Hello everyone! I haven't been on in a long time due to rigorous schoolwork and need some advice if you would. First off, my brother that knows nothing about cars got this car from my dad, and I was given the car after my brother bought a Taurus. I don't have a license (can't wait for July > ) but I have worked on this car since I was a little kid when my dad drove it. I start it up a few times a week to see if anything's wrong and just my luck: One day my radiator just started spewing fluid out of the top tank header. A lot of the fins were damaged so it was time for a new radiator. My dad ordered one for my birthday, and when I opened it it turned out to be a SIDE FLOW. So we sent it back and got a proper downflow Champion aluminum radiator. Before we scrapped a '78 LeBaron (weirdest car mechanicals I've ever seen) I pulled the Summit electric fan off of it and have no idea where the thermostat went. So my dad ordered a weird thermoswitch that switched at 185 degrees and I had no simple way of mounting it. I raised the switching temperature by encasing it in epoxy for a little insulation and glued it into my thermostat housing that I had drilled a hole in. I got that housing on, I got the radiator in (which was really difficult because my mounts were warped), I got the fan mounted to the radiator, and I got the switch & relay wired up. I started her up, and all the hoses were leaking. So I tightened them. Then the thermostat housing leaked. The gasket had been shredded somehow so I got another one, and putting that housing on and off is NOT easy or fun. So it was finally all put together. I warmed her up, the thermostat opened, the radiator was working perfectly, and I brought it up to operating temperature. A few minutes later, the "TEMP" light came on. The fan would not turn on. I shut the motor off and checked all my wiring and after everything it appeared that the switch was broken. I had checked it when I got it and it worked, but perhaps the clamping I had done to get it into the thermostat housing had broken it. It was the end of the day and I was extremely disappointed. So what can I do? The thermoswitch is stuck in the housing with 30 MINUTE EPOXY, and I don't have another switch either. My question is: Would it be okay if I wired the fan relay to the "TEMP" light switch? The fan I'm using is like 1,600 CFM so it would immediately cool the radiator and she actually runs really well when she's really hot. This brings me to another question: Is there a way I can lower the best operating temperature, with, for example, colder spark plugs or another trick? Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Factory fan and shroud. Otherwise there is a tech article here about wiring up an electric fan with a relay and all that. Ive had my Taurus fan for a year now on my porch and never installed...I know it works because electric fans are one of the most common improvements we all do to our cars here. That and disc brakes, small bumpers and bucket seats.
I never had the factory fan or the shroud. It had a flex fan with no shroud for a long time and that worked until it overheated and the radiator got toasted (I think because it froze during winter with no coolant in it and popped the solder).
Electric fan should work well if it's big enough. I think your problem is that thermostatic switch. I wouldn't epoxy it into the housing like that. My suggestion would be to get a new thermostat housing, and possibly a new switch. Wiring it to the temp light might make it run too hot. Depending on what type of switch you have, you can install it a few ways. Some of them screw into the intake manifold, some are designed to be pushed in between the radiator fins. I didn't like the idea of doing that, so I put it inside the upper radiator hose. This is one of those bulb-on-a-wire types. It's a about a 3" copper tube crimped onto a wire. I stuffed that into the hose, then put a strip of rubber between the wire and the hose on the water neck of the radiator. Some RTV silicone wouldn't hurt here either. Use thin rubber, something like a bicycle inner tube. As for your other question, yes, it's ok to run the fan relay on a toggle switch but I don't really like doing that. You have to watch the temp gauge and it's easy to forget about it and cause a world of trouble. If you do that, make sure you have a good aftermarket temp gauge, which isn't a bad idea anyway. If you want to lower the operating temp, provided your radiator and fan are capable of supporting lower temps, just change the rating on the thermostat. Stock is 195, but you can get 180 or 160.
I thought about switching the hi speed of the Taurus fan using the TEMP sender. Asked here about the temperature that the idiot light sensor grounds and was told its 250 degrees -- way too hot to start your fan.
The strange thing is it seems like it makes the most power and runs smoothest when it's just about hitting the temp light on.
Fixed Mine overheated a lot too without the shroud. Then I created one from an old Ranchero shroud and I was like a miracle.
i suspect its the epoxy that you put on the switch. i don't know why you would feel the need to do that but its done. most auto parts stores sell an adjustable electric fan switch for around $30.00. its the type described by facelessnumber above. it has a small knob on it that you can twist to adjust when it turns on and off. i personally like to install it near the outlet side of the radiator. this is the side that goes to the water pump. with it installed here the fan will turn off and stay off when your going fast enough to not need the fan on. sense you can adjust it, it will turn on early enough to keep the motor cool. your motor runs better hot because its near the thermal efficiency point in the combustion chamber. modern motors run around 210 degrees. this is for clean emissions purposes and power. with the computer able to control the fan and the air fuel ratios that effect the temps in the combustion chamber. older motors are not able to control the air fuel ratio and do better running at around 195 degrees. that gives it room to run hotter in extreme temp situations and still not over heat. when the light turns on its too late. the motor is overheating. you never mentioned what temp t-stat your using. also if your motor is a I6 or V8.
302 V8. I don't remember what thermostat temp. And the reason I installed the switch like I did is it's a completely different style switch. It's a cylinder a little bigger than 5/8" in diameter and clicks on at about 190 degrees and off at 180. I now realize this style of switch is unsuitable, however I had to epoxy it in because of the pressure within the cooling system. It was not threaded. At least it doesn't leak.
Something like this is what I like to use. I've run one of these on at least four cars, all daily drivers.
If you want the engine to operate at a higher temp, the thermostat should be changed, not the fan temp switch. Fan temp switch will determine when the fan cuts on to cool the water in the radiator. The thermostat will determine when that cooled water will flow through the engine. I wouldn't recommend a T-stat above 195 though.
I wud think the epoxy will not last long where u are using it. If it's not made to endure high-temp apps, chemicals/solvents; my guess is it's a temp solution. I use the same fan controller as facelessnumbers, so far, it has been workin fine the 6 or 7 mos. I've had it. Im using a 1600 cfm fan also w/o shroud/ 180 stat. - so far - no cooling issues.
Epoxy is good up to 350 degrees F and ethylene glycol will not dissolve resin. It should hold basically indefinitely.
That may be, but there's also the repeated heat cycling to consider, the differing expansion rates between the epoxy, the aluminum housing and the sensor, possible erosion of the epoxy by the particles that will be constantly blasting against it, and the pressure. I'm not saying it won't hold, it might, but it's not a sure thing. Besides, whether it's the glue's fault or not, your temp switch isn't working so you're probably going to have to replace it anyway. And when you do, we're simply suggesting a method that's been tried and known to work well for many of us rather than what you've got now, which may work but it sounds like something I would have trouble being confident in.
