Mechanical to Elect. fan conversion.

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07/12/2008, 04:54 PM
crager34

Mechanical to Elect. fan conversion.

Based on what ORION did awhile back and my VX running hot, I figured I would try this and start with the cheap fixes in hope that they/it would work, instead of having to buy a radiator, do the thermostat, or something else.

In order to do this, you would need an early model (90's) Dodge Caravan or Plymouth Voyager electric fan with the stock plug and about 1.5 feet of the wire. Mine cost me $20 at a junkyard. I think ORION has a 94 Caravan and I have 94 Voyager fan. I also had full access to a fabrication shop and had the some L brackets and a lower tab plate made, so I can use the stock VX shroud placements. It looks like the fan was made for it. If you had the fabed bracket and plate and some instructions, the job may take you 4 hours, but I would venture to say more like two. This fan has a low and a high and i just wired this through a relay, to the battery and an ignition source, so it would just run on high when ever I turn the VX on. There is a wiring kit that can be purchased, and I will later, that has a thermostatic control that will possibly add a bit of time to the install. This "kit" so-to-speak will only consist of the bottom plate, to "L" bracktes and the nuts and bolts to onstall on the fan itself, including some instructions. Any other wiring and associated install items that you may need won't be included, but I will do my best to state the items that will most likely be needed.

The fab shop wants to make these and thinks right around $50 would do it, but they wanted to get a feel for the interest in this, before setting a firm price. I am leaving out the "maybe" option, because really.. you ether do or you don't and based on the estimated price, you should be able to decide.

ORION lives in Michigan (I think) and tells me that he hasn't had any trouble with over heating since the swap. Well... I live in Moab and I could be wrong, but I think it may get a bit hotter here. I have only ran it one day so far and will update this thread with how this is working out with the over heating issue. I didn't do this for any horsepower gain, so I am not looking at that.

Let the polling begin.
07/13/2008, 11:38 AM
orion

QUOTE= ORION lives in Michigan (I think) and tells me that he hasn't had any trouble with over heating since the swap. Well... I live in Moab and I could be wrong, but I think it may get a bit hotter here. I have only ran it one day so far and will update this thread with how this is working out with the over heating issue. I didn't do this for any horsepower gain, so I am not looking at that.

I live in Minnesota, and it's been in the high 80's and 90's with 70% humidity. and no problems. the fans out of these vans are meant to cool the 3.3 and 3.8 V6, so they have no problem with ours.
07/14/2008, 05:51 AM
tom4bren

I was towing my boat in 90 degree heat over the weekend & didn't have any heat related issues. If it ain't broke - I ain't gonna fix it.
07/14/2008, 07:06 AM
crager34

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom4bren

I was towing my boat in 90 degree heat over the weekend & didn't have any heat related issues. If it ain't broke - I ain't gonna fix it.

I agree to this for certain. Mine started showing signs of wear and I have a couple trips coming soon, so I needed a cheap fix in order to afford the gas..:cool:

Remember... this is a poll only to gauge interest, this doesn't commit anyone to payment.
07/16/2008, 12:10 PM
LittleBeast

So we are talking 5hp gain at the most?
07/16/2008, 02:15 PM
tom4bren

"So we are talking 5hp gain at the most?"

Vulcan says ...

ask Zeus!!!
07/17/2008, 05:17 PM
crager34

Ok..... been a few days now and time for an update. I am running cooler than before. Before, I was always just above the halfway mark and then when going uphill, I would spike. Now, I am running just below half and when going uphill, it does take awhile to start getting really hot, but it will eventually get there. This is will the AC on. So, even though this mod did me some good, I still kinda think I have some issues and the next thing to get swapped out is the radiator.

As far as power gain, or throttle response. I do feel the VX is a bit peppier.

Just did a radiator flush and fill today (7-18) and it runs even cooler now. I will add a note about how this is working after my trip to Durango.
07/17/2008, 05:31 PM
Knigh7s

Quote:

Originally Posted by crager34

so I can use the stock VX shroud placements. It looks like the fan was made for it.

Couple question, Can you keep the shroud installed around the fan? Pictures?
07/18/2008, 07:36 AM
tom4bren

"Good God, it took you so long to answer that! Do you know how hard it was to not type something? I had to let you continue before answering... so anyway, the correct answer is........ you get a whopping .1% increase in throttle response, according to Vulcan. Orion says it is more than that though and I believe Orion's firsthand experience over Tom's so-called math skills, anyday!"

Well ... I thought that one may have been played to death. Since it came up again all by itself, thought I'd try one more time.

I never really said that my math was correct - I was just thinking out loud. As a matter of fact, I worked it out in my head as I was cruising I95 at the break neck speed of just over 2mph. I'm still waiting for someone to convince me I'm wrong (I thought I was wrong once before in my life but that was a mistake).

So just to keep the discussion on the intellectual level, my response is:

PPPHHHHTTT!!!!
07/18/2008, 10:09 AM
tom4bren

2 problems with Moab:

1. too far.

2. I like mudding better than slick rock.

IMHO
07/18/2008, 12:44 PM
crager34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knigh7s

Couple question, Can you keep the shroud installed around the fan? Pictures?

The fan that I (and ORION) have comes with it's own shroud, so the stock VX one will be obsolete. He has a couple pics in his gallery and I will default to his, because installed, mine looks exactly the same.
07/18/2008, 01:02 PM
crager34

Going up for sale!!

I let the fab shop know about the poll results and he said go ahead and move forward with these for $60 shipped. I am leaving town this weekend, but will start putting together the instructions and some pics of the fab work next week.

Please take note that I am only including instructions on how to do this with an early 90's (preferably a 94) Dodge Caravan or Plymouth Voyager fan, with the shroud (mine was all one piece), and with about 1.5 feet of the stock fan wiring. I have not wired this to a thermostatic control, so that part is on your own. The only thing coming in this package are two top "L" brackets (for the fan), a lower bracket/plate (for the fan), some nuts and bolts, instructions, and pictures.

Make sure that the fan you pickup works. The stock fan wiring is light green (high), dark green (low), black (ground), and striped (not sure). When you get the fan out, just touch the black wire to the negative on a car battery, and one of the greens to the positive. Make sure the battrery is working...:p

My paypal address is eccqcboy@yahoo.com and please give me about two weeks max to get everything together for shippment. I have bought and sold on eBay for awhile now and my ID is crager34, so you can see my feedback there for referrance. I promise that I will either deliver the product, or if that somehow falls through, to promptly refund your money. I am not making anything on this. The profits go entirely to Moab 4x4 Outpost here in Moab.

Future ideas for the VX are skid plates, rock rails, and anything else you can think of. I see how much some of these things are out there and I am hopeful to be able to make these much more affordable.

Please feel free to email me with any quesitons you have.

Darrin
12/27/2011, 07:55 AM
gravitylover

I had a 1960 Willys CJ5 with a Buick 225ci years ago and with the stock fan it constantly ran hot even though it had that vertical grill with tons of airflow through the radiator. I changed it out to an electric and never had cooling problems again. I also picked up at least 1 mpg and the fan belt was able to be removed and changed to a shorter one that only ran the alternator. After a while I added a second so it had a pusher and a puller so when I was offroad or in traffic I could run both and never had a problem again. FYI they were both switched not thermostatically controlled. This is a mod I would definitely stand behind and if I do go ahead and get one of these will be doing it in the spring.
12/27/2011, 09:35 AM
VX KAT

Quote:

Originally Posted by gravitylover

I had a 1960 Willys CJ5 with a Buick 225ci years ago and with the stock fan it constantly ran hot even though it had that vertical grill with tons of airflow through the radiator. I changed it out to an electric and never had cooling problems again. I also picked up at least 1 mpg and the fan belt was able to be removed and changed to a shorter one that only ran the alternator. After a while I added a second so it had a pusher and a puller so when I was offroad or in traffic I could run both and never had a problem again. FYI they were both switched not thermostatically controlled. This is a mod I would definitely stand behind and if I do go ahead and get one of these will be doing it in the spring.

Here's a few interesting threads discussing overheating, adding an electric fan, as well as replacing the stock radiator with a custom aluminum one. Just FYI

http://vehicross.info/forums/showthr...ric+fan&page=3

http://vehicross.info/forums/showthr...t=electric+fan

http://vehicross.info/forums/showthr...MINUM+RADIATOR
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