[CB3]

A year or two ago, I installed a Flex-a-lite Wrangler X-Treme electric engine cooling fan in my LJ. This one Jeep/AMC Electric Fans

I have liked it a lot because my engine warms up much faster in Winter, and gets better gas mileage in Winter. It also has those same benefits in Fall and Spring, though to a lesser extent. The fan never comes on in Winter, and only seldom comes on in Fall and Spring. It's usually only needed for Summer. I like it.

However, it has had a few problems/bugs. Main one is the it dims my lights when it comes on, which tells me it pulls to much electricity.

The fan is supposed to pull 36A at startup, and 18A when running. That's a lot of amps IMO, but my fan might have even been pulling more amps due to a bad wiring job from a local 4x4 shop.

Unlimited04 suggested a year ago or so that I install a capacitor (like the capacitors installed in car trunks for aftermarket BIG car stereos) to cover my fan's startup load. That seemed like a great idea, except for one thing: a capacitor can explode if it gets wet. What's the chances of it getting wet when installed under a Wrangler hood? So I never installed a capacitor.

Recently my fan wiring burned out. MudB8 told me that was caused by a bad wiring job.

MudB8 is going to rewire it good, which will reduce the amp load somewhat. However, he also suggested another great idea that we can also do. He told me that Flex-a-lite now offers an upgraded fan controller that is variable speed.

I called Flex-a-lite a few minutes ago. They told me they've been offering the multi-speed controller for 10 years, but it doesn't come with the Wrangler X-Treme fan I have, but I can buy the multi-speed controller for $97 from SummitRacing.com and have the multi-speed controller installed for my fan. Variable Speed Controller Part Number 31165

The multi-speed controller has a temp adjustment dial. I would set the dial for whatever temp I want (215F). Fan comes on at 60% speed when radiator reaches my temp setting. If radiator temp gets hotter, the fan runs faster.

This sounds great to me because I think it'd give me a more steady/stable engine temperature (since it's variable speed, instead of all-or-nothing). Also, since it would come on at 60% speed/power, it theoretically should draw 40% less amps than my current on-off controller. Probably less than 40% since MudB8 will wire it better than before.

I'm not an electrical expert, but within the limits of my understanding, it sounds like an awesome setup that I think will give a more steady engine temp and less amp draw at fan startup.

[CB3]

P.S. - I think you can buy the Flex-A-Lite Wrangler X-Treme fan without its one-speed controller box; and buy its variable-speed controller box (better) sold separately.

I wish I'd known that 2 years ago. At that time, I didn't know. So I bought a whole Wrangler X-Treme kit, which came with the standard one-speed controller box. Now I have to buy the variable-speed controller box to replace my one speed box. i.e. - I'll have paid for two controller boxes because I didn't know this stuff back-in-the-day.