Cooling issues? Not anymore

Is it not on a temperature control? should turn off pretty quickly, that is if your sensor is at the bottom of the radiator (where i feel it belongs). Otherwise, what he said, but adding a relay is adding something else that can fail.

 

I believe that in his example. The engine would be off, ignition key on at the ACC position in order to listen to the radio. I guess the question would be, how long would it take for the cool down for the the sensor/module to read below the starting point?

Edit: I think it would be a non-issue if a relay and corresponding circuit are properly made.

 

@Pinchaser

What Starting temp - Max Temp for the Lingenfelter Controller is recommended for a bottom located sensor? I haven't seen that posted yet.

Edit: Are still at the 140* Starting Temp?

 

So I had to search and figure out what to set at, and I think I posted it here somewhere, but did not find it in a quick search.

As I recall, I found that a 20deg delta is typ across the engine and radiator alike, so take your target leaving T and subtract 20, and you are probably good, go 25 for a bit of margin. I think I started a 145 or 150, with a high of 190? Not certain here, but this would work decently.

The major upside to having the sensor at the bottom, is that the fan is only running to supplement the available "free air cooling". Suggest placing it as close as possible to the radiator outlet, so it sees the temperature change even without coolant circulating. These fans can draw considerable amps, which makes alternator work harder. I did some calculations and discovered that running the fan at full power constant, will reduce fuel economy by a full 2mpg (based on a 20mpg starting point). Is no Joke.

With the sensor at the top, the fan will run any time the coolant thermostat opens, even if it is below zero ambient temperature.

One drawback to having the sensor at the bottom is AC function, under certain circumstances. Works great most of the time, but on a very hot day, engine cold, AC will not work till engine and radiator come up to temp. -or- the vehicle gets moving fast enough for free air to take care of the AC. This can be corrected by triggering the white wire for full fan (seems excessive), or by installing a relay triggered by AC (preferably by AC computer, also discussed elsewhere), and have the relay put a resistor in parallel with the sensor; tricking it to think the coolant is hotter than it actually is. By being in parallel, it is a fail safe situation, and resistor size will spin the fan faster, but not make it go full power. I have not added the relay/resistor yet, but when I do, I am setting the Lengenfelter to 160 start.

 

That looks clean, nicely installing the fan into the Tacoma shroud. Consider cutting our the 4 or 5 vent flaps from the GM shroud, and riveting them to the Tacoma shroud. Looks good and promotes "free air" flow, minimizing the need to run the fan.

 

@Pinchaser

In regards to adding and activating/controlling a AUX E-Fan on the A/C Condenser. I found constant 14+ volts when the AC is on and running, no matter the state the compressor clutch is in. Zero volts when the AC is off.. I'll probably add a relay from that fuse to operate a Auxiliary AC Compressor Fan. This on a 2nd. Gen.




Zero volts with AC off

 

Just the info I was beginning to look into. Impeccable timing and thanks for the info!

 

I forgot who looked further into this, but they reported that the A/C fuse/circuit has constant power with the A/C switch OFF but with the Fan Control Switch ON at any speed that is selected. I hav'nt had to chance to check further into that.

Another option or consideration is there's a aftermarket device that was popular back in the day that was used in Car Alarm Installs. This module had many modes/options, one of them was a user programmable timer which can be used to turn off a relay. This option in theory can be programmed to run the AUX E-Fan long enough while the Engine Coolant Temp gets hot enough for the Radiator E-Fan to operate at the right speed to take over.

 

Hella makes a relay with a built in timer.

I have one set so that when the car turns on it runs the E fan at max so the AC will cool down, that plus the remote start is great in the summer.

 

Right on!!!!

$55 HELLA 996152131 12V Delay-On-Release, Time Delay Relay, Black

https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-996152131-0-900s-Delay-Control/dp/B003C508XO

 

After debating the pros and cons of the ECT Sensor placement , I'm going to go with a Top Mounted Location. For my purposes I believe it will be faster reacting to temperature fluctuations while on the trail.

The sensor will be located on the oil cooler hose..

 

Verifying proper functions of the Lingenfelter Controller, ECT sensor and settings of 130* Starting Temp and 210* Max Temp.. all good, fan kicked on right around the 130 mark.


Verifying proper function of the built in FAIL SAFE that if the module looses communication with the ECT sensor , the fan will automatically go to 100%.. works like as it should


Testing the white wire Manual Over Ride Switch that will command the Fan to 100% Duty cycle. Can be configured to either 12v or a negative ground switch. For now, I have mine configured for a negative trigger. There's about a 3 - 4 second delay from flipping the switch to On for the fan to start turning. Takes approximately 10 seconds for the fan once it starts to ramp up to 100% Duty Cycle. Blows pretty good at full speed.

 

Unrelated to the topic here, but those two pliers are probably worth more than any ratcheting crimper! That one on the right looks pretty interesting because normally I see them with cutters for the tip and not that style.

 

It took a few moments longer than normal for the difference in temperature readings between the OEM Factory located ECT sensor, and my added ECT Sensor (for the aftermarket Coolant Temperature Guage) that is located on the upper radiator hose to equalize once the Thermostat opens. When temperature equalizes across the entire coolant system, my aftermarket guage will read exactly the same temperature as read by the OBD/ECU.

Before T-Stat opens..


The moment when the T-Stat opens..

 

Anyone with the lingenfelter controller have it randomly start the fan?

engine is cold, and the fan will start running at a low speed for a few minutes.

My power is tied to the injectors which I know turns on every once in a while for some test but the engine is cold and should not be triggering the controller to run the fan.

 

Sounds like that may be the source of your issue.

 

I figured, just not sure why the fan will run when it's below the trigger temp. The fan doesn't run with the key on.

 

The fan will only turn on when the controller tells it to, so if the fan is coming on when your truck has been off for awhile if I had to guess I would say your start temp is too low, your temp sensor may be bad, or maybe the controller is bad. Leaning more towards the start temp, I had this happen when I made mine too aggressive when it was hot out. What do you have the start temp set to?

 

I didn't adjust the start temperature but I did lower the high temp threshold to adjust how fast the fan ramps up. I'll have to test the temp sensor to see if it's working correctly, didn't think about that.

 

The temp sensor was out of spec if anyone runs into this issue.