
Shoot me those numbers if you could. My car is on E85 too, but still got up to 225 with fans running full time. Granted it was 100+ degrees today, but these aftermarket intrepid fans aren’t anything amazing. Tried to send a DM but it wouldn’t let me.
Fan harness (84118741)

Fan (84153646) Do not use a aftermarket one. Get a used from the wrecking yard. Cheap aftermarket ones may cause fire with cheap PWM controller on board.

Fuse block with high amp 40 amp fuses, fuse seperate


Here is the contoller:



Should be straight forward, it physically fits, i just want mine to fit perfectly and look like it belongs. I cut the mounting ears off of mine and was gonna make brackets that fit the stock bracket holes. As far as wiring goes, fans get wired to fuse directly connected to power. Then pwm controller has power and ignition, sensor wire that taps into factory coolant temp sensor wire, then output to signal wires on both fans, I talked to the guy that makes the controller, he said you can run both fans on one controller or buy two controllers and run them separately. Make sure all your wiring is good because the high amperage can cause heat on a poor connection that could lead to a fire.
 
An inexpensive PWM controller....
Putting one with a 15" Spal on my bud's blown LS Stude.
 
An inexpensive PWM controller....
Putting one with a 15" Spal on my bud's blown LS Stude.
This is the one that I listed
 
Back
Top