Electric fan

[LGSCHMIDTJR]

My electric isn't working. Is it supposed to come on when the AC is turned on? Last night I ran a pos wire from the motor to battery and another wire from the motor and grounded it and the fan came on, so I eliminated the fan motor. What else should I look for?

Thanks
Laurence

[SVOeric]

what year is your car (I assume 84 from your signature), there are some differences in the fan controler setups.

My bet is if the wiring is good going to the plug that handles all that (also has oil pressure, and oil level wires in this plug) , the fan controler itself is toasted. It is a white box under the dash, on the drivers side that has the letters TRW on it. (this may be different for 84-85 cars, I'm not sure)

Does your fan kick on when the car starts to warm up ?

[LGSCHMIDTJR]

Eric
The car is an 84.
I did a quick check on the wiring last night and didn't see anything wrong.
Last night I let the car idle for a while with the AC going and the fan never came on. The temp gauge got up to "a" in normal then I shut it down. This is when I checked out the fan motor.
Is the fan controller something I can get at a parts store or is it a dealer only item, and do you know about how much they cost?

Thanks again.

Laurence

[SVOeric]

oops... I meant to tell you that yes, the fan should kick on when the A/C is on.


I'm not sure if the controler is available from part stores or not.

the Ford part # is E7ZZ-8B658-B

Also, check the wiring around the plug also. a lot of times, it is toasted..

When I had problems with the fan controler system in my 86, I just picked up a fan controler from SVPU, I think it was about $39.00, and it takes care of everything, and it is adjustable.

the only place you might have a problem is the fan doesn't automatically kick on when the A/C is turned on, but I'm sure if we can figure out which wires kick that relay, we could wire that up as well.

[LGSCHMIDTJR]

Eric
Tonight I will check the wires going to the fan controller.
What should the temp gauge be reading when the fan comes on?
Like I said before the gauge was on "A" and it didn't come on.
Additionally I recently replaced the theromostat and radiator cap, and all of the hoses to make it a water cooled turbo car.

Laurence

[SVOeric]

I think the stock fan kicked on somewhere around the M.

But that depends on the gauge, they aren'y known for their accuracy...

[svono50]

Laurence,

Eric is right, your fan should come on with your compressor. Since you verified you fan works, your problem probably lies with the relay.

Your relay is the box just in front of the clutch pedal, it may be black and is about 2x3" in size. Look up under the dash and you shouldn't be able to miss it. There should be about 7 wires going to it in a flat connector with two heavy gauge wires, these are the power in and out for the fan.

My fan doesn't kick in until my temp gauge is past "L" in NORMAL, so if it hadn't kicked in at "A" that doesn't sound out of whack. I added a manual switch to kick in my fan whenever I want. With the fan running the temp gauge never goes above "O". I simply tapped into the EEC control wire for the relay and switch it to ground, which simulates what the EEC does. 10" of wire, a crimp on wire splice and a switch is all that is needed. HTH.

[LGSCHMIDTJR]

Eric & No50

I checked the contoller last night and the wires going to it looked fine. I am going to try and locate another fan controller and see if it works out. I may look into the one from SVPU.

Thanks
Laurence

[KevinK]

If you open up the controller box, you will find a single relay. The newer repplacement one have 2 relays. I was able to gently bend the relay arm back straight and it worked. As stated above, with the a/c or defrost turned on, the fan should always be on.

[LGSCHMIDTJR]

Fan Controller

Here is the update
I let the car idle and let the temp gauge reach the "a" in normal
then wiggled the female plug that goes into the fan motor and the fan came on. However the fan doesn't come on when the ac is on. Would this be the fan controller or is there something else I should look for?
The female plug with the clip that goes into the fan motor is broken. Is there a new female end out there with a good clip that I can purchase?

Thanks
Laurence

[SVOeric]

I'm not sure right off,

as Ted said, there are 2 relays, maybe one is for the A/C ??

You might check gt350's site, and see if you can find it in the wiring diagrams...

[svono50]

Laurence, If your fan is coming on by temp then there is something bad in the A/C side of the circuit.

Looking over the diagram of my EVTM for the 86 models there are two wires that may have issues. Coming out of the relay harness the solid black wire should be connected to chassis ground. If you disconnect the harness from the relay you can check to see if you have continuity between the wire and any chassis ground. If you don't have continuity then you have a broken ground wire. The other end of the signal is the black w/yellow hash wire. That wire traces back to the clutch cycling pressure switch on the evaporator canister on the firewall. Again, you can check for continuity on that wire's path at the relay and pressure switch connector ends.

If both of these wires test good, then you will need to look at the relay itself. As long as your A/C compressor clutch is cycling your cooling fan should be on and those two wires trigger the fan relay to turn on.

[AustinL]

Hey larry ,
Go buy the 185 fan wiring from jim whelon and be done with it.
It is less than 40 bucks and it will turn the fan on everytime at 185*.
Corey

[SVOeric]

I can't give a negative review of the piece that Jim carries, as I haven't used it, but when was looking for a adjustable fan controler, I talked to Jim, and the part he has comes with a sensor that pushes into the fins in the radiator.

I don't like that. I had one of these types in my 2.3 ranger, and it was never accurate.

Also, pushing something through the radiator can't be good, especially with vibrations, seems like a lot of miles may rub through.

The one I chose to go with was from SVPU, and was adjustable, has a sensor that goes into the coolant, and was less than $40.

[RodneyH]

Electric Fan

I believe if the A/C compressor isn't charged, a ground won't be supplied to the relay box, thus the fan won't run even if the A/C is turned on. The problem could be with the compressor sensor switch too.

I've toyed with the relay and added a circuit which keeps the fan running for 2 minutes after the car is shut off to help draw some of the heat off of the turbo and lower the under hood temp. Before this, I had stalling problems (TFI??) when I would start the car with a hot engine.

My $.02