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Thanks for the kind words Aaron. The controller keeps the fan spinning for a programmed amount of time after shut off. I have mine set for a minute. It can be set for 0 to 5 minutes.
Drove the CC yesterday all day in the nasty Bay Area traffic and my engine temp never went above this (Picture) which translates to around 180 degrees (According to my radiator thermometer) and has been rock solid no matter what my driving conditions have been. Before I would have fluctuating engine temperatures. This has been a dramatic improvement so far.
Awesome work for sure!! I love my efan upgrade as well. Best mod so far, imo. It's crazy how much noise a mechanical fan actually makes. If that is where your temp gauge sits for 180*, I must have a 160* tstat. My needle never goes further than the "E" in TEMP. It also never steps up in the 2nd speed.
I stand corrected! Excellent info and very interesting feature of the fan controller - I never would have guessed that it has a timer built in.
If that's your constant temp... this upgrade is pure gold. It makes me want to do it too. Probably the first thing I noticed during my engine break-in is how extremely loud the mechanical fan is. It's like a plane was taking off in front of the truck!
Must be nice to be able to hear yourself think with the hood open
Hummm, I really need to address my leaking freeze plugs and while I have the engine out I need to fix my clutch. It's currently an 11" and it needs to be a 12". Maybe this winter I'll start in on that project, its been one I've been putting off for a while.
Hey Steve, looks great! I have been waiting for your post as reference for while I'm doing mine. Two questions for you if you don't mind:
1. Have you seen it use the high speed fan at all? I realized after buying my mercury mark 8 fan that it is 2 wire / single speed fan (rockauto very dubious about #spds...). Hoping that won't be an issue. Curious what your results have been so far?
2. Where did you pull switched power from for the Dakota? I haven't poked my head around in up behind the dash too much but hoping it is something nearby for a short wire run (and that I don't have to tear apart the dash).
Hey Steve, looks great! I have been waiting for your post as reference for while I'm doing mine. Two questions for you if you don't mind:
1. Have you seen it use the high speed fan at all? I realized after buying my mercury mark 8 fan that it is 2 wire / single speed fan (rockauto very dubious about #spds...). Hoping that won't be an issue. Curious what your results have been so far?
2. Where did you pull switched power from for the Dakota? I haven't poked my head around in up behind the dash too much but hoping it is something nearby for a short wire run (and that I don't have to tear apart the dash).
Thanks!
1. I'm having an issue with my temperature gauge system so my fan runs at both speeds. (See next post)
2. I got the switched ignition power from my electric choke circuit that I installed/modified under the hood. It made the wiring easy because all the connections are under the hood.
During the calibration I discovered that the DC bias voltage that feeds both oil and temperature sender units pulses intermittently causing the controller to be confused because it doesn't get an accurate resistance measurement. This would explain a lot because over the years I have always suspected my factory gauges to be kinda goofy. Oddly enough the fuel gauges work. Looking at the schematics my suspects are the flex circuit behind the instrument panel, the connector and maybe the radio suppression choke/Voltage regulator. I know the easy way out would be to just get aftermarket gauges (Still a possibility) but I really would like to get the factory gauges working.
I do have a spare instrument cluster that I will use as a parts bin. In the meantime the fan runs at both low and high speed and the coolant temperature is still 180 degrees.
So the goal is to use the existing temp sending unit, existing temp gauge, but Dakota controller + electric fans? Do I have that correct?
You are correct although I did replace the temperature and oil pressure sending units a while back. The Dakota controller is compatible with several different sending units including legacy systems.
That Dakota works well, heard great things about it. Clean install too! Another option is to get rid of relays altogether with a pwm controller. You get soft starts and the fan spins up and down as needed. AM radio sucks now tho’
boy is this timely,I just picked up a 98 Mark8,,,single speed ,,,,,looks like the dakota has great reveiws,,putting the fan in front of a champion rad,,,,the other day in doing some research with this next project ,I read the champion has a 19 psi rad cap,,,where our fords run on a 13 psi, causing freeze plug leaks,and possible head damage.......just thought id pass that to you steve,,,,,great set up ,,,I'll be watching as usuall
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