Windstar Fan Install
06-23-2012, 09:44 PM
#11
Senior Member
I believe it's the grey w/white stripe that goes to the compressor
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Thisguyuknow (06-24-2012)
06-23-2012, 09:53 PM
#13
06-24-2012, 12:31 PM
#15
06-25-2012, 10:39 PM
#16
Back on the Road
The flex-a-lite variable speed controller came in today. Like I said before I like the variable speed controller becase it is simple to wire and instead of cutting the fans on at 100% power it cuts them on initially at 60% and gradually increases to 100% as needed. These fans together pull a good bit of amperage so its less shock on the alternator. Also it runs the fans for 30 seconds after the engine is cut off, which is a neat feature but more applicable to carbureted vehicles to combat vapor lock after you cut off the engine. The only draw back, I think, is that the controller has no way to tell that you are moving so it will operate the fan if you are running down the highway and running a/c since the bypasses the thermotat control. Its not going to hurt any performance but it is kinda pointless to run it then.
Here is a link to he controller ad the wiring diagram for it
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FLX-31165/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FLX-31165/
As you can see in the first pic the fans were wired to the same ground and power wires in the windstar harness. The wires were in good condition and this controller does not have the provisions to operate the fans indepenently so I just trimed the wires and reused them as is. No reason to reinvent the wheel. The fact that the fans do not kick on at their full output and then gradually increase to 100%. will essentially be the same as having one fan kick on at a min temperature and then the second at a higher threshold.
I still have to dress up the wire with some plastic conduit as I ran out.
Stock windstar harness
Controller Mounted
Wired in:
Bat Positive
Tapped into acc/on above the bat on the firewall
Tapped into air conditioning on at the front of the passenger head
Eventually the conduit will gt dirty and blend right into the rest of the harnes
Negative feed and the acc/on feed
Here is a link to he controller ad the wiring diagram for it
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FLX-31165/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FLX-31165/
As you can see in the first pic the fans were wired to the same ground and power wires in the windstar harness. The wires were in good condition and this controller does not have the provisions to operate the fans indepenently so I just trimed the wires and reused them as is. No reason to reinvent the wheel. The fact that the fans do not kick on at their full output and then gradually increase to 100%. will essentially be the same as having one fan kick on at a min temperature and then the second at a higher threshold.
I still have to dress up the wire with some plastic conduit as I ran out.
Stock windstar harness
Controller Mounted
Wired in:
Bat Positive
Tapped into acc/on above the bat on the firewall
Tapped into air conditioning on at the front of the passenger head
Eventually the conduit will gt dirty and blend right into the rest of the harnes
Negative feed and the acc/on feed
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ericp33 (12-15-2013)
06-25-2012, 10:49 PM
#17
Road Test
I took the truck for a spin and I have to say it is hard to get it to heat up enough to kick on the fan. I ran about 4 miles up the road and back and the ambient temp was about 85 degrees outside. I had to come back to the house and rev the engine up at idle for a few minutes just to get the fan to kick on. When it did kick on they spun for maybe 4 seconds if that and it cooled off enough to shut them back down. The A/C cuts them on and off just fine.
On the road and at idle the truck never left the position pictured below which is where it would sit prior to this debacle.
All told I am probably 150 into this for the fan,controller, and various parts. Ill post up pics of everything once it is completely dressed up and all the random cosmetic pieces are put in place tomorrow after work.
On the road and at idle the truck never left the position pictured below which is where it would sit prior to this debacle.
All told I am probably 150 into this for the fan,controller, and various parts. Ill post up pics of everything once it is completely dressed up and all the random cosmetic pieces are put in place tomorrow after work.
Last edited by Thisguyuknow; 06-25-2012 at 11:06 PM.
07-05-2012, 05:23 PM
#18
I've had this in for a week or two now and so far no cooling issues. It has been in stop-n-go traffic at 101 degrees outside temp and 60% humidity and we took a trip from Mobile, Al to Atlanta and back for 4rth of July. The hottest the coolant got was 196 deg (This is according to the display on the Edge Evo) So yesterday I went ahead and finished cleaning up the wiring and reinstalling the cosmetic pieces.
02-23-2013, 10:31 PM
#19
I have done several fan installs in jeeps and have always gone with contour dual fans because they fit a CJ7 or Grand Wagoneer radiator almost perfectly. I am not a fan of strapping the fans through he radiator fins because, in my experience, the fins always start to get damaged from the weight after prolonged use. What I would do with the old jeeps is take an old busted rad and cut the mount tabs off and then attach them to the contour fan and it would bolt up very nice.
I went to do some junkyard diving last weekend in hopes of trying a contour fan on my 06 fiddy but what I found was that paticular model fan was about 6 inches shorter than the fin surface on the truck's radiator. After some peeking under hoods I came across a windstar and took some measurements.
The fan from the windstar is so close to the dimensions of my radiators preexisting mounts that it is painful. If you bolt the upper mount on the passenger side of the radiator up the mount tab on the dirver's side is literally like an inch shy of the drivers side mount and about a half inch low enough that if you exented it someone it would sit on the rad at an angle.
Im not quite yet but I picked up some angle brackets from lowes and cut the upper and lower mount tabs off the driver's side then mounted the metal brackets in the appropriate spots. I left the original upper tab on the passenger side but I was not able to come up with a good solution for the lower passenger side bracket because that side of the fan does not have the same lip as the drivers side so I will have to be slightly more creative with the bracket.
The unit doesnt perfectly sit against the rad but it still pulls hard enough that you can stick a dvd case (had one sitting on the floor of the truck) and it won't hold it in place but it will very slowly slide down the radiator and the ac condensor can hold up a few sheets of paper. I honestly never testd how strong the air pullwas with the original fan so I don't have a comparison.
All I have left is to get my Flexalite variable speed controller from flexalite and figure out a reliable way of mounting that lower pass side and she will be back on the road. I am also toying with the idea of maybe getting some heavier rubber sheets and trying to maybe cut them and attach them to the shroud of the windstar fan to maybe help direct the flow a little better but I want to see how it does in the Alabama heat as is before I go through the trouble.
I need to pick up appropriately sized bolts
I went to do some junkyard diving last weekend in hopes of trying a contour fan on my 06 fiddy but what I found was that paticular model fan was about 6 inches shorter than the fin surface on the truck's radiator. After some peeking under hoods I came across a windstar and took some measurements.
The fan from the windstar is so close to the dimensions of my radiators preexisting mounts that it is painful. If you bolt the upper mount on the passenger side of the radiator up the mount tab on the dirver's side is literally like an inch shy of the drivers side mount and about a half inch low enough that if you exented it someone it would sit on the rad at an angle.
Im not quite yet but I picked up some angle brackets from lowes and cut the upper and lower mount tabs off the driver's side then mounted the metal brackets in the appropriate spots. I left the original upper tab on the passenger side but I was not able to come up with a good solution for the lower passenger side bracket because that side of the fan does not have the same lip as the drivers side so I will have to be slightly more creative with the bracket.
The unit doesnt perfectly sit against the rad but it still pulls hard enough that you can stick a dvd case (had one sitting on the floor of the truck) and it won't hold it in place but it will very slowly slide down the radiator and the ac condensor can hold up a few sheets of paper. I honestly never testd how strong the air pullwas with the original fan so I don't have a comparison.
All I have left is to get my Flexalite variable speed controller from flexalite and figure out a reliable way of mounting that lower pass side and she will be back on the road. I am also toying with the idea of maybe getting some heavier rubber sheets and trying to maybe cut them and attach them to the shroud of the windstar fan to maybe help direct the flow a little better but I want to see how it does in the Alabama heat as is before I go through the trouble.
I need to pick up appropriately sized bolts
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ericp33 (12-15-2013)
12-15-2013, 08:59 PM
#20
heavyduty150
This is the best write up I've seen so far and I final found someone who had good pictures so I can hook my fans up..... when you say acc on feed.... is that your ignition switched source?