When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hello everyone. I have a 1992 f150 4.9l and I put electric fans on it. I currently have the upper pipe split and have the sensor in there. But I'm not a huge fan of it and because it's constant flowing hot coolant and cooler coolant it never shuts off. I was wondering if I could put it in the radiator where the petcock is. I did some research and some people say yes and some people say no. Some people say to get a cooler sensor to off set the the lower temps at the bottom compared to the hotter temps at the upper part. I'm not sure which to believe or if it even matters. What do you guys think?
I don't have an electric fan in my F150 but I did have one in my old Ranger. There I put the sensor in the lower (I assumed it was the return) hose coming off the radiator. Dual temp switch for a two-speed fan and it worked like a charm.
Just make sure the temp switch doesn't fight the thermostat in terms of where to keep the temperature at.
I don't have an electric fan in my F150 but I did have one in my old Ranger. There I put the sensor in the lower (I assumed it was the return) hose coming off the radiator. Dual temp switch for a two-speed fan and it worked like a charm.
Just make sure the temp switch doesn't fight the thermostat in terms of where to keep the temperature at.
I have it in the upper now and it's constantly on because the temp in the upper hose never goes below 185. Which is the sensors shut off. I heat gunned it and its a constant 190 to 197 ish. Thats why im wondering if i should put it in the petcock to get a temp reading of the radiator fluid. I have a glowshift sensor where the dash gauge sensor goes and the block is reading roughly 185 and the heater core lines read about the same. So the fan does its job it just never shuts off because of the constant flowing of hot fluid over it when the thermostate opens
I haven't installed an electric fan on my 4.9L yet, but there is a spot on the thermostat housing for it. It's a brass pipe plug that discovered after sand blasting that housing. This is where you want the sensor. It's the coolant outlet and gives a better reading as to the actual temperature of the motor.
thats odd mine doesn't have that. Maybe because I bought a new one since mine was nasty. This is the one I have. I wonder if I can drill and tap it out? But when it's there wouldn't it have the same effect with keeping the fans constantly running because the temp fluid coming out of the thermostate is 196 and the temp sensor is for 200. So wouldn't the fan constantly run?
Last edited by Josh404677; Jun 18, 2024 at 09:35 AM.
Get a higher temp sensor. It does not need to run at 200F... Could also get a dual speed or pair of singles to run in series or parallel for high and low speeds.
Remember a 195F rated stat starts to open at that temp, it is not fully open then.
Get a higher temp sensor. It does not need to run at 200F... Could also get a dual speed or pair of singles to run in series or parallel for high and low speeds.
Remember a 195F rated stat starts to open at that temp, it is not fully open then.
I could always try it. But correct me if I'm wrong the fans will always stay on no matter what because the coolant exiting the upper hose will always be whatever the thermostat closes at. So say it opens at 195 and fully open at 198 but closes at 195. If my fans are set to shut off at 185 then it could never shut off because the fluid at minimum coming out of the thermostate will read a minimum of 195. Shouldnt the sensor be before the thermostate. Kinda like the oem ect sensor which gets the flow from a separate port in the head to flow to the heater core. That sees the engine temp as it's heating up and cooling off. Whatever comes out of the thermostate will always keep thr fans on. And I'm not a fan of having an engine running at 210 degrees or more. Pushing the limits. Both my camaro and pontiac run about 195 on the hottest days and the camaro is making 620hp.
The fan sensor needs to go on the bottom of the radiator, lower hose, or intake to the water pump.
It needs to be in the flow of coolant, so that when the engine starts to intake water that won't cool it,
the fan kicks on. Ideally, it kicks on just before the water temp rises.
The fan only needs to run when the radiator's heat- soaked,
but it should run before the engine temperature varies.
The fan sensor needs to go on the bottom of the radiator, lower hose, or intake to the water pump.
It needs to be in the flow of coolant, so that when the engine starts to intake water that won't cool it,
the fan kicks on. Ideally, it kicks on just before the water temp rises.
The fan only needs to run when the radiator's heat- soaked,
but it should run before the engine temperature varies.
t
that's kind of what I assumed. Any good ideas of how to do such things? The rad is already in and don't want to take it out to weld a bung to it.
It sounds like your sensor is not adjustable? This is the problem with cheap e-fan controllers. Your ability to the tune the fans now is entirely dependent on sensor location. The right way is put the sensor in the gooseneck, use actual engine temp as your frame of reference and adjust the start-stop thresholds on the fan controller to your desired results.
To do electric fans the right way isn't cheap and is a major reason why a clutch fan wins most of the time. When I swapped V6 Ford Contour fans onto a brand X project I used a two-speed Dakota Digital controller for a number of years. Worked great and when I installed a Holley Sniper on the car I let integrated two-speed controller on that control fans.
