I acquired an electric cooling fan and shroud from a newer model Lincoln sedan and plan on putting it in my pick-up. The shroud/fan unit seems to be a direct replacement for the existing shroud once I remove the fan clutch. I have read that the fan should be connected to a heat sensor on the engine. I couldn't find the sensor on the donor car, really didn't know where to look. I plan to connect the fan directly to a switched circuit in the fuse box until I can get the engine sensor. The fan is two speed, so I plan to connect the high speed.
Seeing that my truck has a mechanical fan, how and where would I install and connect the sensor, and where is it located on a donor engine? Any help would be appreciated.

 

The FAN control is handled by the original computer that senses coolant temperatures and changes speed as needed using relays.
You have a special install to do because the Fan draws a lot of current at startup and the truck is not equipped to do this..
You can use an electrical fan thermostat to control a special soft start controller to limit the starting current of the Fan.
The wiring needs to be at least #10 to reduce the voltage drop and relays that will handle the current..
The connectors need to be the best and installed properly or risk cooling failures.
Bottom line is it's not as simple as you might have thought..
Good luck.

 

More background on electric cooling fans and electrical load on the alternator.
Electric cooling fans in Ford vehicles began about 1993+/-
The Lincoln mark VIII had a large fan. It takes as much as 100 amps starting current then reduces as the fan come up to speed.
Later this type cooling filtered down to smaller cars as front wheel drive and smaller engine bays become the norm.
The control system for the fans was incorporated into the computer for automatic speed control.
Together with A/C and heater Fan current the total drain on the charge system can get quite high at times so it's important not to run the fan anymore than necessary, hence two speed operation when needed plus low road speeds in hot temperatures.
Lastly the air movement ability of the fan must be as much as the stock mechanical fan that can be as high as 2500 cfm for the highest loads the truck might be subject to.
You can see that an outside addition of Fan cooling needs to address all these considerations and be reliable.
A -----fan controller------, and temperature sensor placed at the appropriate location , heavy wiring and relays are the main attributes.
Powering needs to be from a location that can accommodate the fuse size required and wire to handle the current.
Many who have not engineered the system well enough experience burnt wiring, relay failure and blown fuses etc.
Also the Alternator and battery capacity may have to be increased.
I really question the cost and reliability of doing this for the small perceived gain.
Basically the only possible gain is in the Fan OFF time as opposed to the mechanical Fan due to the loading on the Alternator that still takes power from the motor to drive it and supply current to run the Fan.
A Fan sounds good but until the design requirements are realized, then it may not a worthwhile consideration for the risk and small gain.
There is little free power to be gained, overall until the fan is in off times under less cooling requirements..
Good luck.




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Read this first: The Myth Of The Electric Fan

Now read the how-to: How To Properly Install An Electric Fan

I have a 2-speed fan from a 92-95 3.8L Taurus on my RX-7. It is a THIRSTY BEAST, which necessitated transplanting the 130A alternator from the Taurus as well (stock alt for 1987 RX7 is 80A). You need a fan thermoswitch (or adjustable fan controller, whatever suits your needs), two relays that can handle the load and some 8awg wire to wire it all up. My setup is the fan itself, matching pigtail from the Taurus, wired into a fan relay assembly from a Volvo, another 40A relay (ignition key triggered) and finally the thermoswitch. Switch is from a 1974 Subaru GL because it fit the stock M16 threads on my RX-7, turns on at 204 degrees and uses a regular bullet connector.

2-speed fans can be tricky to get to behave the way you want. Google "Taurus fan" and you'll learn lots.

 

To add more for those who contemplate such a change, the docs offered present all the same requirements with supporting power requirement calculations. Believe them!
Also, the truck radiator is much larger in surface area. This requires either a much larger fan or multiple smaller fans to cover the area.
The torque advantage received is when the fan is not powered.
You may tend to see some small MPG increase if attention is paid but that gain is not full time.
The torque gains are really quite small as most people cannot sense less than about an equivalent of a 10 hp increase by the seat of the pants dyno feeling.
We are not saying don't do this but you have to put some "engineering" into it more than just a relay, switch and a thermostat.
Good luck.

 

As long as one can cut a straight line, extending a fan shroud to cover the extra surface area isn't too difficult. The plastic Ford used (ABS?) is easy to cut with most hand tools, but my go-to tool for this would be a jigsaw with a fine-tooth blade and dremel with sanding bit to clean it up.

HP gained: zero
Torque gained: zero
Why? Because the stock clutch fan uses no power when it is not in use.

As for current draw, it has been covered numerous times over on the Pirate4x4 forums found here: Current Draw for a Ford Taurus Fan - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum
Low speed: 30A inrush, 11A constant
High speed: 60A inrush, 28A constant

Inrush current is the current draw to start a motor from Zero RPM and normally lasts for about 0.1 seconds, give or take. But if something stalls your fan and keeps it at 0 RPM, inrush current will keep climbing untill your fuse blows. If you're switching from low to high speed, the 60A inrush current draw is irrelevant. Still, an additional 28A constant draw is going to affect other things. Had I not upgraded my alternator in the RX-7, the existing FD alternator (form 93-95 RX-7, 100 amp output) would have been overworked and failed in a few hours. Heaven forbid, had it been the stock 80A one, it would probably have been on fire if the car didn't immediately stall from the fan pulling power away from everything else.

 

Has OP installed it?