70olds455

I am going to be installing dual windstar fans into my 1970 cutlass supreme. I have a small single electric fan that is not adequate for my built 461 olds big block. After doing some research I decided to go with these rather than pay $300 or whatever new fans cost. These fans are from a 2000 ford windstar and from what I have read they flow 4000 cfm. I was able to buy them for $35 off ebay. Here is a picture of how it fits the stock radiator.

droptopron

That looks to be a good fit. Post pics once you get the whole thing set up.

garys 68

Good choice. My Windstar fans kept my engine cool all summer, we saw a record number of days over 100 degrees.
Btw, good job getting the pigtails with it.

droptopron

Do you hook these up to a thermostat switch or manual?

bccan

I just finished my Windstar (one gen earlier than these) dual fan install last night. I bought a new Tong Yang aftermarket piece as they were half price from our supplier. Shroud needs some trimming @ lower corners for trans lines & petcock, upper left for rad hose. Fit is very good.

I could not notice a difference in fan speed (cheap Asian knock off?) on the 2 speed fan so I hooked them up as the single speed (long body) fan for low & one leg of the 2 speed for high. I then ran a separate manual relay off a switch to the other terminal on 2 speed as a cool down fan with car shut off. I have decided to add a cyclical timer to it (just ordered) so I can flip the switch on, walk away & have fan run for 10-15 minutes then shut down, primarily so I can turn it on & walk away at a track rental & not worry about getting back to it. Timer can be set for adjusted on/off intervals.

I used a Delta Current Control unit www.dccontrol.com Be cautioned - this looks & is reputed to be a very good unit but this guy builds these when he has orders or feels like it & that is that. He is reputed to not answer or return calls or emails inquiring about ship times etc. You have to catch him by phone or email him w/ tech Q's & hope you get him. Obviously not the situation for everyone. I waited 5 weeks for my unit & made no inquiries.

I tested the manual leg last night & it works. Weather has been cool & rainy so no test yet on control unit.

70olds455

I will post up pictures of the installation. I have not bought the wiring and relays for it yet so I have not decided if I will run it off a thermostat or switch.

I saw in your build thread that you installed windstar fans. Did you wire them to run off a thermostat or a switch?

Post up some pictures of your installation if you can. I would like to see how you have done the wiring on it. Where did you buy the wiring kit for the fans?

bccan

Controller & some basic wiring in kit http://www.dccontrol.com/

I am using the 2sp2 - has 60 & 80 amp relays, soft start, adjustable low cut in, high starts 10* warmer.

Timer http://www.ebay.com/itm/221114336446...84.m1423.l2649

Manual relay is just a fiamme (Bosch style) 30 amp relay. I had it laying around.

I got wiring pigtails for fans from Ford dealer.

A few miscellaneous connectors & shrink tubing, etc.

Littlefuse "midi fuse" for battery connections w/ 50 amp pill (for now, don't know if it will need higher or not)

It's warm today, hopefully I'll get to test things tonight. My car runs very cool except on hot, humid days with limited airflow. Normally runs right on the 165* stat, in fact when temp is below 60-65 I actually have to put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator to get it up to temp. If temp gets below appx 45* I need a second piece (along w/ 180* stat). On a hot, humid day, stuck in traffic it can push 200* - that + cooling it @ track rental for very brief down times. We can practically hot lap all day long if you want & the car can take it. 15, 20, 25 runs if you want so it would be nice to park it w/ fan cycling when we watch other cars or eat lunch.

garys 68

I'm running the big fan off the ECU temp sensor.
On the second fan, it's triggered by the AC system trinary switch (comes on when AC pressure/temp is high), and an adjustable temp sensor.
http://www.haywireinc.com/index.cfm/...prod/prd51.htm

70olds455

I think I might go with this wiring kit. I assume I will need one relay per fan. This kit looks like it should have everything I need for the install.

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performan...10569/10002/-1

There is also a temp controlled wiring kit that they sell that costs more.

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performan...10570/10002/-1

I am wondering which kit I should get. I am looking for something simple and easy to install.

70olds455

I got the dual fan wiring kit today. I got the Jegs one which runs off the thermostat. I will wire it so the thermostat turns on one fan and have the other fan wired to a switch to turn on. The one thing I am not sure about is that this is a two speed fan so how does the second speed turn on?

Here is a picture of the old electric fan I am replacing and the dual fan wiring harness.

Redog

Should have a wiring diagram with the relay kit you bought.

I'm going to be doing a similar set-up but with the single 88-95 Ford Taurus fan. Flows 2200 CFM on low speed and 4400 CFM on high speed, $15 from the junkyard

How I was going to do the hook-up was buy a brand new sending unit from a BMW ($16) which triggers the fans based on 2 different temps. I want to say it's from a 86-88 BMW 318i, but don't quote me on that. There is a write up on here somewhere. That is a write-up I'm following, with the 94-97 Volvo Fan control relay.

The only problem I've read is that my stock 78 amp alternator won't be able to handle it, so I'll have to upgrade to at least a 140 amp

70olds455

After looking at the wiring diagram it looks like both fans turn on at the same time. If I wire it to a manual switch and the themostat switch does the manual switch turn on high speed? Here is a picture of the wiring diagram.

Redog

Does the thermoswitch have two setting on it?

It looks like both fans will be on no matter what the way that wiring is. If the kit says something like "On 185/195 and Off 160/185" or whatever the numbers are, I would think it's a dual switch

EDIT: Looked it up on JEGS website and it looks like the fans will come on at either 185 or 200, pending on which kit you bought. It's not a dual speed set-up.

You could buy the other sensor and have one come on at 185 and the other on at 200, but you'll have 2 ports in your manifold used up

70olds455

I don't know if the sensor has two settings. I bought the kit that turns the fans on at 185. I do have another port on the intake to add another sensor but I do not think I want to do it that way.

If you look at the wiring diagram it has it wired to the ignition switch, but I will be wiring it to a manual fan switch. So I am wondering will the manual fan switch just turn on the fans or will it turn the fans on the high speed. What I would like it to do is have the temperature sensor turn the fans on low speed and use the manual switch to turn them on high speed.

Redog

Here's a wiring diagram for that.

This is for the single Taurus fan with Volvo controler, not exactly what you have, but it could give you some insight

70olds455

I decided to wire this different than the Jegs wiring diagram. I am wiring it so one fan comes on by the thermostat and the other fan comes on with a manual fan switch in the car. I have already wired one fan to turn on with the manual fan switch. I tested this one fan and it blows a ton of air. It probably blow 5 times as much air as the single electric fan I had before. So it looks like even one fan running would be more than enough to keep a car cool.

Here are some pictures of my progress. The fans have to be mounted so the fan with the bigger motor is on the passenger side. The fans fit the radiator pretty good but I had to trim the tabs that stick out on the side. One tab did not need to be trimmed but I cut it off anyways so it looks better. Here are some pictures of fans installed and you can see the areas where I had to cut.

70olds455

Here are some more pictures of my progress. I have been trying to work on it whenever I have some free time. I have the relays and circuit breakers installed on the drivers side next to the radiator area. I have also installed 30 amp fuses for each fans for added safety. I still have some wiring to do and then I can test the second fan that is controlled by the thermostat.

garys 68

Nice fit, you're going to be happy with it.
I wired mine as individual fans, but you could wire them together as low and hi speed fans. The schematic below basically runs the fans in series for low speed and in parallel for hi. Looks like you've got a good write up, so thought I would add it here for anyone searching in the future.
CoolingFans04.jpg

70olds455

These fans are a big upgrade in cooling the engine. That old fan I had was not adequate in cooling my built Olds 461 BB. I have them wired as individual fans because even one fan running would be enough to cool the engine. The way I have it setup is so one fan is controlled by the thermostat to turn on at 185 degrees and the other fans can be turned on with a switch in the car.

I have most of the wiring held in place with zip ties so it is not loose. I have used black wire tubing where most of the wires run for a clean installation. Here is a picture of the fan thermostat in the intake.

70olds455

I need some help from the electrical experts here. The fan that is wired to the thermostat does not turn on. I have it wired like the JEGs wiring diagram shows with grey wire going to the temp sensor and the yellow to power/ignition.

The fan that runs off a manual switch works fine. For it I have the yellow wire going to the switch and the grey wire as a ground. Since that one works fine do I wire the fan that runs off the temp sensor the same way?

cfhcar

if you wired like the jeg wirring diagram. ground the grey wire at thermoswitch with the key on the fan shoud run. if it doesn't run something in wirring wrong. if it runs then problem with thermoswitch or coolant temp not hot enough to close switch.

garys 68

The diagram is pretty crappy with respect to the relay terminals. My guess is that's where your problem lies. Do you have a volt/ohm meter? If so, it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to diagnose the problem.

matt69olds

I don't have a whole lot of confidence in the Jegs thermostatic switch, and even less with the tech help at Jegs!

I installed an electric fan setup for a friends car, he ordered the Jegs fan switch. As soon as the key was turned on, the fan started. Unplug the temp switch, the fan shut off. Called Jegs several times, everyone told me it was the way it was wired. After having to get ugly with the tech people, I FINALLY was able to talk to someone who would listen to the problem, and the step taken to diagnosis the issue. I returned the Jegs setup ans used the painless kit, worked just fine.

70olds455

I will ground the grey wire and see what happens. Does it make a difference that the thermostat is installed on an aluminum intake rather than a regular intake?

The JEGs wiring diagram does not seem right to me. I have a volt/ohm meter but I have not really used one before. What do you suggest I do?

So you think the thermostat is the problem? Was yours wired the same way the as the JEGs wiring diagram I have posted?

matt69olds

I was using the single fan controller, as soon as the yellow wire was connected to the temp switch the fan started. The engine could have been stone-cold, it started as soon as it was connected and would never shut off. I'm assuming the switch was defective, or was a normally closed switch and I never let the engine get hot enough to open the internal contacts and shut down the fan. I didn't bother trying to figure out WHY it didn't work, just knew that it didn't work the way it was suppose to.

garys 68

First check that the fans work by hooking directly to a battery.
Second, make sure the wiring is correct. Sounds like you got the manual switch to work, so that shou,ld give you a guide to the temp switch controller.
Next, ground the wire going to the temp sensor. If the fans run, either the temp switch is bad or you used too much teflon tape sealer and it's not getting a good ground. The paste sealer is preferred.
After that, use your test light/voltmeter to find where the circuit is open.

70olds455

I grounded the grey wire going to the thermostat and the fan turned on. I could not find teflon paste sealer when I installed the thermostat so I used another paste sealer. I am wondering though if the thermostat is on a aluminum intake is it going to get a good ground? I am thinking that could be the problem.

garys 68

If you ground to the outter housing of the thermo switch and the fan doesn't turn on, you have an inadequate ground to the intake.
Otherwise, boil some water and check the thermo switch for conductance between the screw post and body.

Bender1972442

In that picture to the left (driver side fan) how deep/tall is it from the shroud to the top of the fan motor?

scottv442

this thread is 4 years old.

However, I did the same conversion back in 2006 to my 1970 cutlass. The top to bottom fit almost perfectly. I did have to trim about 1" from each side of the fans shroud to make it fit though.
I had them manually wired and switched separately so that I could use one fan for cooling between races at the track or both fans on at the same time if stuck in traffic on a hot day. Engine stayed nice and cool.

Bender1972442

Thank you for the info and trimming tips!