Author Topic: My Volvo Electric Fan Install (pictures) (Read 8503 times)

AcSchnitzer318is · « **on:** November 06, 2008, 12:31:39 AM »

I think I came up with a pretty clean solution... may rework it later though to move the fan closer to the radiator. Right now it sits about 5 inches off the radiator... thought it was optimal to have it closer. Anyway I just removed the factory BMW fan shroud and made some simple L type brackets out of a piece of steel stock I picked up at Home Depot. Only thing you see that doesn't look stock are those two small black screws.

Comments and suggestions welcome. I do plan on changing that one small gauge wire you see there in the pic. That is the ground wire, and definitely needs to be a larger gauge.

tjts1 · « **Reply #1 on:** November 06, 2008, 04:39:06 AM »

Looks good bud. I thought about that something like that initially but gave up once i realized there was more work involved. Did you fill in the gap between the edge of the fan and the shroud? Either that or moving the fan closer to the radiator would definitely increase the efficiency of the fan.
cheers

monty23psk · « **Reply #2 on:** November 06, 2008, 09:12:22 AM »

Looks good.

vonkamp · « **Reply #3 on:** November 06, 2008, 09:44:56 AM »

Looks great, I hope to do that to mine soon.

dude8383 · « **Reply #4 on:** November 06, 2008, 09:18:32 PM »

Nice install man!

KenC · « **Reply #5 on:** November 06, 2008, 09:36:04 PM »

Why not just mount the fan to the radiator and ditch the shroud?

Any details on sensors and such? Or does it just run all the time?

Cobra Jet · « **Reply #6 on:** November 07, 2008, 12:57:54 PM »

Quote from: KenCopperwheat;60136

Why not just mount the fan to the radiator and ditch the shroud?

I was thinking the same w/ regards to just ditching the entire stock fan shroud - it would definitely give up more room in the engine bay...

However, the install is really nice - clean and with it being mounted in the shroud, it's probably just as effective if not better than the mechanical fan's capabilities.

How do you have it turning on, did you tap into the sensor that is located on the side of the radiator, run a manual turn on, or do you have it tapped into another sensor/switch?

KenC · « **Reply #7 on:** November 07, 2008, 01:31:14 PM »

Is there an acc power source under the hood that would be easy to tap into to run the fan all the time when the car is on?

KenC · « **Reply #8 on:** November 07, 2008, 05:19:17 PM »

which model/year Volvo is that fan off of?

tjts1 · « **Reply #9 on:** November 07, 2008, 06:53:33 PM »

All 92-98 volvo 940, 960, 850 will have this same fan.

bar73k · « **Reply #10 on:** November 07, 2008, 07:38:39 PM »

Note that a e36 electric fan also mounts straight in without any modifications.

obviously you need to wire it in tho...

AcSchnitzer318is · « **Reply #11 on:** November 07, 2008, 11:15:34 PM »

As far as I know guys... the fan shroud is supposed to make it more efficient... not less.

Like tjts1 said, all those volvo fans will work. And yes it's just wired into the stock harness. You just remove the resistor from the circuit since the volvo fans have 2 speeds built into them.

tjts1 · « **Reply #12 on:** November 08, 2008, 12:24:34 AM »

Quote from: bar73k;60178

Note that a e36 electric fan also mounts straight in without any modifications.

obviously you need to wire it in tho...

If I could find half a dozen $12 E36 fans to choose from in every JY I would have used one.

cleaner32 · « **Reply #13 on:** November 08, 2008, 07:56:29 AM »

Did you wire it into the fan on the frontside of the bmw radiator? I would assume this fan comes on only after the engine isnt getting enough cooling from the fan/clutch deal. What circuit did you wire the fan to?

Quote from: AcSchnitzer318is;60190

As far as I know guys... the fan shroud is supposed to make it more efficient... not less.

Like tjts1 said, all those volvo fans will work. And yes it's just wired into the stock harness. You just remove the resistor from the circuit since the volvo fans have 2 speeds built into them.

AcSchnitzer318is · « **Reply #14 on:** November 08, 2008, 09:18:04 AM »

Wired it to the auxiliary fan circuit (fan in front of rad). So you will have to extend some wires. 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.