Ford Taurus Two Speed E-Fan Install (pics)

[EMTimZJ]

So here is the Ford Taurus Two-Speed E-fan Install. Here is the write up that I got some info from: http://www.jeephorizons.com/tech/fan/ I went to my local yard and found about 5-6 not even looking too hard. All the 3.8L Fords from 90-95 seem to have them, Sables, Lincolns, Taurus’ you get the idea. Easy to pull, two bolts and clip the wires.

I cleaned up the fan and got a hold of some relays and wiring. I searched around and consistently many recommended a simple 30amp relay for LOW and a higher amp relay for HIGH. 10 gauge wiring for LOW, 8 gauge wiring for HIGH. I used just a standard 30amp relay for the low and a Ford Starter relay for high. The Ford Starter relay is plenty beefy to handle the initial draw that the high speed takes. It is also cheap too, about $11 from Napa. Here is the Napa P/N: ST404SB Oh and the hardware store I went to was ALL out of 8 gauge wire, ( don’t ask me how they let that happen ) so I bought 6 gauge. Sure it is overkill, but it is wired up and working so that is the way I am going to leave it.

I took an old battery that still had charge down to the basement to figure out wiring. No sense in messing around in the cold garage. Once I figured everything out it was pretty simple.

Here is a picture of the heavy duty starter relay wired up.


This relay is self-grounding. What that means is that when it is installed in its factory location, the metal bracket provided the ground. Since I was not mounting it in its factory location, let alone a Ford vehicle, I drilled a small hole in the metal bracket and threw a bolt on there with a circle crimp on connector, it is the green wire you see. The white wire connects to terminal “S” , this is the power lead from the switch I am using to control the fan. The bottom red cable goes to terminal “B” , which is wired to the positive terminal on the battery. The top red cable goes to terminal “M” which goes to the high wire on the fan.

Here is a picture of the relays wired up and their locations.



The smaller black box is the standard 4 pin 30amp relay for low. The white wires that go into the black wire loom and run along the firewall are to the switch mounted in the cab. Yellow wires are for the low speed, to and from the fan.

[EMTimZJ]

Here is a picture of where I pulled the wires to the switch through the fire wall. The round black object you see is the brake booster on the drivers side of the engine bay.


Close up: you can see the coat hanger I used to poke through from the inside. Hook your wires to it and fish them back through.



I temporarily removed the washer fluid reservoir while I fished the wires through. It removes by unscrewing the two 3/8 bolts on either side, piece of cake.



Careful, the cap is not water tight!

Wires come through on the other side…

[EMTimZJ]

This is looking up underneath the steering column. I tapped into the blue wire with a gray tracer for the power to the switch. This allows me to leave the switch for the fan in the low position (or high for that metter, but low moves plenty of CFM) all the time without worrying to turn it on or off when I run and exit the Jeep. The fan will only run when the key is in the “Run” position.



Closer picture of the wire and how it is tapped.



This is a diagram of the wire I tapped into. It is the yellow highlighted wire. I know this picture is a little fuzzy, but it is page 12-24 in your Haynes manual



I got a ON-OFF-ON switch for the fan speeds. Up is High, middle is Off, Down is Low. Easy as pie. Here is the picture of the wiring tucked up in there, switch mounted, and ready to put back the metal and plastic pieces. The silver switch in the top right is the fan switch. I know there is a ton of excess wiring, but I seem to always end up moving something so I just bundled it up nicely and tucked it away. The metal shroud thing in the picture has 6 screws holding it up.



The last interior colored piece put back up, only 4 screws.

[EMTimZJ]

The black plastic shroud on the bottom of the steering column comes off with three T-20 torx (that is the size) bolts. You will need to use an actual torx screw driver as opposed to one with interchangeable bits since the two bolts on the sides are recessed about 2 inches.

What you need is on the right.



This is how I mounted the fan. I used some steel striping I had around (same thing I used for my CB mount and battery tie-down). Put a small bend in it, drilled the holes in the strips and the fan shroud itself, and mounted it to the factory fan shroud mount.

This is looking straight down. The wires you see on the left are the fan connections. Red is high, one yellow is ground, the other is low.



Another angle…



If you are lucky, you can find a fan in the junkyard with the correct belt-routing sticker for the Jeep already on there. I was obviously one lucky dog. (c’mon Woody, this was a joke! Stop looking! )

Note that the fan is mounted upside down. (not that it really matters for fan performance!) This is done to clear the power steering box on the bottom drivers side of the radiator. The center of the E-fan is off-set a few inches from the center of the shroud.

Hope you enjoyed this!

[EMTimZJ]

One last picture of the cab. You can see the switch just to the top left of the CB.

[BlaineWasHere]

Tim thats SWEET! Now just don't forget and leave the fan off...

[Woody]

I want to do that now. Darn you Tim, now I have to go to the junkyards again. Anybody need a fan clutch, I've got a new one sitting in the garage never installed.

[scubatch2]

Thanks for the write up,I was planning on doing this in the next few months

[greasefingers]

Nice write up Tim. Thanks for taking the extra time so that others can learn learn.

That relay is a monster and looks like the old Ford starter motor relays. Of course your 6 gage wire is even more humungus (remember Lord Humungus from the Mad Max2 The Road Warrior ?)

Looks like removing the serpentine belt will be much easier without the old fan in the way!

[ZJenvy]

What are your before and after impressions?

Did you use a temperature switch at all?

[Varkyl]

Originally Posted by Airmanwoody

I want to do that now. Darn you Tim, now I have to go to the junkyards again. Anybody need a fan clutch, I've got a new one sitting in the garage never installed.

If it will work on the 4.0L, I will take it.

[Phil Gerard]

Tim,
Beautiful job!
Great write up! Ilya has been talking about doing it - wait till he sees your post.
I want to do it too! Maybe if I help Ilya - he'll help me. Jason and I are gonna swap out my radiator soon - would be a good time!

Phil

[RyanZJ]

The 5.9L uses an electic fan instead of mechanical, correct? Did you notice any power increase with the E-fan? Besides the potential power increase and ability to turn the fan on/off/high/low are there any other benefits?

Great write-up. You've been a busy guy!

[EMTimZJ]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Blaine, since the lead to the switch is tapped into the blue wire, the fan can / will only operate when the key is in the "Run" position, regardless of switch position. When the switch is off, it will not run at all. I had it wired up manually (I just had the wires going through the hood and the driver door) for a little bit just so I could driver her around, had to take another trip to Napa. Just from that I decided I would probably forget to turn it on or off right away so I spent the extra 20 minutes to wire it this way, I think it was the better choice. Now I don't have to worry about it.

Woody, they are about $18 a fan here, a $1 to get in the yard, maybe $25 of wire, relays connectors, and switches.

Grease, yup that is the Ford Starter Motor relay, plenty of beef to take on the initial draw, I've run it on high to make sure it works, but it works perfect on low... but it is still winter here

ZJ, I did not use a temp switch, but you can easily. Ilya gave me a sweet diagram of wiring a fan with an adjustable temperature switch, but that just wasn't in the cards for now. As far as before and after, well I have only driven for maybe 60 miles and it was around 38* out, most of it was on the highway. The real test will be slow crawling over the rocks in MOAB this summer. Just on low speed and testing it in the garage, it cools it off very quickly.

Phil, swaping out your radiator will be a perfect time to do this! I talked with Ilya through PM's and he have me some info on wiring it with a temp switch and such.

Ryan, yep, the 5.9's use an e-fan as well. As far as power increase, that would be tough to say. I just did a full tune up, I fixed the leaking plenum gasket (which lowers performance) , and I hadn't driven anything larger than a 4.0 XJ for two weeks. Sure she seemed to be more perky and responsive than normal, but I can't honestly tell you that was from the fan. Another benifit is that the fan had great cooling ability at slow speeds. Think wheeling here; your creeping over obsticals all day, sometimes giving some good pedal and letting off as soon as you make it over/through. The mechanical clutch fan operates off the belt speed. When going slow you are not moving that fan very fast nor moving much air through the radiator. True you can rev the engine to get the fan speed up and cool down a little, the e-fan just does it easier and constant... and you can turn it off if you want for water or anyother reason. Even with my crappy stock alternator, low does not suck it too much. High on the other hand gives it a hard time at idle.

HTH

[zaq123]

Nice job dude. Now I just need to do mine. I would think about that thermostat though. Cheaper than upgrade your Alternator. I PM'd you details