electric fan on radiator - any tips?

I'm looking to put an electric fan on the radiator and eliminate the engine mounted fan. Any brands to stay away from or any brands that are highly recommended?? Any other tips on thermoswitches or other accessories?

It's going on a 3 row radiator on a later model (69-71) cj grille

 

I hear only good things about Taurus fans when they will fit.
I picked up one for my Cougar, but that project never materialized.

 

There's lots of info out there about this.

A Contour fan is also very popular, because it's the right shape for a Jeep radiator.

IIRC the main issue is that they draw lots of amps, so you generally need an alternator upgrade to accommodate them. The relays need to be spec'd for about 30 amps. IIRC a Pirate article recommends golf cart relays - not cheap.

You might be better off getting all the stuff in a package from Hayden or similar. Maybe read this from REDONE - one of the moderators on FSJ Network. He bought a complete package, and is happy with it. http://fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3151

 

Whatever you go with do NOT mount through the core. Build brackets and mount solidly to the radiator mounts, grill, etc.
the wrecking yard units are a great source. I've used Flex-a-lite in the past with good results.


Sent from my iPhone

 

X2, I totally forgot that. Mounting through it would end badly.

 

Thanks all.

I took a look at a Taurus SHO fan, and it looked perfect until I read the depth of the unit. It is 5.25 inches and I've got only 4 inches between the rad and the water pump. I could get away with the 5.25 inches as long as it was offset from center so the water pump would not get in the way. Perhaps two smaller fans.....

 

Hmmm, I don't think it will trim either. Looking at my fan real quick, it looks like about 1/2 an inch could be trimmed out, but I'm not sure about more.

There are plenty of options though, if you search around, I'm sure there's something that will work.

 

I picked up a fan from the Mercury version of the Contour for my 74. Haven't done the conversion yet. It has two offset side by side fans not a big single fan. If you're interested I can shoot some pics and measurements on here.

 

I'd be interested in seeing some pictures and measurements..

thanks for your offer

kamel

 

I wish I could remember what the make of mine is, but it's pretty low profile. Mine is set up as a pusher (can be reversed to be either a pusher or puller) and it's between the radiator and grille. On a stock grille you have a ton of room there, but my radiator is moved forward a lot and is actually mounted on top of the front crossmember. It's got an aluminum radiator that is actually even a bit shorter than stock so I had all kinds of fitment issues. I had to do this to make the SBC fit. I got the fan from Summit Racing Equipment years ago and have had zero issues with it. I'll see if I can dig up a pic of what it looks like. Do a search on Summit's website, they have tons of options. I got universal aluminum mounting brackets for it from Speedway.

 

i used one from a chevy car. i cannot remember what it was off from and all i did was offset it to the passenger side so it fit right between the alt and the water pump pulley. works awesome. i will build some brackets someday but as of the last 7 or so years it has been attached through the cores.

 

if you want pictures i can get some tomorrow.

 

If you go the universal fan route, check brackets on fan, some have plastic clips that slide it and I do not like this. You just have to change mounting. I wish mine had fixed mounts I do not like the mounts that slide on.

But when you are paying for it might as well get the easiest fan to mount.

 

I did the Contour fan install. It does fit perfectly. My alterrnator is 78 amp and I do use 30 amp relay. It works great almost all the time. When I'm on the freeway at 60+MPH the engine gets a little bit hot. But on trails and around town it's really nice. This is on a 360.

 

Here's some pics and dimensions of the fan out of the Mercury Mystique, sister to the Contour.





As you can see it's roughly 24" x 16" and has four mounting tabs. The overall thickness is about 3-1/4". Two of the tabs are made for bolts and the other two are slide in wedge style. I figured I'd drill holes in the slide in style clips for mounting with bolts.

 

I just installed a contour fan using a volvo fan controller and bmw 2 stage temp switch



With the volvo controller I was able to wire it so I had both fans run on low at 195* and both run on high at 210*. Doesn't get any easier then that.



Removed the unnecessary factory wiring and cleaned it up a bit.



I mounted the fan by drilling some holes in a piece of aluminum then attaching the shroud to the radiator using rivets.

 

now that almost looks stock. nice fit

 

What is the application on those 2 parts?

 

Disregard the relay on the left I didn't feel the need to use it.
The sending unit to the far right has three wires, one wire goes to ground, the other 2 connect to the blue and black w/white tr on the fan controller (middle). One is high speed one is low speed.
Fan controller, the red and green wire connects to the fan, the single red wire goes to a circuit breaker then to battery power.
The sweet thing is the controller does all the work and kicks in the fans slowly. Hope this helps.

 

What year/type vehicles did you pull it from?


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Norm