Electric Fan

[merl]

How many of you have installed an electric fan and deleted the mechanical? 

My options are:

16" Puller fan in place of mechanical

16" Pusher fan on front of rad since the condensor and aux fan are gone (I like this idea)

dual puller or pusher fans 

I am most interested in wiring it up. I would like it to be auto 2 speed with the ability to manually turn it on high. 

Thoughts ? 

Thanks

[B C]

I have never personally done it. I am a fan (well, okay, pun intended if it makes me look clever, pun not intended if its just too cheesy for you) of puller fans but I understand that a pusher would be a bit cleaner in the engine bay. I am personally not running any fan at all but am thinking about a slim puller if this summer gets too hot (last summer was fine).

Im sure you have seen the Miller 2 speed fan control for the WAR chip.

You should be able to re-use the resistor block for the AC condenser fan in order to wire up a 2-speed fan if you still have that laying around. 

If I do connect a fan, I plan on connecting it to the factory AC button to switch it on. 

picture related

[merl]

I am confused on the Miller fan control ... Is that part of the WAR chip or something extra to purchase ?

[straight6pwr]

in my swap car I had a pusher fan (also had AC deleted) that was wired to the ac switch so whenever it was really hot and the temp would start creepin i would just hit the AC button to turn it on.  not good if you have other people drive your car often, as they wont remember. i only needed it when idling in traffic in the summer.

[merl]

straight6pwr said:

i only needed it when idling in traffic in the summer.

This is why I think a pusher will be fine ... Thanks for that.

[B C]

looks like this is just a purchase to unlock the code in the ECU for it, the actual Smart Fan page doesnt work

https://www.millerperformancecars.com/catalogue.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&category_id=50&product_id=98

[merl]

hmmmm ... not sure I need or want that. 

I do have the sensors in the radiator for low speed and high speed and the wiring for the aux fan is still there ... what about using that ?

Or, I just run a new relay and let it run high speed or off.

[merl]

Found this out on the Inter-webz ... this looks like the way to go but I need to have a 2 speed fan I think.

[straight6pwr]

that seems overly complicated.  do you really need a 2 speed? personally, i'd just tap into the stock temp sensor and use a single relay to just have 1 speed auto.

unless of course the stock system is already wired like this. (not sure)

[merl]

I did some more looking ... 

Flex-a-Lite 16" fan is only 11 Amps ... Stock circuit in the car is 25 Amps. I should be able to use the stock wiring for the fan I think. I do want to wire a over ride switch as well but that should be easy.

[Jeff]

What I did was bought a thermo switch and put the sensor in the radiator where temp sensor was. I used a low profile puller fan. The thermal switch is adjustable from 90 degrees to 210 degrees.

[Brian.]

I'm running a 16" pusher fan (solely because I couldn't get my shitty clutch fan to release off the waterpump, so it's staying I guess.

You IDEALLY want a puller fan. to pull air through the radiator. It's more efficent then trying to push air through it.

You also wanna be looking at how many CFM's your fans pushing. My 16" cooling fan pushes ALOT of air. I don't remember the CFM, but it was quite a bit. Soley because E28's cooling systems suck dick, and I still occasionally have to pull over when the engine gets too warm for my comfort, and let the fan do it's work.

I'm sure a few people (Chris and Zach) have heard my auxillary fan, it sounds like a jet turbine.

If you need any help, let me know. Auxillary fans are 10x better then the shitty mechanical one.

[merl]

Jeff, Do you have a link to what sensor you used ?

Brian, thanks a ton. I think I am going to start with a pusher but if there are issues, I will move it to puller.

[Jeff]

merl said:

Jeff, Do you have a link to what sensor you used ?

Brian, thanks a ton. I think I am going to start with a pusher but if there are issues, I will move it to puller. 

i shall find it for you

[Jeff]

fan control

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/HDN0/3651.oap?year=1998&make=BMW&model=328i&vi=1313583&ck=Search_3651_1313583_4424&keyword=3651

im pretty sure this is the fan i got too

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/HDN0/3701/N0646.oap?ck=Search_electric+fan_N0646_1313583_4424&keyword=electric+fan&pt=N0646&ppt=C0095

[merl]

Thank you sir !

[Brian.]

merl said:

Jeff, Do you have a link to what sensor you used ?

Brian, thanks a ton. I think I am going to start with a pusher but if there are issues, I will move it to puller. 

My pusher works really well, but in summer (like last summer, my car over heated ALOT. 90+ all summer... I wanna switch to puller. but my damn clutch fan won't release.

[merl]

Brian, I just ordered the tool for the fan and can help you get that off. 

These radiators really lose a lot of flow when they age. I never overheated in day to day driving but the car was HOT on the track. A new radiator is being ordered as part of this build. 

When new, the rads work very good and they are only about 175 bucks new.

[Jeff]

Brian said:

My pusher works really well, but in summer (like last summer, my car over heated ALOT. 90+ all summer... I wanna switch to puller. but my damn clutch fan won't release.

bring the car to my house and i will remove it!

[Jeff]

merl said:

Thank you sir !

the fan set up works great in my car never went past the middle on my car. even when rage driving.