Electric fan conversion

[seth m42]

hey r3vians, ive always had the idea of doing an electric radiator fan conversion on my 318is and i was wondering if anybody has done it to where it will turn on and off when appropriet. i understand that you could hook it up to a toggle switch but i fear i would forget to turn it on and my engine get too hot. is there some way to hook it up to a thermostat? anybody have any suggestions?
thanks:p

[e30trooper]

there's a few write ups. search search search

[jlevie]

This can be done, but engine driven fan is simple, reliable, and effective. As long as the motor mounts are good, the shroud properly secured, the water pump bearing are good, and the fan clutch is good you won't gain anything from an electric fan on a mostly street car. The situation is different on race car where tenth's of horsepower may matter.

[ADlBOO]

I think he's going more for better cooling, than freeing up horsepower. Most electric fan kits you buy come with a thermostat you just wedge into the fins of your radiator. Then you can set what temp you want it to turn on at.

[gp.plus]

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=210783

[spike68]

^beat me to it.

Dave constantly does those installs at the shop.

[Davidov]

Do you run a fan shroud with your mechanical fan?

[seth m42]

I think he's going more for better cooling, than freeing up horsepower. Most electric fan kits you buy come with a thermostat you just wedge into the fins of your radiator. Then you can set what temp you want it to turn on at.

do you know of a store that sells these online?

[seth m42]

The clutch on my fan is starting to stick somtimes and instead of replacing it, i thought id just go ahead and do this conversion. if all done right it seams like a more efficiant system.

[jlevie]

An electric fan of the right size, properly installed, can provide more cooling than the engine driven fan. But on a stock, mostly street, car that shouldn't be necessary if everything in the cooling system is working properly. The most common cooling system problem is a bad fan clutch and the second most common problem is a partially clogged radiator. In the first case an electric fan done correctly will cost as much, if not more, as a new fan clutch. In the second case switching to an electric fan may not help, depending on how badly the radiator is clogged.

To exceed the capacity of the stock configuration you need a 16" fan rated for 2300cfm or more, shrouding for the fan, and it needs to be controlled with a thermo switch in the radiator (or the upper radiator hose) that trips a bit above the thermostat rating. On this car a 90-91C switch is appropriate. It is possible to use an aux fan thermo switch (91/99C), but both sides of the switch have to be tied together or you otherwise have to arrange for the fan to run when either switch is closed (the switches are exclusive). If the car has A/C its is best to install a thermo switch and relay just for the added fan and leave the aux fan controls alone.

Do not mount the fan with any sort of through the radiator mounts. Those can (and eventually will) eat a hole in a fin tube. If the car doesn't have A/C, use a pusher fan & shroud in front of the radiator as that is more effective.

[seth m42]

thanks for all the info:up:

[vpilarrt]

On my 318is i removed the aux fan in front of the radiator and the fan/clutch/shroud stuff behind the radiator and installed an electric fan from a pre-95 E36 (or Z3) 318i (lke this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/318ti-1-9-z3...9306ff&vxp=mtr). Its a puller that mounts directly on our radiator (since those cars use the same radiator). I wired the fan to the aux fan wiring behinfd the driver's headlight. This way it comes on when the thermo switch in the radiator signals it to and when I turn on the AC.

[seth m42]

very helpfull

[b-rad]

Clutch Fan / Elec

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=392397http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=392397

other than mishimoto, any other vendors to look at for replacing the clutch fan? and the aux fan.