travisnd

Getting ready to replace the OEM fans with one low-profile Spal or may just cut my shroud more to use one fan in the center of the radiator.

If I just use one OEM fan and jumper the plug for the 2nd removed fan will the single fan still operate as normal i.e. low speed and then go into high speed mode?

Is there any reason to spend the $70ish on a Spal vs. just using one of the stockers?

mphox

Single fan will run in high speed only, if you jumper 2nd fan plug. Advantages of aftermarket fan is no shroud so better flow/cooling at speed, light weight and more room in front of the engine to work. Stock fan and fan shroud 12lbs, aftermarket 16 inch fan about 4-6lbs. Cutting stock fan shroud and eliminating one fan may have similar advantages.

travisnd

Yeah I've already trimmed the shroud... I'd just cut the left side fan out and mount it in the center of the radiator... car is a track only race car.



Running high speed only is fine... but when would it turn on? At the normal low speed turn on temp?

sperkins

Jumper the pass side harness, wire the fan into the drivers side pigtail and remove the relay that's missing in this pic. Fan will come on at 226* and off at 212*.

sperkins

I'm not so sure that one of the small stock fans would do the job. My 16" curved vane Spal will literally suck small leaves off the ground. It takes 39 seconds for it to drop the temp at idle from 226 to 212 in the summer.
If I had it to do over again, I'd probably go smaller.

Jason

I recommend 3 stock fans.

travisnd

With lead fan blades

travisnd

Scott is that in high speed mode when it comes on? Also, is 226 on and 212 off the stock lower range temp settings? I can't remember off the top of my head, but in stock form don't the fans come on low speed at 226 and then high speed kicks in in the 230s somewhere? (EDIT - Just poked around and low speed fans come on at 228 and high speed in the upper 230s).

I know on my old Z06 I had a lower temp t-stat and then had the fans programmed to come on at lower temps. Not sure what my tuner did in this car... can't remember, but I do have a 160 degree t-stat in it.

Either way... if your method make the single fan work at high speed off of the first set of fan temps then that sounds perfect.

Thanks

Falcon

I was going to plug the Spal fan into the passsenger side stock fan harness. That one comes in at ~190*, is there some disadvantage to that? Is it necessary to do anything with the driver's side fan plug if it's been disconnected?

travisnd

Apparently you need to jumper it with a wire so it mimics being connected. If your progamming is stock both fans come on at 226ish then they go into high speed mode in the 230s.

If you turn on your AC system the fans come on at any temp other than some very cold reading.

If your car was tuned the tuner may well have set the low speed setting to come on in the 190s. The stock T-stat is like 192 (or maybe it's 194?) so some tuners will make the fans come on just after that. Usually for drag racers who want to keep the coolant down when in the pits to keep the car from pulling timing.

Thinking about it I guess it really shouldn't matter which OEM plug you wire it too so long as you jumber the other one and I guess pull the relay Scott posted.

travisnd

http://www.c5help.com/fan_operation.htm

The Fans run in series for low speed operation with half the voltage across each fan motor. Then in high speed they get switched to a parallel configuration with 12 volts across each fan. Here's a wiring diagram:



For low speed operation relay 45 is triggered putting the fans is series through relay 45's normal position. Then when high speed mode is needed both relay 43 and 45 are triggered. Relay 44 ground's the left fan and relay 43 provides the 12 volts for the right fan which already has a ground connection. Check the 3 fuses 14, 46 & 49 in the Engine Compartment fuse box as well as the 3 relays 43, 44 &45 and ground point G102 if you are having problems with the fan operation.

travisnd

Based on the above diagram and description, what's the point of pulling relay 43? If you jumper the passenger side (right side) fan plug shouldn't everything work normally with the remaining fan being run in series with the jumpered plug, then when high speed is commanded it'd get 12v and run faster?

I'm not very good with this EE stuff and only have a very basic understanding of what I'm looking at. Where's Tim

GOTHAM VETTE

Perfect timing on this thread, I pulled my fans last weekend and was planning on going with a Spal, as part of my winter projects.

Do you have a Part# and supplier for the fan your running? I have a S/C configuration so I'm going to need as big a unit as I can get.

Thanks
Matt

travisnd

If you have a blower you might want to look into the setup Dewitts sells with a custom shroud and two fancy Spals. Those of us in this thread are ditching the stock fans and just using radiator zip ties to hold a small unit to the radiator for cooling on our race cars in the pits.

Falcon

Hell! You could have posted that in Swahili or a Tibetan chant and it wouldn't have made any more sense than that diagram.

Keep in mind, I'm an accountant, so if it's not in debits and credits, it's pretty much over over my head.

travisnd

Credit a credit, debit a debit... except when it's a contra account... that's about as much as I've got and there's no guaranty that that's right either

Jason

Yall make stuff too complicated. Wire it to a switch. 5min. Done.

travisnd

It's one more thing to remember. I overheated the Panoz a few times until I put a huge sticker on the steering wheel that said "TURN THE FAN ON!". The OEM stuff is there so I'd like to figure out how to use it the best way possible.

Kubs

Thats what Im doing to mine. Plus I saved about 5 lbs worth of wiring and relays I no longer need. It will become a routine to turn it on when you get off the track Im sure.

travisnd

I would do that if I knew exactly how to remove the fan wiring harness etc. w/o messing up something else.