Quick fan wiring and mounting question

[lolcantturn]

Got myself the ireland engineering 14" fan for my automobile. Would it be ok if I ziptied it through the cooling fins on my radiator? I'm not sure how i'd do it any other way without getting crazy with the dremel and fabbing something up.

Also, my fan is just two leads, positive and ground of course, can I just plug them into my aux fan's wiring? I remember my aux fan turning on whenever I pressed the AC button, so I'm assuming once I press the button on the AC, this fan should turn on as well?

[giantkeeper]

Those zipties won't last - Let me see if I have pictures of my install...it really was not hard at all.

*damn, no pictures. I used a piece of aluminum from Home Depot and cut into four strips and mounted the fan.

[lolcantturn]

Those zipties won't last - Let me see if I have pictures of my install...it really was not hard at all.

*damn, no pictures. I used a piece of aluminum from Home Depot and cut into four strips and mounted the fan.

Ah, where'd you end up attaching those pieces to?

[giantkeeper]

My fan had mounting holes for the manufacturers bracket (that I did not buy) and the Mishimoto radiator I bought had eyelets that I used on the top and bottom.

[Chrisv006]

Those zipties won't last - Let me see if I have pictures of my install...it really was not hard at all.

*damn, no pictures. I used a piece of aluminum from Home Depot and cut into four strips and mounted the fan.

I dont have pictures either...but I did the exact same thing, the 1/2" aluminum strip metal from HD.

I have a VSL radiator, I drilled holes in the radiator support material and just used small bolts. Works great.

[dreamchasin]

i used zipties...2-3 each place i put them (total of 6-9) the fan never moved. friend did the same thing, no issues.

[jlevie]

I have experienced "through the radiator" zip mounts eat a hole in the radiator tubes. So I don't mount a fan that way any more. The best way to mount the fan, if A/C has been deleted, is to mount a pusher in front of the radiator. If A/C is to be retained, you have to mount a puller between the radiator and engine. I use 1x1/8" aluminum straps bolted to the top and bottom of the radiator.

If you use the aux fan switch to control the radiator, you need to jumper both switches so the fan will run when either engages.

[lolcantturn]

I have experienced "through the radiator" zip mounts eat a hole in the radiator tubes. So I don't mount a fan that way any more. The best way to mount the fan, if A/C has been deleted, is to mount a pusher in front of the radiator. If A/C is to be retained, you have to mount a puller between the radiator and engine. I use 1x1/8" aluminum straps bolted to the top and bottom of the radiator.

If you use the aux fan switch to control the radiator, you need to jumper both switches so the fan will run when either engages.

Well I'm not running a temp switch on my radiator cause the previous owner bought the rad without putting the switch in, will I still need to jump it?

[trackjunkie21]

I bought my fan from FFD and it came with a mounting kit, they are plastic strap type things but they slide through the radiator and they have locking pins, solid as a rock IMO, or you can get a mounting kit from Lee from Massive.

[luckysnafu]

I bought my fan from FFD and it came with a mounting kit, they are plastic strap type things but they slide through the radiator and they have locking pins, solid as a rock IMO, or you can get a mounting kit from Lee from Massive.

They weren't rock solid on my car. The fan came off the radiator yesterday during an autox and I was dragging the fan for the last few hundred feet of my run.

I'm going to use aluminum strips to mount it to the radiator now.

[lolcantturn]

As for fan wiring, the PO didn't include with the fan a temp switch so I have no radiator temp switch and I need this car to be ready to go for a trip very soon. Anyway I can wire it without using the temp switch? I was looking at the diagram on e30dohc but thats not the setup I want

[giantkeeper]

As for fan wiring, the PO didn't include with the fan a temp switch so I have no radiator temp switch and I need this car to be ready to go for a trip very soon. Anyway I can wire it without using the temp switch? I was looking at the diagram on e30dohc but thats not the setup I want

You could wire it to turn on when keyed.

[reelizmpro]

Zip ties are a good temporary solution but you don't want to leave them in. Besides they look ghetto when you show off your engine. I went to Home Depot and got some plumbing pipe wrap. It's a roll of metal strip that can be bent/cut. I only needed small strips to get from the fan mounts to the radiator mounts anyway. No need for anything fancy. I have removed my AC condenser but kept the aux fan using the old condenser brackets so that acts as a pusher now. I also have the low temp 318i switch so the aux fan turns on low speed and the puller fan (14" 1000 CFM) kicks on at high speed using the factory switch and relay which also activates manually through the AC switch. All of this is on an aluminum Mishimoto radiator. It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

[highoutput]

Anyone have any pics of this??....I just want to see how it comes out. I currently have the zipties in place, but dont trust them at all. I'm gonna have to switch it up before long.

[lolcantturn]

You could wire it to turn on when keyed.

I can just directly wire the motor to the ignition 12, no relays or anything?