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I need help wiring in a dual 2 speed e-fan


RCWD21
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I got a fan out of a 98 DOHC maxima yesterday and both motors work.

 

I hooked a battery up to the wires (found a write up over on infamousnissan with the same fan and wiring colors with a hand drawn diagram) he states that these are 2 speed fans but wired up like he has them the fans are the exact same speed regardless of which side you pick to power.

 

The only way I can get to the high speed setting is by attaching BOTH the power wires together for both sides of the motor. So both positive wires together and then the ground by itself.

 

There's a huge difference between the speeds but where I'm confused at is how am I going to achieve the high speed setting with this fan with a controller?

 

The controller I'd like to use is the derale 16795. It states it can control 2 fans but I don't see it saying anything about 2 speed fans.

 

From what I understand I need a controller that can run a low speed and a high speed without cutting off one of the speeds since this fan needs both positive leads powered at the same time to achieve the high speed setting.

 

I "think I have it figured out though? But I'm going to keep digging and see if I can make more sense of everything..

 

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You need a controller that will run two speed fans. Or a single speed controller and just use low or high speed.

 

Google "icebox fan controller" and see if you like that.

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Well the icebox is a bit pricey but I like it.

 

I'm still confused how I'd wire the fan up since it requires power to both sides of the fan fires to have the 2nd speed turn on.

 

I've never attempted this before so please excuse my confusion, I just want to be able to set it up, fine tune it, and not have to worry about overheating or frying fan motors.

 

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I figured I'll just run both grounds together and then run the rest of the harness based on 2 seperate positive wires sort of like a 2 speed 3 wire fan. I think I have that right but I'm still not sure since most of the posts I find are "hey I got this fan and hooked it up and it works great" most people fail to detail their install/experience. Or the pics of everything are no longer hosted so I have to guess :/

 

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I think if I have a diode between the 2 positive wires so that when the ac kicks on it can supply power to both sides and then I'll have a high speed setting and then when I have the ac off it'll work as normal on low speed.

 

 

I'm sure I'm making this more complicated than what it needs to be but electronics aren't my strongest point even though I love working with them.

 

The fan wires I'm dealing with are

 

Solid black

White/ red stripe

White/ blue stripe

White/ black stripe.

 

The black and the white/ red stripe are negative/ ground.

 

The white/ blue stripe and white/ black stripe are positive.

 

I'm debating on taking this fan back and getting a different one but I'd really like to have dual fans.

 

Would the icebox controller allow me to have a high and a low speed even though the fans require power to both positive and negative wires at the same time to activate the high speed side?

 

I've never dealt with an aftermarket fan controller before so I really have no idea how it's wired internally or anything like that.

 

Right now I'm sitting outside with some 5 pin relays and a bunch of jumper wires with both fans running where if I ground one relay one fan turns off and if it's ungrounded they both run ( found a diagram earlier on Google that I thought was what I was looking for)fad17f14af4c9e36de0acffd9a28533f.jpg

 

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This is the diagram I found on infamous that doesn't seem to add up to what I'm working with (wire colors are the exact same as the fan he has). He says that each side has 2 speeds but the way it's wired the high speed setting will never be used.

Here's a pic of the diagram37a764f97a3a55964e4da8e4a65f7275.jpg

 

 

Here's a link to it incase the pic doesn't load

https://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/57ba1b68f1eec/Schematic%20jpeg_zpsibdwmsee.jpg?

 

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Edited by RCWD21
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Let's say an engine is up to temp and the fans are already on. Now let's say that I decided to run the AC. Would the fan controller ignore the temp prove and default to the AC side of its circuitry?

 

Reason I'm asking is because if I have both of the negative wires hooked together to ground and then one wire to the AC side of the controller and the other wire to the coolant temp side if only one of those wires is powered then that is this fans slow speed setting. If that wire and the 4th wire are BOTH powered at the same time then that is this fans high speed side.

 

I'm getting more and more confused with this and the more I think of it the more I'm debating on taking this fan back and getting the 3.8l taurus fan.

 

I'd really like to stick with this fan though since it's an almost prefect fit and I don't even have to trim the shroud to have it fit.

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated because this is driving me crazier than dealing with the rust issues I have!

 

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Why not get two relays and run low speed off one and the high speed off the other? Then you need two switches and label one High and the other Low.

The switch will have a ground wire which you can secure under any bolt on the body that has metal to metal contact.

The positive wire of the switch runs to pin 86 on the relay.

Pin 30 is wired with an inline fuse to the positive terminal on battery.

Pin 87 is for the positive wire of each individual fan setting. So the low fan speed goes to one relay on pin 87 and the high speed fan positive wire goes to pin 87 on the other relay.

Pin 85 is for a ground so again just wire this to a bolt on the body with metal to metal contact.

So to summarize -

Pin 87 - Accessory wire (Fan speed positive wire)

Pin 86 - Positive wire of switch connect here

Pin 85 - Ground wire (The ground wire connects to here then the bolt of body)

Pin 30 - Positive wire connect here with an inline fuse to positive terminal on battery

 

I hope this helps and good luck!

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Sorry about so many posts, I'm just in a hurry with all this because my daily driver is due for some major maintenance, 98 impreza with a bad front pinion shaft bearing and seal causing gear oil to mix with atf.

 

As for your wiring idea, I tried that today (above pic with the crazy wiring lol) and it will only power on the low speed unless both negatives are connected and both positives are connected to 12v at the same time. In order to do that, that's a ton of relays..

 

I'm going back to the junkyard this Tuesday for an 88 300zx lsd for $20, so I'm going to snag a pathy radiator and see what fan fits the best, I'm between either an older 2 wire maxima fan (this 4 wire setup is a PITA!), a quest/ villager fan, a 3.8l taurus fan, or a dodge grand caravan (only seen this mentioned once on npora in a post).

 

I want things to be as simple as possible so if there's ever a failure it'll be a relatively fast and easy fix. This 4 wire fan is getting on my last nerves lol.. good thing I got the warranty so I can exchange it for a different fan.

 

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This is the connector for the fan that I have. As you can see in the upper corner for the connector there's 2 positives and 2 negatives.

 

d9583e9d7501013c0c6701348897af57.jpg

 

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Yeah so what you can do is cut off that connector then spilt the wiring harness to two relays so your positive wires go to each relay, one for high and the other for low speed. Two switches, wire positive to each individual relay so you can turn them on manually when you need to. Preferably get switches that have an led light so then you know when they are active.

The one thing you will have to do is get some longer wire happening so you can connect it all up, some male/female crimp connectors and some shrink tubing to fit over and seal your connections from water, dust etc. Another good idea is to label your relays 'H' and 'L' so you know which is high speed and the low speed, just in case of emergencies.

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Terranovation, if I crimp together both negative wires and only supply power to one of the positive wires then the fan motor runs at low speed. Once I connect the second positive wire then the high speed comes on. If I supply power to the positive wires one at a time, it doesn't matter which one, the fan only runs on the low speed.

 

I found a schematic for the car this assembly came out of and power supply is controlled by 3 relays. 1 single and 2 double relays. They're in turn controlled by the ecu. In order for me to duplicate that sort of control I think I would need somewhere around 6 or 7 relays total so I could have around true high and low speed setting. That's not taking into account the extra wiring for the fan controller.

 

I'm just going to return this fan Tuesday and hopefully find a better suited fan. I need to keep things as simple as possible incase someone else has to drive or something.

 

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You mentioned that you wired together the ground wires so maybe that is affecting the fan to only run on low speed. Try grounding each negative wire individually and see if that works. If you decide cutting off the connector to make it easier to wire up, you can hide all off your wiring with one of those split convoluted tubes to neaten it all up. Then secure with electrical tape to make it more water tight.

I'm wondering why the relay would be using the ecu though, as the relay would only be controlling the switch and the fan wiring.

As for the fan running on low speed all the time, this is why I say ditch the ecu controlled idea and use switches to turn them on or off when required. Or if you want to get tricky, you could try and find a switch that has an auto setting that uses an internal temp control so the fan activates at a certain coolant temp. For this, you could possibly tap into the temp sensor wire.

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I've tried the grounds by themselves and together, one ground both positives, just about every way you can think of and it all comes back to the same result. And I don't have to cut anything off since I have both sides of the factory plugs.

 

I know I could use switches and run the fans that way but I would rather have it hooked to a controller so there's no issues of me having to look at the temp over and over again. Plus I'd have to but a digital gauge.

 

I know this fan would work but I can't find a controller that maintains power to the temp side of its settings while also supplying power to the AC side of its settings.

 

Simultaneous power to both the positive wires is the only way this fan will run on high speed.

 

I believe the ecu sees that the ac is on so it supplies both sides with power to activate the high speed side of the fan. And then when the compressor either kicks off or the AC switch is turned off then it just monitors engine temp and uses the low speed to cool the engine back down.

 

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Edited by RCWD21
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Well yeah you could always install a digital gauge near the dash where you can see it easily and connect the sensor probe slotted into the top rad hose. You don't necessarily need those temp sensor attachments that you plumb into the rad hose. Just take the hose off, put your sensor inside the pipe then screw your clamp back on. The sensor has to be waterproof though. There's some dodgy ones that aren't floating around on the internet. By having a proper digital gauge then you'll know exactly when to switch the low speed fan on and in summer or four wheeling up inclines you'll be using the high speed switch. Plus switches are cool! I don't think you really need the fans on over 55 mph as the airflow cools the radiator but I would keep an eye on the temp anyway. If the thermostat is ok it should maintain a correct temperature and warm the engine up quite quickly after morning startup.

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See here's the thing, I want limited switches. The only switch I'm going to have for these fans is for a shut off incase I need to go through water or something.

 

If I can't find a good fitting fan, or a 2 wire maxima/altima fan then I'm going to try and find some high amperage handling diodes and put them inline so when I turn on the ac it can activate the high speed side of the fan. This is only a last resort seeing as there are tons of fords, and and quests/ villagers in the JY I go to.

Edited by RCWD21
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Possibly the wrong fan, but today I got a new fan from a 2002 sentra 1.8l. One fan, is a single speed. The other is a dual speed fan. One fan is a 2 wire and the other is a 4 wire. I think it'll work easier than the other fan. I found a taurus fan and a quest fan but don't like how either of them fit against the radiator.

 

I'm going to try this fan out but if it doesn't work I'm probably just going to go back to stock until I can find exactly what I'm looking for.

 

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Well the fan is a perfect fit for the radiator and with both fans on it keeps the engine at a steady 150ish according to my IR thermometer. And the bottom hose under 100. That's with constant running though so I think I need more air movement so I'm going to be on the hunt for a better condition ford taurus fan.

 

This is where my gauge sits with a 170° thermostat.

 

4eca00621e6d23d07244c7889f4b9667.jpg

 

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Ok well after driving around the block a few times the gauge didn't move any that I could see but I feel like these fans are working as hard as they can to keep the engine cool and if I were to be in the woods or grinding up a hill I'd have issues with the temps getting higher.

 

Next step is a taurus fan I guess, the one I found had a damaged connector and the fan body was very loose on the fan motors shaft.

 

I'm debating buying new but I'd like to have both connections since it's it's a water tight plug.

 

I found a lot of 3.8 taurus's(sp) with the fans out of the 3.0 models so I'd assume that the reason why they're sitting in the junkyard is due to being severely overheated.

 

I'm going to check another yard and see if they have any 3.8 models, if so I'll update with assume by progress I made.

 

As for a controller I'm going to go with the icebox as recommended by Kingman.

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well to anyone watching I finished installing the fan :)

 

Just as a note before reading

1: the fan can cool the engine down from 175 to 165 in about 15 seconds on low speed. It hovers around 170 to 172 with no accessories on

2: I'm using a 40 amp maxi fuse with no problems, I will be trying a 30 amp to see how it does.

 

I went with a dakota digital PAC-2750 fan controller with 70 amp relay, a brand new Ford taurus 3.8l fan, a 150 amp continuous duty solenoid with a 300 amp in-rush capacity, 14/5 multi conductor wire to run to the controller, 10/3 multi conductor wire to run to the fan and an inline maxi fuse holder for the fan.

 

I installed the solenoid on a small area on the power steering resovior and used a couple nissan bolts (the ones that are phillips head) to hold it down securely.

 

Continuous duty solenoid for the high speed:

e5c35fa79485f6a809dad0a918cbb417.jpg

 

Dakota Digital 70 amp relay for low speed:

a6c9bd3c28c786d0d4b86bf66a75c293.jpg

 

Temp sending unit in an aluminum coupler grounded to the upper radiator support:

abeac43b256693c68fcf0460491de0a2.jpg

 

I'll have to take some pics of where the controller is mounted later. And I have yet to install the free-wheeling diodes but that will only take a few minutes to do even though the fan doesn't seem to produce a current when the power is removed and it is still spinning under its own inertia.

 

In addition to this I installed a 125 amp quest alternator (v41 model I believe, '98 or '99) with a 4 gauge wire run to the positive lead on the battery. The battery by the way is a group 65 with 850cca. I also installed a 3 inch body lift and discovered even more rust and caked on mud..

 

I installed the alt using an unaltered factory bracket and and longer belt (part #17380 from drive-rite), the only modification I had to do to the alt was to remove the lip on the front face so the pulley (from 90+ wd21 alt) could seat correctly and I had to use a washer under the nut. The belt lines up perfectly and there is plenty of room for belt adjustments. I'll take more detailed pics of the installation later.

 

The factory belt "could" be used but the head of the bolt would need to be trimmed down to clear the belt (an option for an trail spare if the belt were to ever break)

 

125 amp alt installed:

c564ef269bca47959d90284c53e424ce.jpg

 

Before body lift:

ab993498836dbeb76389ae789480d27f.jpg

 

5e87e5174d45128208e1bd827819d403.jpg

 

After body lift:

29001728d3f2836acbec9cee04d78749.jpg

 

b32741284224258391620094260bfeeb.jpg

 

 

 

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Edited by RCWD21
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Got my missing filler hose extension yesterday, it's a nice shiny black piece of steel tubing :) now I can finally finish the body lift up and start messing with the rust under the rear seats. Wasn't feeling too good today so the other pics I promised will have to wait until tomorrow, but on the bright side I'm going to get an early start on things

 

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Sorry for the super late update but here's the fan controller:

 

1b47caf26592119b84656e065e385258.jpg

 

Here's the way I have the fan currently mounted to the radiator:

 

24de545ae027b34c3abcebe22200a00d.jpg

 

Here's the 14/5 multi conductor wire I used to lead to the controller inside the cab: 310245a60bce11adfba2ec0945dfce4d.jpg

 

And here's the 10/3 wire I used to power the fan: d9aa9ee20233ecb792d54f4618e13e93.jpg4193a0373aea279ea856d3a070ff4009.jpg

 

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