Replacing 4Runner fan clutch with electric

[ezeedee]

i assume youve done a grill block already?

[VetteOwner]

you dont NEED a shroud, yes they do work, but not necessary...

[GasSavers_Red]

pics?

[Mentalic]

Lower grill is blocked and I'm taking it out when I get the E-fan working to be sure I don't have any issues. Depending on results I may reinstall it. Most of my driving is below 50mph and I have not seen much improvement from the block I'm running.

I will not install the E-fan without a full shroud. Something has to hold it up in position anyway.

I did not take any pics of how I had it installed in the factory shroud but its not in there just now anyway. I really had to trim the E-fans shroud down a good bit for it to fit inside the factory shroud though. Used a Dremel abrasive wheel that just melts its way through the plastic easy enough.

About the only pic's I have not posted are on how I mounted the Spall controller and the manual A/C fan kill switch on the dash. Depending on how the A/C works without the E-Fan running at speed I'll try and automate it via the torque converter lock up.

What I need to do this Friday is hit the road and find some sheet metal. It really should be easy enough to make a shroud. Material and time....

[VetteOwner]

lol mines being held up by part of the top shroud i cut off and a long bolt on the bottom. hasnt fallen off in about 2 years and cools perfectly fine even while im towing

[rearviewmirror]

You're getting 25MPG out of your 4Runner? I've got a 2000 Limited 4WD and I'm averaging 15MPG!

[Mentalic]

Originally Posted by rearviewmirror

You're getting 25MPG out of your 4Runner? I've got a 2000 Limited 4WD and I'm averaging 15MPG!

Yep, but mine is a 2 runner. Weighs less, fewer moving bits.

[Mentalic]

Spent a couple of hours Friday sketching out possibly building a new shroud. Turns out thats not going to work any better due the same problem, the mark 8 fan is just too deep. Mark 8 fan is 4.75 front to back and flexes about .5 inch at max rpm. Theres just not enough space from the radiator to the engine to make this puppy fit with enough clearance for air movement by the radiator.

Looking at other fan options. There's some 16" Spal's that will work. Need to decide on which way to go.

[Telco]

I ran two Permacool fans in a custom shroud in my 96 Tahoe, worked out pretty well. Each one is 14in in diameter, and pulls 2850CFM. Had the shroud made up out of aluminum and Rhino-lined it for sound absorption. They were very quiet and did an excellent job of cooling the 350 engine it had. The AC also worked better in traffic, since it had plenty of airflow across it at idle. I don't remember the depth though, course there was plenty of room for mine to work out. On the shroud, you only need about an inch from the radiator to the fan to get airflow across almost the entire radiator.

[Mentalic]

Finally installed the fan today, took most of the day as well. Only ran it a bit to verify operation so I don't know the FE impact just yet. I removed the lower grill block until I feel confident in this new setup.

First thing I did was test the Spal fan and controller, good thing I did. It was not calibrated at all and ran full speed at power up. The paper work indicated it was set up to work with the Spal temp sensor from the factory at 160F on, 200F high, yet mine was not.
So I had to calibrate mine, and to make it easer I removed the sensor from the truck and rigged up a hot water bath so I could set the low speed turn on at 155F and full speed at 195F. Its not had to calibrate, just get the sensor to proper temp and press the low or high button.

The original fan was 18" in a 21" cutout.
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/5396/p7191693re6.jpg

Installed the Spal controller behind the battery tray on the fender.
http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/8417/p8191749dg3.jpg


New Spal fan mounted in stock shroud. Used some aluminum sheet and reinforced the stock mounts because they looked flimsy.
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/6954/p9291778ex3.jpg


Front of new fan. Looks tiny but man it moves some air!.
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/9841/p9291781cw2.jpg


Fan installed in truck. Fits with no problem.
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/9370/p9291783aw5.jpg


Temp sensor mounted on radiator outlet line. Its wrapped with rubber tape and topped off with regular electric tape to insulate it so it picks up the temp better.
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/1253/p9291788ev5.jpg


Top view where you can see the shaft that gave me clearance trouble with the Mark 8 fan I had originally tried to use.
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/7833/p9291790yt4.jpg