Electric Fan Jeep YJ

[87TPIYJ]

I was running a Volvo fan and relay in my SBC YJ and still had some cooling issues crawling. I switched to a contour dual fan from the JY and a FAL controller and it resolved my issues the profile is super low on it and being dual fans the fan motor was not right at the water pump. Here is a little tech post I had on JF.

Wanted to make a dedicated thread for this to help with searching the topic. I will also post up this info in the infamous Ford Taurus Wiring Solution (cheap) thread as well.

Background: I have been having cooling issues ever since I redid my 350 exhaust from true dual to a y-pipe crossing under the oil pan. I have installed a champion 3 core radiator and have been running the Volvo 2 speed 16" efan (same as Taurus fan). For normal driving this set up worked fine. During low speed crawling I would get a temperature creep that had led to temps up to 250 degrees. Also highway speeds around 80 it would want to run about 225 degrees. I had no room to swap a thicker radiator so I started looking at the fan.

The factory Volvo shroud I was using has the fan offset. I needed this due to clearance issues with the water pump. I needed either an extremely low profile large fan or two smaller fans. After looking around I came across some CJ and mustang forums discussing the dual contour fans.

Looking over the dimensions of the shroud and depth these looked like they would do the job. The Volvo/Taurus fan is a 16" 2 speed fan. So the surface area the fan covers is 201.6in^2. The contour fans are a dual 12" fan giving them 226.2in^2 of coverage. About 12% more coverage. Off to the junk yard I went and $35 later I had my fans. The Contour or Mercury Mystique fans to look for are from 1995-2000 with the 2.5L V6. The 4 cyl came with single fans and apparently there are some out there with dual fans on separate shrouds (this is not what you want). Supposedly it is obvious when you see it, but I didn't run across any in the junk yard. The only modification needed is to cut the little mounting tabs off the sides. I ended up gaining almost an inch clearance over the Volvo fan set up between my accessories and my fans.



Volvo fan coverage:



Contour fans coverage:



Instead of making my Volvo relay work with this set up (which a CJ forum member has verified to work) I opted to go with the Flex-a-lite Variable Speed Controller FLX-31163. This was a pricey option, but the functionality couldn't be beat. It provides soft start, temperature adjustment, switchable hi/off, 30 second engine off cool down, also a + or - a/c signal which turns fan on a minimum of 60% and higher if needed. It is also compact and clean (Pictured above attached to shroud).

The contour fans are wired from the factory with a resistor for low speed located at the driver side bottom of the shroud. I would suggest grabbing all of the wiring you can if you want to wire this route. Note that from the factory they use a 60A fusible link. The FAL controller is only a 45A capacity, but the fans will never start at 100% so that current capacity is not needed.

Another wiring option that had rave forum reviews across the web is the Delta Current Control (DCC). This offers a full 0-100% control and high current capacity options. The only drawback is that It is a 1 man show and built to order. I have read that lead times have ranged from 2-6 weeks. Also If he decides he is done making them then that's it. No more product support. Here is a link to his site. http://www.dccontrol.com/selector.htm

Here are some other wiring diagrams you may find useful for a different wiring solution.


Factory Diagram:



Another set up:



I after dialing in my temp setting. I stay between 200-210 all the time. So I would report this as a success. I will try and keep this post constantly updated with new information I gather or that may get posted later in the thread so the information can be easy to find. :cheers:




Updated 8-28-15

Its tight but works.

 

[bgredjeep]

I've run a Taurus fan, and a volvo fan in my YJ over the years. Currently using a volvo fan and relay setup with no trouble. I'm not sure what about this setup wouldn't fit for the OP.

You do need trim the shroud a bit to clear the motor (6cyl). I also had to replace the fan studs on the pulley with bolts. For the Taurus fan I ran the fan upside down to offset the motor properly. With the volvo fan you can just mount the shroud where you need it without flipping the fan.

 

[gottagofast]

87TPIYJ..... Very nice chunk of tech... Thanks for sharing!

 

[TBItoy]

The trick to the volvo fans is that you can take it out of the stock radiator shroud and just mount the fan module in your own shroud really easily.

The Volvo fans easy to mount in the "universal" full radiator coverage style fan shrouds. Just get one to fit your radiator and bolt it all together.

See bottom 2 fans (from my for sale thread, shameless plug)

 

[The-Boss]

Taurus or Volvo definitely need a good fitting full shroud and will move some air. I have a contour/mystique fan for my sbc cj7 build with the flex a lite controller. Nice little setup.

 

[RustyC]

Speedway radiator, Summit shroud, Volvo fan. Fits perfect and cools great.

 

[97jerrod]

In my opinion with building and repairing alot of radiators in the heavy duty industry and some race cars and my jeep it doesnt seem to matter the cfm of the fan mostly pulling as much air as possible through as much of the core as possibe, so the shroud is more important than the fan itself. If your shroud is only covering the top portion of the radiator in a down flow core then you are actually creating cold spots in the bottom of the core witch will cause flow problems and air pockets in the radiator. Had lots of ocerheat issues with my jeep with small block till i made a shroud to cover the whole radiator and sealed the shroud around the tanks with fuel line split in half.