A Guide to Electric Fan Retrofit / Swap

I'd run a controller as well. I did a Mustang kit Flex-a-lite setup on my friends Turbocoupe T-bird 5.0 swap and it worked out very well. Set the temp to 205` with a 192 thermostat, put the probe in the fins next to the top radiator hose and the fan only ran when really needed. We had to set the thermostat to 205` because it wouldn't trip back off until the temps hit 195`. We needed to stay above the thermostat setting or the fan would run all the time once it warmed up.

Other tips, we ran 10ga wire with a pair of 15A thermal overloads in parallel to allow for a 1.5x max load overload protection (18a x 1.5 = @30ol (2x15a ol)). All wired connections were soldered, never ever use crimps alone, especially where corrosion can get to them. Connections were heat shrinked and an anti oxidant grease was applied to everything.

The system has worked perfectly for several years now.
 
+1 on the soldering and shrink tubing. The marine grade tubing is the best - the kind with the adhesive glue inside (I've noticed Ford used it on a lot of the LS connections).

For those looking for a Taurus fan to no avail, there are other options. The fan I have is in between a Taurus and Mark VIII fan from a late model Thunderbird. It has the Mark VIII blades but uses a motor more similar to the Taurus, which is a bonus since the Mark VIII has been known to draw the most amps. The Mark VIII blades are also quieter and the blades fit better inside the stock fan housing. The only thing I had to do was create an adapter plate since the bolt pattern for the motors are different than the LS.

So far, with a flex-a-lite 31165 VSC all has been well since upgrading my battery and a Big 3 upgrade. Still, a HO alternator is needed, but the system seems to work for now.

My only concern is with the temp probe as well. I haven't noticed any places on the head for the bolt-in style probes...However, I did notice that the plastic thermostat housings have fairly thick material and was wondering if the aluminum housing is just as thick since I put that on my car (I can't recall if it is). If so, it could be possible to drill and thread the housing to put a probe in it, but if it's too thin than cracking is a definite issue. Plus the material quality is a factor over the heating cycles.
 
What year Taurus? I had one of the early 2 speed ones on my twin turbo'd '83 Capri and it was just too much of a power hog.
 
Late 90s two speed fans are the ones used. Delta Controls offers a Taurus-specific fan controller that can manage the Taurus fans. Their strategy is to spin the fans only as fast as necessary (at least on their non-Taurus controllers) so the power used is the minimum needed AND they are slow start controllers so they don't slap the electrical system with a huge sudden draw. When using one on my Tahoe with a pair of Flexalite fans, I never even knew when the fans were running. The Tahoe would just go to the set temperature, then never move again until the engine was shut off and cooled down.

Incidentally, I don't have anything to do with their business, just a huge fan of their fan controllers. :D
 
Whats the issue

I've been on this thread previously asking about the retro swap I did. Got great help, now I'm running in to an issue and I don't know whats its from. My battery keeps dying out on me, I don't know what from. Every time I let the car sit for more than 10hrs, when I return the battery is completely dead. I bought a new alternator (220amp DB alternator) and bought a new Interstate battery. But the power still keeps dying out on me. I know when I turn the car off, but not open the door, the radio and other components in the car are supposed to work, but the radio keeps turning off and on, then just stops turning back on. I don't know if my cigarette lighter is supposed to stay on after I shut the car off and open the door, but it does, it stays on 24/7. Does anyone might know what the problem is, before I spend a ton load of money bringing it to Ford for repairs? Oh yeah this problem has been happening before I did the retro swap.
 
If the problem was there before the fan job, then it's unrelated. I would open a new thread on it. Sounds to me like you have a short somewhere though, and you would trace it by putting a clamp-on amp meter on the main wire, then start pulling fuses until the power drain goes away. There are some circuits that will always be live so there will be some small current drain, but to kill the battery in 10 hours there has to be some fair amount of drain on one of the circuits. Once you isolate the correct circuit, it requires that you trace the entire path to find the short. Good luck, this sort of problem is one of the hardest to find.
 
Hows that DB Electrical alternator working for you. Nobody has been able to get those to work right. When you rev your engine do the headlights get very bright for a split second? The PCM controls the charging system so it wont let high output alternators work right. Maybe thats your issue
 
Telco said:
If the problem was there before the fan job, then it's unrelated. I would open a new thread on it. Sounds to me like you have a short somewhere though, and you would trace it by putting a clamp-on amp meter on the main wire, then start pulling fuses until the power drain goes away. There are some circuits that will always be live so there will be some small current drain, but to kill the battery in 10 hours there has to be some fair amount of drain on one of the circuits. Once you isolate the correct circuit, it requires that you trace the entire path to find the short. Good luck, this sort of problem is one of the hardest to find.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will be sure to try this out, when you say main wire, what is the main wire? The positive power wire that connects to the battery in the trunk?
 
hite337 said:
Hows that DB Electrical alternator working for you. Nobody has been able to get those to work right. When you rev your engine do the headlights get very bright for a split second? The PCM controls the charging system so it wont let high output alternators work right. Maybe thats your issue
Click to expand...

Now that you say this, it does do that. I just thought it was supposed to do that. So I'm guessing that was a waste of $280. If I remember correct, that's the black wire on the fan that controls the signal of the fan which tells the fan when to start. If so then, I had this problem before I did the retro fitting or the alternator and battery change
 
Well I've done the retro swap and I'm not liking the results, I'm pretty sure I had to do something wrong, cause I don't see any complains here. My car keeps over heating time from time, I hear a clicking noise from my fuse box (relay #5), wires keeps burning out, therefore having the fan stop working, changed alternator 3times do to the charging system, also it's LOUD! Can't be in stealth, so I'm going back to the hydro fan
 
Which fan did you use? (I'm assuming a Gen 2 LS fan)
How are you controlling it?
How is it wired?

The way I set it up there's very low risk of blowing fuses. The main power feed to the fan must *NOT* go through an existing fuse. None of them are large enough. The main power feed must *NOT* go through a relay. It is always hot.
Yes, it's loud at full speed. It should never run at full speed if it has a correct control system.
As I discovered, it's not easy to build the control system. If anyone is looking to do this, feel free to contact me and we can discuss building a control board.
 
just to give everyone an update. the flex a lite is running very well. after all the other sub part fans i've used in this car i absolutely love this flex a lite
 
oddball said:
Which fan did you use? (I'm assuming a Gen 2 LS fan)
How are you controlling it?
How is it wired?

The way I set it up there's very low risk of blowing fuses. The main power feed to the fan must *NOT* go through an existing fuse. None of them are large enough. The main power feed must *NOT* go through a relay. It is always hot.
Yes, it's loud at full speed. It should never run at full speed if it has a correct control system.
As I discovered, it's not easy to build the control system. If anyone is looking to do this, feel free to contact me and we can discuss building a control board.
Click to expand...

Yes I'm using the Gen 2 fan. I'm really not controlling it, the control wire that controls the speed of the fan is really just floating free, therefore having the fan a full speed. The way I have it set up is much different than the way you have yours set up. I have, well I HAD a 80amp fuse holder in between the wires of the main power wire, but that melted out so I just spliced the wires together. I have one power wire running to the starter, then i have another power wire connected to a fuse in the fuse box ( I have two power wires running from the one wire from the fan). Then I have the ground wire running to the starter as well. Does the trick, nor has any fuses blown, only thing is the power wires keeps burning out, maybe because I'm use 8gauge wires and not the 6gauge you recommended. If you could help me on building one of those boards, I'll take the time out and start from scratch and do it as you say. I would greatly appreciate it .
 
dudeitsahonda said:
just to give everyone an update. the flex a lite is running very well. after all the other sub part fans i've used in this car i absolutely love this flex a lite
Click to expand...

I appreciate the update, but I want it to look original as much as possible
 
Good buy!!

I want to let EVERYONE know, I bought the converter kit from Oddball, and it works GREAT!!!! A lot of load taken off from my alternator. I HIGHLY recommend buying this board, its well worth it!
 
Great! :Beer

Any hints, tips or info I can update?
I gotta get back to the PCB design so the next one doesn't take an hour hunched over the soldering iron!
 
I have a 2002 Ford Thunderbird, and I am trying to replace its hydraulic fan with your solution. My question is where did you get the Gen I PWM signal?
 
That would be on the wire that was going to the solenoid on the hydraulic fan motor.
 
The solenoid for the hydraulic pump has two wires - 12V in Run, and the switched ground for PWM. They are used as inputs on the left side of the circuit diagram.
 
oddball said:
The solenoid for the hydraulic pump has two wires - 12V in Run, and the switched ground for PWM. They are used as inputs on the left side of the circuit diagram.
Click to expand...
Thanks, joegr and oddball. I'll use the wires to the solenoid as the inputs to the circuit! I'll post my results in a few days.
 
Be mindful of the calibration of the pot. That's best done without a scope. If you don't have one, then use the steps in my companion 'instructions' thread to get pretty close.
 
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