How to Install an Electric Radiator Fan
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- Опубліковано 22 вер 2021
- I broke something, so let's take that opportunity to upgrade!
In this video, I remove the factory radiator fan (that is driven off the water pump) and replace it with an electric fan and shroud.
The shroud is made to fit my Champion radiator, which is kind of the only way to go. Trying to attach the fan with straps through the radiator fins will look bad and it won't be secured.
The fan is a generic 16" unit and it came with the relay kit to wire it up off the coolant temp.
Electric Radiator Fan - 16", includes relay kit, purchased off ebay for $40
Radiator Shroud - Made to fit my Champion radiator, model AE259
The car is a 1966 Mustang Coupe with a factory V8 and T5 transmission.
Shot with GoPro Hero 8 with the Media Mod, edited on Davinci Resolve 16.
Credit for the music in the video:
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Epidemic Sound
Try it today! www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
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#Mustang
#1966 - Авто та транспорт
Another awesome video. I find your channel and Alf’s Mustang Garage the most helpful on UA-cam. I love that you show your mistakes (learnings) and provide a running commentary on your thoughts as you are solving problems. Sometimes that’s just as helpful as seeing the step-by-step removal/install.
I appreciate that! Thanks for the feedback. Alf's channel is great, I may or may not have used the info from what he has done in my videos. ;)
Spal all day long! Go cheap and learn.....
20:04 - Man, just this brief section of information on the wiring was more valuable to me than all the other videos covering this. Every video describes this process in terms of wiring schematics, which is great to establish a baseline of knowledge, but then it's in depth descriptions of the physical installation followed by "then wire it up..." You were the only person to describe *how* to wire to ignition, instead of just "wire it to ignition". Thanks a ton!
awesome, happy to help! :)
I had an electric fan on my 66. When it went out, I had trouble finding an electric fan that would fit well with the bigger radiator. Anyways, I went to a flex fan with the original fan shroud and haven't had any issues. I would consider trying to get some more space between the front pulley and the electric fan. Great video!!
Agreed, that space is tight. It has been a few weeks since I actually did this upgrade and I keep checking to see if anything is touching. Nothing so far. :)
Always great to watch. Keep up the videos and the build. 😎👍
Thanks, will do!
Love watching your videos Andy! Thanks!
Glad you like them! :)
When I did this to my 65 fastback I also changed to a Meziere electric water pump which made clearance a non issue ( and you pick up a little HP :-) . My rad was a 3 row champion like yours.
The electric pump had crossed my mind. That small bump in HP is also appealing. Hmmm........
@@AndyKruseChannel They make a pump with heater hose provisions but it 's spendy!!! but they are SWEET mine went 10K with zero issues before I sold the car. Good luck Andy !
Nice Andy.
Thanks!
Technology is great
On my 85 Corvette C4, I fitted two of these . As the fans have cages, I did away with the entire shroud. Allowing more of the aluminium multi core radiator to be seen.
As you, I also wired it to turn on after a 10 second delay from key turn , always on.
I used the radiator ties and also fitted a transmission cooler on the front
8 ties 😂🤣
Those fans great, on your car I'd have not used the shroud, fans too close to those bolt heads.
I think you're missing the point of the shroud, those cages you mentioned don't force all the flowing through the radiator to flow through the fan, that's why the shroud is needed. But, everybody has different ways of doing things. :)
@@AndyKruseChannel the rpm of the electric fan is many times more than the factory, also the aluminium multi cores already are 40% improved cooling.
You don't need a shroud 😎
Just the risk of damage alone would see me remove it on this car, IMPO 👍
Tried an electric fan on my 68 Mustang but went back to the OEM as it cooled better. An option for you is to mount the electric fan on the front side of the rad, reverse the polarity and push the air through the rad.
When I was researching fans for this upgrade, there were fans that were designed to push and fans designed to pull. This one was advertised as a puller, so I don't thing I would want to do what you were recommending. Plus, the new shroud is designed to maximize the efficiency of the fan. So far so good. :)
@@AndyKruseChannel hope it works and keeps that Mustang cool.
@@cdnclassiccargarage6620 It has been a few weeks since I've done this install and it's been great. :)
Would you be doing a video on replacing the heater box soon? Keep up the good videos 👍
I did a video a while back where I pulled the heater box to replace the coil, but I didn't replace anything else. There might be some value in that video for removal and installation of the heater box, maybe it's worth a look? :)
Great video; thanks for sharing. Where did you source the generic fan shroud?
Thanks!
Found the shroud on Ebay.
Hello. Can it blow air to the opposite side when the rotation direction is changed thanks to the fan blade structure? You mounted the fan inside the radiator. Can I place the same fan outside?
You can place the fan on the outside if it's a "Push" fan. It's not just the normal direction the blades spin, it's also the shape of the blades that dictate if it's Push or Pull style. The fan I installed in this video is a "Pull" style and it cannot be installed on the outside (front side) of the radiator and expect it to work just as good. When you find the fan you want, it should tell you somewhere in the details if it's a Push or Pull style. :)
Look up the Proform low profile setups. A little pricey but if clearance is an issue.
Thanks for the heads up, I am thinking of doing another electric fan on my new Mustang and I'm interested in a lower profile unit. :)
Hey man, since the clearance is such an issue I would've just ran the fan directly on the radiator with those ziptie things. But good job!
I though about that, but that custom shroud allows for maximum efficiency with the new fan. Since these cars run on the warmer side, I wanted that fan to be as good as possible.
I did mine without the shroud, radiator already aluminum so it’s a win win
@@AbelCastillo93 I like win win scenarios. :)
Thanks for the info brother!!! I was literally just looking up these same fans on ebay and wanted to look on youtube. I should have plenty of room in my '71. How is everything so far ??
No problem. I'm assuming everything is ok, I sold that car quite a while ago. :)
Did you have to use nuts and lock washers for the pulley?
There are threads in the water pump shaft to hold the water pump pulley, so just bolts. :)
I also did an electric fan conversion using a 16 inch thin SPAL fan... But I used a baking sheet to make the shroud 😂 😂 😂 it worked. I have video... But the fan was just too noisy for me. I ended up getting a 6 blade fan instead.
Agreed, this new fan is noisy. Thankfully I can't hear it when I driving. :)
Hi Andy I have a 66 289 hipo how do you feel about radiator hose filter? It currently has one not sure if I should remove it. Thanks bro
Honestly can't say I've heard of a radiator hose filter, but that doesn't mean it couldn't help. Thankfully there isn't much to be filter on the coolant side, other than maybe a old piece of rust breaking off from inside the block. Worst case it clogs a fin in the radiator or makes the thermostat stick open. I've never used one and I have no plans on installing one, but that doesn't mean yours is not helping. Sorry I'm not much help. :)
Thank you!! I really enjoy your videos 👍
Hey maybe I missed it but how did you handle the temp guage wired to the temp switch and the new switch for the fans? Isn’t there only one port to thread into? They obviously can be wired into the same switch? Thanks.
On this car I wired it up so the fan is on when the car is on. Not ideal, but that was the limit of my patients at the time.
Since then, I have installed a similar setup on my current Mustang and I have a temperature switch installed in the thermostat housing which activates the relay to turn on the fans. I could have done that same kind of setup on the car in this video (and I wish I did), but I chose a shorter path at that time.
@@AndyKruseChannel so if that’s in the housing for the fans, where is the guage reading coming from? Thanks.
The gauge reading is still in the stock location, the port "above" cylinder five in the intake manifold. :)
Awesome video as always Andy. At 7:49 I’m just wondering, did you have to go back and straighten out some of the cooling fins on the radiator? It looks like at that close quarters work might have chewed them up a bit? Always learn something when I watch - thanks so much! Just ordered a new Champion radiator for my 65 i6 - can’t wait to get it installed!
All the bent fins on that Rad were from me moving the shroud in and out to check fitment. The fan was more than an inch away from the fins when installed. :)
Hi Andy, I have a question if you don't mind. I just installed this setup and the fan starts at the perfect temperature but doesn't turn off at the right temperature. I bought 200f to 185f sensor (for another car), and my fan turns on at 200f but stops working at 199f. So the off-temp doesn't work. I didn't install the circuit breaker, could that be the reason? I am confused.
I'm not sure which circuit breaker you are referring to, but I can't see why it would make a difference if your fans are shutting off at 199f. I suspect it's a faulty temp sensor that is triggering your fans, and those can be purchased on the cheap. On a side note, how positive are you that your temp gauge or temperature sending unit for the gauge is accurate? It's probably not the issue, but something to think about. :)
@@AndyKruseChannel Thank you for your quick response. I check on the dashboard the temperature, basically turns on and off at the same temperature. I am also guessing its fault sensor, apparently its common on these sensors to be faulty.
Where did you put the temperature switch at?? I have a 06 magnum 5.7 and theirs already a temperature switch on it
I did not use the temperature switch on this install. I set it up so that it's on when the car is on. :)
Now that you've had the electric fan in your car for a few month, how is performing? Anything you'd change?
Unfortunately I do not know as I sold the car not long after I made that video. But, for what it's worth, I plan to put a similar setup on my new project, the '66 Fastback. :)
Did you ever cut a slot to move the radiator forward?
Unfortunately I sold the car before I got that far. I never had a problem with the fan and the pulley on the water pump touching from the time I installed it until I sold it, so it would have been lower on my list if I had kept the car. I'd like to do something similar on my new car, so we'll see how that plays out. :)
It's nice to see a project that goes as planned. How is the cooling with this fan? Have you had a chance to sit in traffic with it?
I would definitely hook up the thermostat especially if you have large temperature swings where you live. I'm surprised your car heats up that fast. Mine takes a good 5-10 minutes before it is at temperature.
Not yet, we don't really have traffic where I live (well not like the big cities).
I haven't decided what to do about the temperature switch yet, there's good arguments on both sides.
maybe as a push fan Infront of radiator, would of helped the engine run cool
Not as much as you'd think. :)
I am actually installing an electric fan too. Here's my 2 cents: I don't recommend running the fan all time for a couple of reasons... Is your alternator like stock? Electric fans can draw 30 amps...
Also you should had a fuse to that connection
If the thermostat fails, the fan won't run. This way the fan is not dependent on something else. Also, I don't run a stereo, so the amperage it would have drawn can go to the fan.
Team no radio @andy kruse 🤘🏼
Why not before cutting go back to a thinner profile radiator?
I didn't have $300 for a new radiator. Cutting was free.
Do you have links to these?
Electric Radiator Fan - 16", includes relay kit, purchased off ebay for $40
Radiator Shroud - Made to fit my Champion radiator. The radiator model number is AE259.
@@AndyKruseChannel thank you!
Did you sell it? I saw all the ads were gone.
I can't say at this time. :)
Not required. Thermostat should be a good option to protect the fan
What?
Move the radiator up a little bit nice car buddy
Can't, don't have that car anymore.
Other options.. offset the radiator if needed.. also, reverse the motor on the fan, make it push air and mount it to the front..you will need to flip the blade also
I thought about the push option, but the research I did showed this was the better option, especially with that custom radiator shroud.
Do you even need that shroud? My dad drove an F150 for years without one. I drove my Mustang without one.
Is it needed? No. Does it improve the cooling ability of the fan and radiator? Absolutely.
my eBay electric fan was junk my 66 mustang would overheat sitting in my driveway ,,i found a regular old fan from a 77 tbird and now life is good and i dont need a shroud i hate ele. fans
I've gotten burned on Ebay parts too, I guess it's a gamble we're willing to take to save a few bucks.
When are you going to swap to an electric water pump?
On the car in this video, never. I have sold the car since I made that video. However, it's been on my list for my new project. They're a little pricey, but I'd like to eventually upgrade to the electric pump. :)
Now you have 35 more useable horse power at the top end, because your not spinning that fan.
P.S. use the switch and I had this Land Rover with a fan that close. Had to stop and patch it on the way home because the motor flexed the fan into the radiator 😡
35 more HP? At least that much. I was guessing around 50 more HP.
Andy - did I hear you right in that you hooked up this e-fan to start when the ignition comes on? So, at highway speeds and at any other speed, it would always be on? I guess it's much like the mechanical fan in that regard, but I thought your diagram showed that it would turn on/off based on the temp sending unit. Many of the folks I've read about with these fans have them only come on based on the temp sending unit but wasn't sure what you ended up doing. I live in Houston, TX, and I'm thinking it would just be better to have the dang fan on all the time as well. To do this, did you just omit the gray wire going to the temp sensor (Pin 86) altogether?
In this video, yes, the fan is on whenever the car is on (I didn't do it that way on my Fastback). The diagram I had shown was assuming someone would use a temp sensor for the ground (making it turn on and off based off the sensor limits) instead of just grounding the relay (which is what I did in this video). So if you want to skip a temp sensor, just put that wire straight to ground instead attaching it to a sensor.
Now, with all that being said, when I went to put an electric fan in my Fastback, I chose to use the sensor. I chose this route as the fan is loud and I don't want to hear it any more than I need to. For your scenario, and if you were asking my advice, I'd say put that switch in. I have that convenient threaded port on my thermostat housing, so I didn't need to modify anything to make this sensor work. :)
@@AndyKruseChannel thanks for that info! I do have the threaded port as well on my thermostat housing, so I guess I could just use the sensor. Thanks Andy!