Electric Fan Wiring

Post by **BuudWeizErr** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

One of my friends gave me an electric fan that came with this car that he has in his garage (which is super rare, for another thread). It has 2 wires, +12 and negative. I already have negative grounded out to the chassis, where would be a good place to hook up the +12? I don't want to have it running all the time (obviously) and I don't really want to rig it up somewhere in the fusebox. Any recommendations?

Post by **Doraemon** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

Nobody knows?

EDIT: oops, this is BuudWeizErr

Post by **Doogz** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

I'm not really sure where you would run it if you wanted it to work according to engine temperature. Personally, im just gonna wire mine into the ignition so it will be on all the time. No matter what you wire it into, you'll need to run a relay because that fan will probably draw too much current to be wired up without one.

Post by **96_S14_SE** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

If the sohc ac fan came on with ac and overheat, and if your car was equipped with ac, I would just tap it into that fans circuit. Itll stay off till the engine reaches 200° iirc, this is on the dohc but should be the same for the sohc I would imagine.

IIRC the sohc came with a 2 wire fan vs the 4 wire of later years.

Post by **Cyberkreig** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

mine was set to run all the time. it made the car run on for 1-2 seconds after your turned the key off.. weird. I couldnt find a sutiable place either, so my Master Mechanic friend!! =) !! Is gonna do it for me, I'll trace the wires when i get it back.

Post by **BuudWeizErr** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

My car was a single cam. I don't care if it runs all the time as long as the car is running, I just don't want to hardwire it to the battery and have it running 24/7, whether the car is on or not. Don't laugh; I know someone (albeit, an idiot) whose car does that :rolleyes).

Post by **Doogz** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

Take the fan wires and ground the black and put the red wire on one side of the switching part of the relay and the other part to the battery. Then run the other part of the relay to the ignition. When the ignition comes on it'll close the relay and allow the 12V direct from the battery to go to the fan and when the ignition is turned off the relay will open again and no more fan. Sorry for the less than technical terms on the relay poles.

Post by **MainEvent212** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

cant u just tap the thermostat for the power?

Post by **Touring240** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

bump.interested in this too

you have a nice friend budweizzer!! I my friend has a 12" slimline that he is looking to sell and it has power and ground as well.

Another way to do it just run a switch of the battery and remember to turn the fan on everytime you start the car.The ignition wire sounds a lot better however!

Post by **BuudWeizErr** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

main, it doesn't have a thermostat

doogz, what relay are you talking about? Is that something I have to go buy, radio shack style or something?

Website · Post by **TheDrumAndTheBass** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

Granted I have relocated my battery to the trunk, but here's how I wired my fan up.1. Grounded directly to the frame.2. Ran power directly to the battery VIA a switck located within reach of the driver.Now I just keep watch of my temp gauge, and when I feel it needs it (usually only when I'm sitting in traffic) I flip the switch and everything works A-OK. Just remember to turn it off when/before you shut the car off. Depending on some variables this can drain your battery quite fast if the fan is left on. Mine got sucked dry in the time it took me to pump gas. But other then that I've never had any probs.Ryan

Post by **Doogz** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

Yes you will have to go to radioshack or somewhere similar to buy one. It'll be a little square black looking thing with 5 male spade ends coming out the bottom of it. You probably won't use the middle connection, here's how to wire the rest. 1) Take the black wire off your fan and ground it somewhere.2) Take the red wire off the fan and run it into the front connector of the relay (should be labeled 87)3) Then the connector opposite the one you just attached should run to the positive battery connection4) The 2 connections on the side of the relay should be spliced into an ignition wire somewhere

This way whenever power goes through the relay via the ignition, the switch inside will connect the battery directly to the fan and then when the ignition turns off the switch goes back to using the middle terminal (which you did not connect) so everything is off.

Post by **Nismo1182** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

I have my 2 12" fans wires to the blue wire on the fuse box by the drivers side headlight. The wire becomes "hot" when the ignition is turned on. I also have an override switch on the negative end for when i want the fans off but the ignition on. Like if im working on the car or something.

Post by **BuudWeizErr** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

I went to radio shack and got an ignition relay. It has 4 pins. 12v in, 12v out, 12v switched and ground. So, I ran fan ground to the relay, which then goes out to the frame. 12v in came off the batter, 12v out goes to the fan and i have ignition coming off of the fuel pump fuse. Temporary fix, i know, but I'll look at my schematics tomorrow to find a better place for it.

But it's finally working, so I'm happy, and I have some organizing to do also.

Post by **Structure240sx** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

i have the same problem right now. i called enjuku and they told me to put it in the fuse box but it kept blowing the fuses. so now i have it goin right to the battery and have to unhook it every time i turn off the car. i see what ur saying about the relays but then there would be wires all over the place. is there anyway that i could tap it into the ac fan harness? this is on a 95 with the ac fan removed, dual 12" FLEX-A-LITE

Post by **Touring240** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

that is a lot of wires!

I have A/C as well in my 91. any one know when wire to tap ? I've heard of people doing that so that when the car gets a certain temp the ac fan turns on

Post by **Structure240sx** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

i dont think it can be done. i tried to stick the power wire into the A/C harness and the engine stumbled and almost shut off. the fans just draw too much current so u have to wire in a switch like i did or get a temp sensor i guess

Post by **WAbernethy** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

Do it right and buy an electric thermostat from your friendly auto parts place. Hook the positive side to a switched power source and use the thermostat to control the ground. Now the fan only comes on when 1. the car is on and 2. it's hot enough to need it.

Post by **Demonic240** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

WAbernethy wrote:Do it right and buy an electric thermostat from your friendly auto parts place. Hook the positive side to a switched power source and use the thermostat to control the ground. Now the fan only comes on when 1. the car is on and 2. it's hot enough to need it.

Exactly what I was thinking ....

Post by **stretch240sx** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

WAbernethy wrote:Do it right and buy an electric thermostat from your friendly auto parts place. Hook the positive side to a switched power source and use the thermostat to control the ground. Now the fan only comes on when 1. the car is on and 2. it's hot enough to need it.

why run to a swichted power source... the thermostat senor will only take engine temp right? or at least engine bay temp right?

so if you just run it to anypower soourcethe fan will only come on when the thermo reaches what ever its set at and im pretty sure air temp will never get high enough...

PS touring why did you have to jack my avitar???

Website · Post by **TheDrumAndTheBass** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

stretch240sx wrote:
PS touring why did you have to jack my avitar???

HAHA my avatar will rule supreme eternally. But serisouly, what's wrong with running a switch? Seemed to work fine on my old car. Just have to keep watch on the temp gauge, which you should be doing anyway. Like I said above. I just ran a switch from the battery, to the fan. And it doesn't shock me or anything when I touch it. And I made sure the wire I used was plenty big enough (10 gauge) Who knows, maybe my choice was just the slacker way out, but hey, it's worked great so far.Ryan

Post by **stretch240sx** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

im sure it works fine. but the extra work in the instal will take the extra work out of running it on a daily bassis

Post by **WAbernethy** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

stretch240sx wrote:why run to a swichted power source... the thermostat senor will only take engine temp right? or at least engine bay temp right?

so if you just run it to anypower soourcethe fan will only come on when the thermo reaches what ever its set at and im pretty sure air temp will never get high enough...

PS touring why did you have to jack my avitar???

I found that mine would run off and on for an hour or more even after the car was shut off. I am running two fans and those bastards use a lot of juice! I imagine that on a hot day they could potentially suck my battery dry.

Post by **stretch240sx** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

ok good point....

Post by **EastCoast240** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

WAbernethy wrote:I found that mine would run off and on for an hour or more even after the car was shut off. I am running two fans and those bastards use a lot of juice! I imagine that on a hot day they could potentially suck my battery dry.

Any car that comes factory with an electric fan will have it's fan cut in when the car is off if the temperature is high enough. The thermostat measures coolant temperature and not engine bay temps. Ideal setup. When you shut your car off after a good run you'll want the fans to cut in to cool the hot engine rather than letting it sit at high temperatures.

Post by **Demonic240** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

stretch240sx wrote:why run to a swichted power source... the thermostat senor will only take engine temp right? or at least engine bay temp right?

so if you just run it to anypower soourcethe fan will only come on when the thermo reaches what ever its set at and im pretty sure air temp will never get high enough...

PS touring why did you have to jack my avitar???

The thermo switch I use is a "t" connection into a coolant line, reading the temperature of the coolant ... I user to have a Merkur XR4Ti and that thing would always boil over, do to small radiator and resivoir ... adding dual electrics and th thermo swith helped big time, because the fans coming on when parked helped alot, let the engine cool before the next run .... Florida Summers do not help

Post by **WAbernethy** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

EastCoast240 wrote:Any car that comes factory with an electric fan will have it's fan cut in when the car is off if the temperature is high enough. The thermostat measures coolant temperature and not engine bay temps. Ideal setup. When you shut your car off after a good run you'll want the fans to cut in to cool the hot engine rather than letting it sit at high temperatures.

Yeah, but my car didn't come with factory electric fans. The ol' mechanical fan didn't run after the car was shut off. I see your point but unless I could put in a timer or something, I like it the way it is. If I've been beating on it, I'll usually let it run for a couple of minutes at idle before shutting it off. Good habit to be in anyway since the turbo is going in soon and I won't have a timer, at least right away.

Post by **Queamore** » Sat May 24, 2003 12:12 pm

Ok well the right way would be to go on jegs and buy the 50 or so doller kit that includes a relay wireing and thermostat switch that you plug into the side of the block which will turn the fan on and off buy itself without harming your electrical system. Another safe way to do it is to wire it to your battery and put a big on/off switch in the middle. You want it to your battery because the fan puts out feed back and will mess up your electrical system like a power surge but the battery can handle it. thats how I did it. and you see were I put the switch.

http://www.imagestation.com/pi...7.jpg

and the red wire that goes to the battery goes back to the switchhttp://www.imagestation.com/pi...0.jpg

Electric Fan Wiring

Electric Fan Wiring

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