Gen 2 Cooling Fan Wiring Mod?

[DTBBACK]

Hello everyone!

This is my first post as a member. It is in tegard to what I believe is the only real issue with the LS, the cooling system.

I have an 06 with 124k and the only time its ever been in for service is when the cooling system needed parts. I can't for the life of me figure out why so many dang plastic parts are used on an engine that likes to operate at what would be considered high tempertures.

Anyway, now that my extended service warranty has expired, I am considering upgrades that I think may help the longevity of the plastic parts in the system.

Here we go. Has anyone considered putting in a wiring modification that would allow the electric cooling fans to stay powered after the ignition is shut off? While I don't know how this may affect batrery perform, I believe that allowing the fans to due there job when the egnjtion is off sounds like a great idea.

I look forward to your responses.

 

[joegr]

1. I really wouldn't worry so much about it. I'm in a very hot environment, and I have two LSes. I've had to replace all the cooling system plastics twice on one of them (2004, about 200K), and once on the other (2006, about 170K). I've had both since new. (Note that in my case, "all" includes the radiators.) You really won't have to do this that many times for the life of the car.

2. I really don't believe that letting the fan cool the engine after shutdown will make more than a weeks worth of difference in the life span of the plastics.

3. That fan has a pretty high operating current. I expect it would drain the battery pretty quickly, maybe in ten minutes or so.

4. To get it do what you want, you would need a time delay relay (delay on turning off) on the control power wire to the fan. That would make it run a failsafe speed when the key was off, till the delay expired. It would do this even when it wasn't useful (winter time, after running only a minute, ...)

It seems like the risk to reward ratio is not good for this, to me.

 

[TooManyToys]

Oh, it's not the only real issue ......

While that would be great to reduce the temperature of the coolant in the radiator, unless you are going to also keep the aux coolant pump running the same time it would not help the motor parts. Considering how sensitive the electronics in this vehicle are to low battery voltage on startup, you also better be thinking of motorhome tech of an aux battery with an isolator just for the cooling mod.

 

[rgorke]

So are there any mods that might help the car run cooler? Mine is an 04 V8 with 210k with both the radiator and degas bottle replaced.

I saw somewhere that a guy fabricated a stainless (or some other metal) degas bottle.

 

[joegr]

So are there any mods that might help the car run cooler? Mine is an 04 V8 with 210k with both the radiator and degas bottle replaced.

I saw somewhere that a guy fabricated a stainless (or some other metal) degas bottle.

If you want it to run cooler, then take the thermostat out. (I don't think you can get a lower temp one that fits the gen II). With a cooler running engine, you will get lower mileage, shorter engine life, lower power, and probably higher emissions.

 

[rgorke]

If you want it to run cooler, then take the thermostat out. (I don't think you can get a lower temp one that fits the gen II). With a cooler running engine, you will get lower mileage, shorter engine life, lower power, and probably higher emissions.

Well, I thought, generally, a cooling running engine was better. I suppose not....

 

[joegr]

Well, I thought, generally, a cooling running engine was better. I suppose not....

It is, but only if it was originally designed to run at that cooler temperature. The engine clearances are very tight, and all the dimensions are optimized to be best (least wear) at the operating temperature it was designed for.

(Also, a cooler temp will turn the check engine light on eventually.)