taurus fan install questions...

[fullahotair]

I am thinking about using a 90-95 ford 3.8 electric fan for my car. I put a cottons front mount on and the stock fan has a hard time maintaining temps, which isn't surprising. (fyi - i have an F-body radiator) At any rate my questions....

1. Anyone have a dimension for how "thick" these fans are? Wanna make sure it'll clear my IC pipes.

2. How are people wiring these for the ECM to control, or you using a stand alone controller?

3. How many more cfm is a Mark VIII fan over the taurus? The local j'yard has the taurus fans for $36 and teh mark VIII fan for $125.

Thanks for any help.

Nate

 

[turboc87gn]

Im also wondering how to wire a mark VIII one in.. A plug and play setup would be nice im wondering cause they are similar to our stock fans having a low and a high but ours have a ballast resistor on them.. I dunno if you can just splice it in or not but hopefully someone knows...I read theres like a 400 or so cfm difference between them. The main difference as far as were concerned is the taurus fan will fit with a SLIC and the mark fan wont.. But if running a front mount the extra cfm would prolly be beneficial..Btw Keep hunting around for a mark fan i scored 2 for $25 each...

 

[RegalT-type85]

I have the Mark8 fan, it is hugh and needs a little work to make it look stock. The Taurus fan would be great FIT and about the same CFMs. I used a HD 40 relay. I suggest 50amp relay, the starting amps for mark8 are 42(or so) 40 works just fine for me.I have that hook to a adjustable Hayden thermo switch. I plan on buying the harness to have the ECM to control fan on/off function.


Mark8 would be your best bet with FMIC, 17 taurus would be 2nd choice IMO. Just as good but Mark8 is #1 choice when it comes to cooling off anything IMO.

Also, a indicator light and manual overide switch would be great addition.


Lincoln Mark 8 or XR7 cougar have them also.
Mark VIII Fan Install

 

[salvageV6]

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/ge...90-95-ford-taurus-sable-3-8-electric-fan.html

 

[fullahotair]

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/ge...90-95-ford-taurus-sable-3-8-electric-fan.html

Thanks for the link. That thread was what turned me onto the taurus fans, but that thread doesn't get into the details of wiring them up to the stock ecm. There are couple links on the internet that gives some details on how to wire them, but they aren't for the buick of course. I know there are external variable speed controllers that will operate it, but was cuious if people have used them with the stock ecm




For those that have the MarkVIII fans, could you tell me who thick the unit is. I wanna make sure it clears my IC pipes.

 

[fullahotair]

The MarkVIII fan is 21 5/8 wide, 18 1/2 high, and 4 3/4 thick when trimed to thinest size, and still allow room for blades to clear the radiator

 

[RegalT-type85]

Im not expert but the way I hooked it up is working for me.
Tap into a 12v key on, solder in relay, run power wire from relay to thermo switch/manual switch, power thermo out or switch to fan, get a good ground(s)

You can choose which speed you want low or high, I chose low,it's enough to kept my car cool.

 

[lhbarrett]

These guys have some relays assembled ready to go...

Mark VIII, Taurus, Two Speed fan relay kit.

Found their contact info on the Pro Touring and Lateral G boards. I am working the 442 into a better driver with big brakes and a 2004R.

 

[salvageV6]

Actually there's a ton of information in that thread on how to make it work with the stock triggers.

" Mine is still working just fine on the daily driver.

Almost 2 years on a junkyard fan that already had a ton of use on a Sable.

Temps. were better without the V4 shroud on it but I put the main part of the shroud back on after undbending it from a truck tire impact on the highway. Lower scoop is a pretzel so I still have to redo that part.

I added a ground as noted and paralleled it soldered off the stock ground wire.

I added a relay for high speed operation only, the triggers were from the output of the stock high speed relay, +12 to the coil, and I also used the ground trigger from the stock high speed switch, power feed to the switch in the relay was from the alternator stud, output of the relay paralleled with the stock high speed relay output near the fan socket.

No issues with the operation high or low.

I am sure high and low have been on at the same time with the fan also.

I replaced the high speed approx. 220 degree trigger switch with a 170 degree hypertech one that has a lot of hysteresis so high speed runs a lot more on my car in the summer and with the A/C on.

I roughly measured 45 Amps. at turn on for high speed operation. "

The inrush current on high speed is too much for the stock relay in MHO, you can and should add a higher current path.

I upgraded the grounds and used a lot of the stock Taurus wiring with circuit breakers.

There's even some harness pictures.

Both the Taurus and Mark VIII fans draw a lot of current especially on high speed.

 

[fullahotair]

SalvageV6…I’ll have to go back and look at that thread again. My bad if it contains wiring info.
How/where are getting your high speed trigger from and how do you trigger it? If I understood John Spina correctly, the stock ecm only controls low speed operation, and the switch on the AC line controls high speed, so I think high speed isn’t initiated unless the AC is on?? I don’t have AC, so that my pose an issue. Does you high speed kick on if your AC isn’t on? I am not sure I understand fully, so that’s why I am asking.
Also I followed the link that lhbarret posted up and ultimately called those guys about their setup they offer. In their setup they include a 180 or 190 degree switch, which begs the question what temp our factory switch kicks on at? This question then leads me to this: if you use the popular 160 degree thermostat and the stock switch doesn’t turn on till lets say 180….what good is the 160 thermostat, if the fans won’t turn on until you reach 180 (or whatever the switch turns on at) ? You’ll never get to 160 degrees unless at highway speeds when fans are needed. My guess is that it has to do with the run time of the fans… as you wouldn’t want the fan cycling on off constantly.

Thanks,
Nate

 

[fullahotair]

i found this thread this evening that has a lot of good info in it...

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/ge.../202695-how-wire-hi-low-switch-dual-fans.html

Nate

 

[salvageV6]

High speed is triggered by the coolant temp. switch, stock around 215 degrees or so, a grounding switch, OR by the A/C high pressure switch.

That's why I put in the hypertech coolant switch, which I think is set a bit low at 170 degrees but it's for GM Camaros normally, and I would prefer 185 or so degrees to trigger high speed. I used what was readily available and lower than the stocker at 215 degrees.

Most chips kick the low speed on around 170-175 degrees and some like the Extender Extreme are programmable which works in my car for summer/winter.

Racing and summer low speed is triggered around 160 and winter low speed works at 175 although the car doesn't always get that hot with a 160 stat. in it and cold temps.

I added another relay in parallel with the stock high speed relay to add current when triggered it uses the same high speed ground trigger, IGN power to the relay + coil, and output power +12 is from the alternator stud.

The wires, stock relay output on the plug and my added relay, tie together at the Ford fan high speed wire and feed it ample current so nothing stock gets stressed or smoked.

Low speed operation is strictly off the low speed existing relay.

I added a second ground wire to a good ground point on the fender, and tied that into the Ford fan ground, along with the factory wiring for ground out of the stock plug.

I don't believe the stock wiring is adequate to power these high current fans but haven't tried to use it either, as mentioned before the inrush current was over 40A and the stock relay and wiring would be very marginal at that point, so why risk a failure?

I hope that helps some.

 

[fullahotair]

Thanks for the reply. I'll have to chew on the wiring schematics to fully understand the relay configurations. I am debating on purchasing a prewired setup from racetronics or similar, and then adapting the plug to work with the Ferd.

The fact that the factory high speed doesn't kick on until 215, makes me think that high speed will never kick on, which is why you would either get a lower temp switch, or wire up the high speed only (or low speed if that is sufficient).

I'll take look at the wiring some more....i'll probably have more questions...you don't have a wiring schematic of how you wired yours did you? I know you explained it, schematics help sometimes...no big deal if not...

Thanks
Nate

 

[fullahotair]

dumb question - is it only the lincoln Mark VIII 93-98 that have the "Mark VIII" fan? I ask because i have also seen bits that suggest the Cougar XR7 and possibly other thunderbird and cougar v8's have the same fan, but i am not sure of that. The local yards have an Xr7 fan and thats $40, compared to a Mark VIII fan at 120.

Thanks
Nate

 

[87GN_70GS]

dumb question - is it only the lincoln Mark VIII 93-98 that have the "Mark VIII" fan? I ask because i have also seen bits that suggest the Cougar XR7 and possibly other thunderbird and cougar v8's have the same fan, but i am not sure of that. The local yards have an Xr7 fan and thats $40, compared to a Mark VIII fan at 120.

Thanks
Nate

The T-birds and Cogars have a very similar fan to the Mk VIII.

 

[fullahotair]

thanks for the info...do you know what the differences are by chance?

I also found this thread that is proving to be rather helpful as well.

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/engine-tech/282688-mark-viii-fan-install.html

Do people try to soft start these fans at all? or do you need a controller to do that?

Thanks,
Nate

 

[87GN_70GS]

thanks for the info...do you know what the differences are by chance?

I also found this thread that is proving to be rather helpful as well.

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/engine-tech/282688-mark-viii-fan-install.html

Do people try to soft start these fans at all? or do you need a controller to do that?

Thanks,
Nate

The 93 - mid 97 MkVIII fan (RF-123) is two-speed and runs at a slightly lower rpm on hi than the mid-97 and up/.

The mid-97 and up MkVIII fan (RF-64) is a single speed (variable) and spins slightly faster than the earlier ones, but I believe they move the same amount of air.

The 94-97 T-bird/cougar fan (RF-24) is the same size fan and motor as the MkVIII, so I think it moves about the same amount of air.