Ok guys, here goes. I'm trying to get electric fans , or a fan, on my s13 asap, my mechanical fan clutch is going out and I'm not about to spend the money to get another hp robbing mechanical fan clutch.
So, the questions I ask are: What kind of fan do I need, does it draw air in, or try to push air out?How big a fan? Thermostat or not? Is it loud all the time?Is there a way to wire it up so that it comes on when I turn the ignition on in the s13 or am I stuck with the switch?Do I leave the fan shroud on or off? And last but surely not least, where do I get one?
Thanks again.
A Question on E-Fans on s13
I installed dual electric fans from a '91 Stanza on my '88 200SX V6 over the summer. They've worked out very well. My radiator is a bit weak, and the two fans cover much more radiator area than the one original clutch fan, so the car runs much cooler in traffic.I paid $50 for the whole fan setup at a junkyard, about $20 for an adjustable thermo switch at Advance Auto, and the only other things I had to buy was a bunch of wire, various connectors, and plastic tubing to contain the wiring and make it look nice.I designed dual control circuits for the fans. See originally my S12 had the clutch fan and a secondary electric fan right in front of the clutch fan, but the switch for the electric fan gave out awhile back, so I had mounted a toggle switch on the dash to control it. I got used to controlling that fan and got to enjoy the little extra bit of control, so when I tore the old fans out and went with the dual electrics I wanted to keep the switch. The Stanza fans have three speeds, I did not use the lowest one. I designed the fan control circuits so that when either the thermo switch or the dash switch is on, the fans run at medium speed, if both switches are on, the fans run at high speed. Both control circuits are wired right into the battery. The circuit with the dash switch has a relay, and the switch is wired into an ignition switched circuit, so that circuit can't run with the engine off. The thermostatically switched circuit can. (Since all the wiring for that circuit is under the hood, and the thermo switch's amp rating is more than enough, a relay wasn't really necessary for that circuit.) So if the engine gets warm enough to kick in the thermo circuit (which it usually does around town, unless it's really cold out), the fans will run at medium speed for anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes after engine shutdown. This is a bonus, and many newer cars do this stock, because of the large spike in the radiator temperature that occurs after you shut the car off and the coolant stops circulating.Wow that was pretty long, I guess the point is you can get a good dual setup from a Nissan for less that a hundred bucks. The Stanza that the fans came off of used a KA24E, and the fans have proven to be plenty powerful enough and move enough air even for my VG30E.
rco8786 wrote:Just take the fan off...you already have an e-fan. I've had mine off for a few months now w/ no problems.
I don't already have an e-fan, the only e-fan I have is the one for the A/C condensor. And it's only on when the A/C is on. Some how I don't think it would be harmless for me to scrap my mech fan, and be stuck with no fan at all.
Biggs2004 wrote:thanks again, but where can I get one? JCWhitney blows when it comes to selection, and summit (Judging from the cataloge and I just looked through) only has FAL fans..... please let me know.
summit carries all kinds of different fans, permacool, FAL, MR Gasket, Be Cool, Derale, etc...
go to summit's e-catalog, go to cooling, go to electric fans (not direct fit)
If you can try to get something with a shroud, you can run your fans at a lower setting like this because if the shroud is on properly it will be pulling air from 100% of the radiator area. Fans without shrouds can only cover 60-70%
I used 95 altima fans since the radiator is almost the same size as the 240, you just need to trim 1/2" to 1" off of each side and devise a way to custom mount it. (i got it to fit in one of the bottom rad supports and the two top supports, very sturdy so far. Each fan has a lo and a high setting. the low setting seems perfect for hot summer weather, and is almost too much for the winter. The high setting....is rediculous.
I used 95 altima fans since the radiator is almost the same size as the 240, you just need to trim 1/2" to 1" off of each side and devise a way to custom mount it. (i got it to fit in one of the bottom rad supports and the two top supports, very sturdy so far. Each fan has a lo and a high setting. the low setting seems perfect for hot summer weather, and is almost too much for the winter. The high setting....is rediculous.
yeah..it's not about freeing up hp, it's just about cooling. it's just like upgrading yer radiator..u aren't going to get any hp out of that..just a greater sense of security. I'm getting e-fans when i do upgrade my radiator..when i turn up the boost or swap turbos to make big power, that's when i'll go for the process of switching radiators and fans so i don't get owned by the usdm ghetto lookin rad.
I no longer have any fan shroud on mine, it had one with the clutch fan but with the duals I couldn't put that one back on. But it cools much better now even without it. And with no fan shroud there's now so much more room in the front of the engine bay, all the pulleys and belts are a snap to work on now.
You guys are killin me, it's not too much directed toward, making hp or freeing it up very much either, it's about throttle response. The less things the engine has to turn the faster it's going to accelerate! PLUS my mech cluch is going out, so, it's more wise to replace crap with upgrades stuff, don't you agree?
S13240, if you would be so kind as to learn how to read. If you could read you would have noticed that I said, and I quote,
"It’s not TOO MUCH directed toward, making hp or freeing it up VERY MUCH either, it's about throttle response. The less things the engine has to turn the faster it's going to accelerate! PLUS my mech clutch is going out, so, it's more wise to replace crap with upgrades stuff, don't you agree?"
It's also about replacing faulty equipment with more efficient equipment.
"It’s not TOO MUCH directed toward, making hp or freeing it up VERY MUCH either, it's about throttle response. The less things the engine has to turn the faster it's going to accelerate! PLUS my mech clutch is going out, so, it's more wise to replace crap with upgrades stuff, don't you agree?"
It's also about replacing faulty equipment with more efficient equipment.