M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
FAQ / REFERENCE => How-To's => Topic started by: kowalski on March 10, 2006, 02:49:49 PM
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Materials:
• 14 inch fan
• (optional) adjustable temp switch, with its own thermostat
• a couple of crimp connectors the wire to wire ones (they look kind of like >===<)
• 7 feet of + wire
• 5 feet of – wire
• 2 crimp connectors for attaching to ground and power block
• 2 female crimp connectors to attach to temp switch
• a bag of zip ties
• if your using a used fan, get a fan mounting kit
• electrical tape
• Shrink Tube (optional)
• A couple feet of plastic tubing you put wires into to make it look tidy
• A fuse, and in line fuse connector. (should be provided in the fan kit)
Tools:
• 13 mm socket
• 10 mm open end wrench
• Good set of crimping pliers (you will regret it if you don’t use good crimpers), and good strippers, or you can use your teeth.
• Philips bit, and drill
• Flat screw driver for hose clamp.
• Pliers to pull out the tabs that hold in the radiator
• If your using shrink tube, a heat gun
• 7/64 allen key
• Cutters
• Sharpie
• Philips screw driver
Note:
• PM me if you have any questions about the instructions.
Procedure:
1. Remove air box (2 10 mm bolts, the hose clamp holding on the air boot, and the electrical connector.)
2. Pull out the pins that hold the fan shroud in.
3. Remove the 4 13mm bolts that hold the fan onto the fan clutch.
4. Remove the fan and the fan shroud together.
5. Place fan in desired location, and mark the 4 mounting points with a sharpie
6. Remove the 2 13mm retaining bolts that hold the radiator in.
7. Take your 7/64 Allen key, and VERY carefully bend the fins so that the plastic mounting screws are able to slide through the radiator. (you do this on the marks you made with the sharpie.) Make sure the allen key is able to slide all the way through the radiator, it is a good idea to have the radiator bent slightly forward so that you can see when the allen key has gone through the radiator. (a couple of fins will break, just don’t be aggressive and it wont leak after)
8. Go grab a beer, as you have just completed the most complicated step.
9. It is time to mount your fan, open your fan mounting kit, and pop the long plastic bolts through the holes your just made, and finger tighten the plastic washer type nut onto the other side. If it did not supply you with a washer type nut, you will want to have a plastic washer in between the radiator and the nut so you don’t cause a leak.
10. Take your cutters, and trim off the end of the plastic bolts, leaving at least an 1/8th of an inch.
11. Pat yourself on the back, your fan is mounted
12. If you are going to mount your temp control unit where I did, which I suggest you do. Then you are going to need to do this before you put your radiator back in place.
13. Take your mounting braket, and place it in the desired location. Mark the 2 spots with your sharpie.
14. Take the drill and drill the 2 screws into the dotted spots, and then take them out.
15. Mount your temp control unit onto the braket, and screw it in place with the screw driver
16. Put the radiator back in place, and put the 2 13mm retaining screws, and cap back on.
17. Remove the hose clamp on the upper left radiator hose.
18. Remove the upper radiator hose on the left, and drop your thermostat in.
19. Put the host back on, and tighten the hose clamp
20. coil up your extra line electrical tape it up, and zip tie it to the mounting braket for the temp control unit
21. Remove front grills, Kidney’s, and the headlight covers (the plastic covers in the engine bay that cover up the headlights) 2 philips scres on each grill, 3 metal tabs on the top of each grill. 2 metal tabs on top of the kindey’s and it should pull out.
22. Run your positive wire from your power block, (battery for you cabbie owners) and then run it down the passenger side, up to the headlight, feed it towards where the grills would be. There is wires running just below the metal ridge, feel around for it and use their retaining clips to hold the wire in place. Run it along and feed it through on driver side of the light assembly. attach a fuse here with an inline fuse connector. then Connect to + post on your temp control unit. You can use your plastic tidy tube to hide the wire.
23. Run your + wire from your fan down and zip tie it to a clip on your radiator, and make it run under the lower hose, and hide it as best you can. Bring it up and into the headlight assembly area and feed it up to your other post on the temp control unit.
24. Follow the + wire off the fan up into the headlight assembly area, and run it down the drivers side back to the hood mount. Undo the 10mm bolt there, and put a connector on, and put the bolt back in. use your black plastic tidy tube, and put the wire in it.
25. Tape up exposed connections, if you have shrink tube, then use that. Use a couple zip ties to make sure all the wires are secure.
26. Put headlight covers back on, grills and kidney’s back on.
27. If you lost any anti freeze, top it up
28. Start car, test your fan, and set the temp for when it comes on.
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Good writeup. I demand pics though.
Is the electric fan noisy at all, in comparison to the stocker? Did you see it possible to reinstall the shroud after? The shroud helps the fan work more efficiently on the radiator.
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Good writeup. I demand pics though.
Is the electric fan noisy at all, in comparison to the stocker? Did you see it possible to reinstall the shroud after? The shroud helps the fan work more efficiently on the radiator.
it has a built in shroud on the fan, but i supposed you could put the shroud on if you wanted too. the fan does more then enough tho... ill attach some pics for you guys here.
edit: again sorry, forgot i don't have any pics on this computer, they're all on my ipod...
http://spaces.msn.com/318isftw/Photos/PersonalSpace.aspx?owner=1 you can get a look at it on there to get the general idea.
edit again: as to the noise, you can hear the fan if your outside the car standing by the hood, you can't hear it in the cab tho, or if the windows are down. the cooling is awsome, i'v been running it for a few months now and i have yet to see a problem arise, also with the temp adjustment switch i can set the fan to come on whenever i want.
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this can be done much more effectively and tidily by doing it through the fusebox etc.
surprised you're not using a relay and are switching the +ve too... and why've you left the viscous coupling on the car?
hth
tim
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this can be done much more effectively and tidily by doing it through the fusebox etc.
surprised you're not using a relay and are switching the +ve too... and why've you left the viscous coupling on the car?
hth
tim
i havn't had time to take it off, or the motivation latley. school is stressful right now... i supposed you could use an inline relay for the switch but its not neccisary as the switch itself is a relay, and is built to handle the power. its fairly tidey, the only thing you can see this way is the little temp unit, other then that everything is hidden.
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the shroud is unessary because the electric fan will be a very short distance from the rad, as apposed to the stock one that is like half a foot away
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What brand adjustable temp switch did you use? and where did you get it?
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i got it at lordco, i forget the brand tho... i might be able to find out tomorrow, and i could probably get the P/N?
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Sweet. I smell a weekend project brewing over here.
Was there any noticeable increase in throttle response (well, I guess you'd be after a DECREASE in throttle response time :p )?
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I've taken out my viscous coupling and i'm currently running only on the A/C electric fan which does the job very well. I plan to install a separate electric fan close to summer.
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Sweet. I smell a weekend project brewing over here.
Was there any noticeable increase in throttle response (well, I guess you'd be after a DECREASE in throttle response time :p )?
hahaha:D yeah there was a pretty noticable difference actualy, well worth it in my opinion.
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What kind of draw (or load) does it put on the radiator? Have you tested it yet? Im just curious because i was thinking about doing an electric fan but the stock, motor powered one is so simple, and i bought the car for simplicity. I dont want to add another thing that can break. But if its REALLY noticable I'll give it a try.
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well I was planning on using my stock acc fan. rewiring it to a switch so I can turn it on whenever. its quiet, anyone know if it will be able to flow enough?
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bringing this back from the dead :)
Anybody has pics of an install through the fuse box?
I have my electric fan, and want to see where I can install the temp switch and all the wiring to make it work without problems.
Thanks
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I wired mine from a spare fuse slot in the box, took one wire to the O/S, fitted a small relay and fuse holder and wired it all through that. I used a 2 stage OE BMW thermo switch which screwed into the rad (not all rads have the boss ion the side). Neet snough and you can't see it with the headlight covers fitted.
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Thanks for the details.
Do you have any pics of your install?
I'm thinking of using an A/C harness but here in France, they are real hard to come by, so i'm going to have to wire it myself.
thanks
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Here's a fun thought...rig up a control system that measures engine RPM and speeds up the fan accordingly! It's like an electric version of the clutch fan.
Of course, theoretically that might be less efficient since you have to include power losses in the alternator, wiring, fan power controls, etc. Maybe you could design in a big delay so that it does not really spin up while the motor is revving up, but rather once it has settled. Hell, have it measure vehicle speed too & turn off above 30mph.
Or just keep doing what everyone has been doing since that is simple & it works.
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I know i'm bumping this old thread again, but couldn't you just use the existing AUX fan wiring to wire the new fan up? The AUX fan has 3 wires going into it. I am pretty sure this is their function:
Black - Fan low speed
Red - Fan high speed
Brown - Ground
The AUX fan circuit is tapped into the coolant temperature switch mounted on the left of the rad, which activates the low speed setting at 91C, and the high speed setting at 99C. My understanding is that the ceramic resistor located on the aux fan is what controls the speed of the fan.
At least this is my understanding of it. If anyone has conflicting info please chime in.
Also, i deleted my A/C a couple days ago and will be trying my AUX fan for primary cooling as a pusher. I will try the current temp switch and switch to the 318ti (81C/88C) switch if i need the fan to turn on sooner. The pain is trying to figure out how to mount the fan in a clean and solid way. I made a bracket out of steel for the top already, i suppose I just have to make a few more. Anyway, i'll let you guys know how it goes once i test it and i'll shoot some pics.
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I was thinking of doing that myself. I'm thinking that the wires or thermo switch wouldn't handle the load of a really big rad fan permanently. I'd also have that fan kicking on every time I switched on my A/C. You've deleted it, so it's not an issue. Might actually be an advantage to you...use the A/C button as a manual override!
You might be able to get away with just the aux fan if you dilute your coolant mix & add a few bottles of water wetter/purple ice/surfactant of your choice. Worked like a charm on my E34 525i. There are a lot of E36 M52 guys running that system with the low temp e36 thermo switch.
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I've been running without either fan for over a year. Except for high 90's days sitting a traffic lights it has never gotten over it's normal position. I do plan on finally putting in an inexpensive electric fan before this summer but they don't seem to need much.
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That's good news for me Dave as i'm putting my M50 in the car in a couple months when it's warmer outside. I wanted to do the aux fan thing now since I sit in traffic on my way home from work and i don't want to be testing it on my new motor. I have full confidence in the stock AUX fan after giving it 12a of power; it blows a lot of air.
Last year in the spring i ran my car with no fan and it was great as long as i didn't hit traffic. After about 5-10 minutes of stop and go the temp would creep up to the 3/4 mark at a quick rate and it would start to overheat. As soon as the car was moving past about 30km/h the temp would quickly move back to 1/2. The car is actually a lot quieter with the fan off i have noticed, i'm really looking forward to it!
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I suspect we'll gain a little power from cutting out the engine fan too. Not much, but every little bit helps. I prefer it because throttle response improves. More importantly, you'll have some space in front of the motor.
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Swaped the aux fan for an E32 750i fan(using the pre-existing E30 OEM installation and two speeds), viscous clutch out in the garbage, used BMW OEM 80/88 temp sensor from an E36 Compact 316i '99.
Works absolutely perfect even during summer and 100F temps the needle would never go beyond the half mark and even then I've heard the second speed kick in rarely.
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I know i'm bumping this old thread again, but couldn't you just use the existing AUX fan wiring to wire the new fan up? The AUX fan has 3 wires going into it. I am pretty sure this is their function:
Black - Fan low speed
Red - Fan high speed
Brown - Ground
The AUX fan circuit is tapped into the coolant temperature switch mounted on the left of the rad, which activates the low speed setting at 91C, and the high speed setting at 99C. My understanding is that the ceramic resistor located on the aux fan is what controls the speed of the fan.
At least this is my understanding of it. If anyone has conflicting info please chime in.
Also, i deleted my A/C a couple days ago and will be trying my AUX fan for primary cooling as a pusher. I will try the current temp switch and switch to the 318ti (81C/88C) switch if i need the fan to turn on sooner. The pain is trying to figure out how to mount the fan in a clean and solid way. I made a bracket out of steel for the top already, i suppose I just have to make a few more. Anyway, i'll let you guys know how it goes once i test it and i'll shoot some pics.
Here's some info I'd gathered for some other people:
Threads:
ACSchnitzer318is volvo fan thread - Wiring Info (http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7152)
Electric Fan Install General Info (http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4777)
gearheadE30 volvo fan thread (http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4101)
Fan delete part numbers (http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8198)
Basically:
1)Fan:
All 92-98 volvo 940, 960, 850 will have this same fan.
People have also successfully used the stock aux fan alone as a pusher or puller. It just depends on your climate and driving styles. This Volvo fan just pulls more air so I chose to go that route.
2)Shroud Cutting:
(http://www.m42club.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=46&pictureid=248)
Shroud after I modified it. It fit almost perfect when I turned it sideways so I cut it to the proper height and used some of the extra leftovers to fill the holes along the bottom. I also had to trim a bit off one side.
I used the volvo shroud that came with the fan because it sits flush with the radiator to allow more room in the engine bay. You could a)cut it to the same width as your radiator or b) turn the shroud sideways and cut it to the same height as your radiator. Just hold it up and try different fitments until you find one you think is best. Mark it with a sharpie and cut it. I used a hacksaw but a dremel cutting wheel might work better. You'll have to just cut here and there until you get the shroud to fit, just use the leftover scraps to cover up any big holes on the shroud portion you are going to use.
Also take note of how the fan mounts to the shroud when considering shroud mounting so you can point the fan wires where you want to run them.
3)Shroud Mounting:
(http://www.m42club.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=46&pictureid=249)
There are some holes along the top and bottom lip of the radiator, one at each corner. I used a small nut and bolt at each hole. I made a couple extra holes near the middle of the bottom edge and used some zip ties to help pull the shroud in close to the radiator.
4) Wiring the Fan to the Auxiliary Fan Circuit:
Follow the wires that come from the Auxiliary Fan. That is the fan mounted on the front of the radiator. Its much easier to work in there if you pull off your grilles, headlights, front bumper and valence. But you may not need to take all that stuff off. Brown on car goes to black on fan, black on car goes to green on fan, and red on car goes to red on the fan. Hope that helps.
The wiring to the aux fan routes along the bundle of wires below the drivers side headlight. There are 4 wires going into the fan. There is one black one that loops through a resistor on the fan- it just looks like small, long black box. You don't keep this box when you install the volvo fan. Use the black wire that runs into the box to wire the volvo fan- just cut and tape off the extra black wire.
(http://www.m42club.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=46&pictureid=247)
Wiring route. I ran it under the radiator then up the side through the holes in the frame and soldered it to the plug that used to run to the aux fan. I had to extend the harness about a foot to reach the wires on the fan.
5) Extra Parts
This stuff is not necessary, only helpful in hot climates.
I did some extra stuff to ensure this fan would be enough since I deleted both my clutch fan and my auxiliary fan. I replaced the thermostat with an 88° one, and I replaced my temperature switch with an 80°/88° one, and added a bottle of Redline Water Wetter to my coolant.
88° thermostat (PN:11-53-7-511-580)
Thermostat O-Ring: 11-53-1-721-218
Thermostat Housing Gasket: 11-53-1-721-172
80°/88° Dual Temp Switch: 61-31-8-361-787
Fan Switch Washer: 32-41-1-093-596
Bought my Water Wetter from BavAuto
(http://www.m42club.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=46&pictureid=246)
Good luck with the install
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If you ever need a rocking electric fan, check out a ford Tauras, LTD etc. Needs a heavy relay but the sucker move radical air.... :)
Dave
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Voluted--How did it work out? Still cold up there in the Great White North, eh?
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bump for reply
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Well, I have been driving with no fan since that post and we are finally seeing some warmer days here. I am happy to report that the stock aux fan does more than enough to keep the engine cool!
Few things to note:
- The longest i sat in stop and go traffic was ~40 minutes and it was ~25 celcius outside
- Since i still have the stock coolant temp switch (fan switch) the engine heats up to the 3/4 mark on the guage before the high speed kicks on.
- If i press the A/C button the low speed setting of the fan is engaged and the engine NEVER crawls past the 1/2 way mark on the guage
- There was no need to have my fan on unless i was sitting in traffic for over 15 minutes. The high speed setting (when i let the engine reach 3/4 on the guage) would bring the temp back to 1/2 within a minute.
Compared to when i took the fan off last year I am seeing a significant increase in cooling now that there is no A/C condenser in front of the rad.
For reference, i used the OEM euro brackets to mount the aux fan which i purchased from BMA auto parts for about 10-15 bucks for the bigger two and under 5 for the small cup.
There was no re-wiring and I was able to use the old hardware on the fan to install it to the brackets. I needed to by two speed nuts to skrew the mounts on the top of the rad support. If I remember, I will take a few pictures of the fan on my car tonight. I also did not use any water wetter or any similar product or run a cooler thermostat.
Seriously, this has to be the easiest mechanical thing i have done to the car to date and one of the more satisfying ones. To get the fan in/out I undid the upper rad support then lifted the rad and pulled it toward the engine. The rad has rubber bumpers sitting in cups on the bottom to hold it in place so it is easy to reposition afterwards. The hardest part was jamming the rubber peices into the mounting brackets.
Here is the picture: The two upper brackets needed to be swapped on my car for some reason since they didn't mount the fan properly the way they show them to be mounted.
(http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/i/r/10.png)
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=1111&mospid=47263&btnr=17_0073&hg=17&fg=10
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Voluted--Excellent reply! This is exactly how I was going to do mines, save for the euro mounts, which I will order for my installation. It really is an EASY modification, with an arguably tangible benefit, not to mention improving the engine bay aesthetics. All my shit is out of the car right now, waiting for me to finish up with the engine and bay cleaning/refreshing.
Nice work!
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I just installed the Volvo two speed fan. I dont know if this has been covered but I ran the power to the accessory fuse block. There are two wires a green and a red one. I ran the low speed to the ignition on which was red IIRC and the green to a switch to operate the the high speed fan that is able to be turned on whether the car is on or off without the car running, say while sitting in the paddock at an autox. I used one of the window breaker switches and put it in one of the factory slots above the radio so it looks original.
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Dredging this up so I can do a reality check before I start hacking the harness.
I'm in the process of fixing an oil leak on the front of the engine, so I figured I would throw in my electric fan while I was in there. I'm using an aftermarket fan, though, that is single-speed and requires a 40A fuse, so I can't wire directly to the aux fan wiring.
My intent is to remove the auxiliary fan entirely and use the red wire coming off of the high-speed relay to provide the signaling power to a relay that will turn on the new electric fan. I'll then remove fuse 3 entirely, since the wiring won't be going anywhere. I've already got the lower-temp sensor in the radiator, so the fan should turn on at 88 degrees.
Thoughts? Anyone see anything wrong with this?
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Sounds good to me, can't see anything wrong with your plans. Isn't the harness heading to the fan pretty meaty? I'd personally skip the relays, but it'll give a good safety margin.
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It's pretty good sized, but the fuse is 30A, so rather than takes chances with it I'll run a separate harness just for the fan. Overkill is better than electrical fire.
Thanks!
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After further thought, in case anyone is interested, I've decided to use the black wire off of the normal speed relay as the source of my trigger for the relay. This way, the fan will come on when I engage the AC compressor as well as when the temp goes above 88 degrees.
Wired as I originally planned it, the fan would come on when it hit the higher temp on the switch and not at all with the AC, until the coolant temp reaches the higher limit. So I'll be removing fuse 18 rather than fuse 3.
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OK, for anyone who is interested and before I button everything back up again, I figured I would snap some pics.
It's a 16" Flex-A-Lite S-Blade fan, part number 398 Syclone. I could do without the big logo on the aluminum plate and will likely replace it someday, but in the meantime, I'm hoping it works - it fits, anyway.
Wiring is as discussed above: the black line from the original auxiliary fan trips the relay in front of the condenser to turn on the fan. Power comes directly off of the battery block at the firewall. I pulled fuse 18 out, as it is no longer needed.
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I've bought 14" el fan on ebay for around 50euros, putted on 88C thermostat and I wasn't satisfied with the cooling.
Now I run clutch fan until I finish overhaul of engine, but I doubt that el. fan will do the job.
I'll give it a go with Spoon fan when it comes to my next try and write a review.
Cheers
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I've bought 14" el fan on ebay for around 50euros, putted on 88C thermostat and I wasn't satisfied with the cooling.
Now I run clutch fan until I finish overhaul of engine, but I doubt that el. fan will do the job.
I'll give it a go with Spoon fan when it comes to my next try and write a review.
Cheers
You must have a problem elsewhere. An electric fan installed properly is more than enough to cool the little M42 engine.