Accuracy does not seem to be xtrford's strong suit.

Note that FTE membership includes "Clubwagon" AND Club Wagon. If you must maintain an "official ignore list" you'd be wise to learn the difference between the two.

Once again, "soleniods are desiged" to do work, as in a starter solenoid that engages the starter gear. Relays are the devices you once referred to as "simply an electronic switch". You can not substitute a FORD starter relay for a FORD starter solenoid-they're 2 entirely different devices.

At this late date, xtrford is still making wild guesses about the power used by a "taurus fan" as his basis to convert to an e-fan, instead of taking my sound advice & simply noting the size fuse FORD used to protect the Taurus fan circuit. Others should not ignore the fact that the fan could not use more amps than the fuse rating FORD selected. Its OK for xtrford to add that good advice to his "official ignore list" & go right on guessing in the "50-70 amps and in some cases up to a 100" range though. However, I'm w/tim.moman & seriously doubt the Taurus fan ever draws even 30 amps. There's a 30 amp 'cooling fan' fuse in my car & it has dual fans.

Good luck using "these soleniods are desiged for electric golf cart applications". Every electric golf cart I've ever seen has a tray full of batteries to power it's heavy traction motor. How "these soleniods" application relates to an itty bitty, fist size, Taurus cooling fan running on a single battery should be amusing.

Out of respect for xtrford's feelings, I'll remain silent on shroud issues.

 

I really don't want a pi$$ing match here, but the fans should pull no more than 30 amps. If they do, the motor is drawing too much The older tauruses had 30 amp circuit breakers in them. I would only suggest a circuit breaker because it resets itself after opening which may save you a lot of money if the engine should overheat. PS. A relay is a relay and a solenoid is a solenoid designed to do 2 different operations for a reason they are designed that way.

 

The diode is a blocking device in this use. It is to keep voltage from bleeding over to the other relay circuit and turning it on. It all depends on how you wire the two circuits (sensor sharing etc) to how this may apply. The diode would be on the logic (control) side of the relay. You design may not require it.

Good plan on starting lower fused. But engineering may be a bit off. If the fan is rated at 30a. Fusing at 65% of the load (20a) will blow. And 50a could exceed the “melt” value for 10g wire. (Reason for the main fuse). May I suggest fusing the main power feed a bit lower? 40% above max load value is more than needed try 35 or 40 amp fuses to start. You can always up the fuse if it does blow as planned. Or go to 8g on the main feed. (overkill for that 30a fan)

Am I mis-understanding on "switching" fuse. Are running a separate feed just for control? If so it should not need but 5a. I never extend above 10a for control. The relays take less than .5 amps to hold usually so 10 is EXCESSIVE. (Been a while since I looked at one). So it sounds like you are going the starter relay option. Something to keep in mind is efficiency. Installing the e-fans are to improve that, then run a control circuit to eat up gains in with alternator demand seems counter productive to your goal. Why are you concerned with running a 30 amp load with a 40 amp switch device???? You might look at what the factory uses in the original vehicle for the fan relay.

 

opps, several responses since I type mine up. I think the advise hear is very good with ample facts and experience. So I believe I will move on.

And Club Wagon, I am with you on the shroud subject. It is the reason I have not done this to mine.

 

The switch is simply running direct from the battery (fused 20amp) and the neg is attached to the solenoid for switching on the high speed. It has a temp probe to attach to the rad inlet and I will set it at 180 degrees. The other solenoid will be switch by tapping into the wire for the clutch fan on the AC, and it is rated at 15 amps which is why I will equal the setting with another fuse.

The solenoids will have there own seperate 12V source feed from the battery which I plan on using 8g wire and unfortunately as for a weather proof fuse holder, it is the highest I can find. I am still finding alot of different opinions on the net regarding taurus fan applications on different vehicles and the amp spike at start-up has been documented and even measured with a fluke meter. Many have claimed of blowing out several 30 amp relays and that is why I am taking the route I'm going. These fans will pull alot to get going at first and then level off, so I still don't see anything wrong with the parts I have considering I am not using the oem set-up. But I'm still curious about the need of a diode, maybe another route I might have to take and it sounds like a good idea.

On another note, I think attaching the shroud + fan to my stock one is the way to go. I plan on shaping the taurus fan shroud to fit in mine since it covers the whole rad and not just one small area.

 

After over 20 years & nearly 7 million Taurus on the road, FORD, as well as most of the rest of us, would expect "blowing out several 30 amp relays". These e-fans are exposed to a rough environment & ultimately succumb to water intrusion or bearing failure; commonly revealed by overloading, internal shorting, blown fuses, breakers & relays. However, mostly they just run & run & run, day in, day out, commonly for a decade, w/o any drama, despite what you believe was "documented" "with a fluke meter".

CAUTION! ignore this part, WARNING! ribbing ahead, ask children & those of tender dispositions to leave the room: With a "power sucking pig" for an e-fan, "soleniods desiged for electric golf cart applications", "all conects soldered" & "shaping the taurus fan shroud to fit in" your F's shroud, what could possibly go wrong? If there's any glitches you can always go "to the trusty recip saw to finish the job".

PS: Since the institution of the "official ignore list" I guess its OK to comment on the shroud for others. Hint: If your original fan shroud is like the 1 in my '98, you'll find FORD did a very good thing by designing it to R&R easily. FORD expects mechanics to quickly/easily remove the fan by the 'Big Nut' & the shroud, when service to components at front of motor is needed. Only 2 small screws really hold the shroud in place, the 2 bottom pegs merely slip into slots on either side. Its also flexible enough to wrestle out w/o draining coolant & removing hose-contrary to "hanyes". However, it was not designed to support an e-fan & would require modifications to sustain the load, which would most likely make it harder to remove.

The e-fan techs I've spoken to don't seem to have reservations about placing 'pusher' fans into the cavernous empty space behind the grille. Which is the way I'm leaning. A pair of smaller fans, 1 on either side of the big post blocking the center, feels right to me. Conversely, a big single fan, directly behind that wide post, seems like a bad seat at the concert. I have no qualms about powering a pair of e-fans. Also want to eliminate the shroud & open up access to the front of the motor. I've had nearly a dozen vehicles with dual e-fans & the only problem I ever had w/e-fans was from broken frames after a drunk in a pickup backed up w/o looking & crunched to the radiator support.

 

I did the install yesterday and everything works great. Had to muck with the thermostat switch to finally keep it at optimal operating temp. I tapped into the AC clutch fan switch this morning to get the low speed working....I guess I'll have to wait until summer to see how well it works on a hot summer day during stop and go traffic. The high speed is really amazing on how much it cools, it needs only seconds to pull the temp down 10 degrees according to my autometer water temp gauge when idling.
The only problem I ran into was putting the shroud back on the rad because the taurus fan was attached to the stock opening and it almost made it too ridgid to bend the tabs past the rad hose on the passenger side. I had to disassemble the entire intake to be able to maneuver it back in place.

The final tab on the whole project ran me about $150, the most expensive part was the fan which costed me $40 from the junkyard.

Here's a pic of the whole assembly from my gallery.

 

You completely contradict yourself all the time with your stupid posts. You talk about fans that spike in amperage because exposure to the elements? Yet you want to put two of them as pusher in front of your rad where they are at the mercy of all sorts of things including debris from the roads. Will see what happens to your electrical when they do start to go during a hot summer day with AC on and stereo cranking.

I bought my solenoids from with the referral of my friends to an alterator repair shop and he gave me products that are actually used for oem applications. With his advice which I will take any friggin day over your dumb lambasting posts told me they will only take what is required by the fans and it is a good idea since the Taurus fan in the actual car is controlled by the PCM and not aftermarket mechanical devices.

You blab about Ford's wise designing yet you take the completely opposite route. Are you getting confused as to what your haynes manual suggests? Do you know why Ford put the fan behind the rad with a shroud? Why would want to impede airflow through the front of your rad? Pusher fans are about 20% less effecient than pullers, so by that logic you will need roughly 2 pushers to do the work of one puller. Your alternator only produces max amperage at about 4-5 rpms, NOT at idle which is where your fans will be engaging most of the time. Your less effecient ways will only spell the demise of your alternator....but I really don't give a s**t what you do.

BTW...your are going to have one butt ugly looking front end of your truck with 2 Ford taurus fans there. It will look like you blinged it up from an Autozone store.

 

"completely contradict yourself"? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are the one who chose the "Taurus fan", described it as a "power sucking pig" & promoted the claim "100 AMPS"!-NOT me. Great job though-on your "official ignore list" that is.

Which of your comments is less accurate? The "about 20% less effecient than pullers" OR the "Your alternator only produces max amperage at about 4-5 rpms"? I'm very confident the 130 amp alternator & biggest battery you can jam in my '98 can easily power the kind of dual e-fans I'm considering. Even if they were "20% less" efficient than pullers, the pair will provide substantially more cooling effect than single fans can, as well as providing the flexibility of normally running economically on 1 fan & of course adds redundancy. Besides, I'm not even locked on pusher fans, dual fans pulling would only increase the advantage duals provide. My issue is how much more efficient-over belt driven fan? Or are you attempting to guesstimate how "less effecient" in terms of amps from numbers you got on Goggle?

IMO this extra/excess cooling capacity, only provided by dual fans, is potentially a very good thing to have in FL. IMO your Taurus e-fan graft may have constricted "about 20%" of the shroud's throat, possibly reducing maximum cooling capacity. I also sincerely hope you did not ignore my comments about the shroud not being designed to support an e-fan & made some attempt to reinforce & secure things.

BTW..."your are" apparently unfamiliar with the design of F150 grille & unaware of the large empty space behind it & ahead of the radiator & radiator support. To even look at the pusher fans I'm considering you'd need to get on your knees, use a flashlight & get your eyes near the grille, just to get a peek inside. Both the rectangular 2X4 proportions & big center post, of the radiator cut out, scream dual fans-they'd virtually cover the core! So close to the Arctic Circle, you don't really even need a fan most of the time anyway. There was a time I took my fans off in winter to help heat up the interior. From NY, my 4X4 has a block heater, that's what snow belters need! Preheating your motor can save of lot of low temp enrichment & battery draw.

Readers should note that xtrford's characterization; "one butt ugly looking front end" in this case refers to a 100% original '98 XLT 4X4, that will turn 10K this week & is still very nearly exactly as "butt ugly" as the day FORD hatched it.

PS: One of the links is to 'Flex-a-lite' that claims gains as much as "17 HP" & "2-3 MPG" from converting a belt driven fan to dual 15" e-fans.