Different Fan?

[OVERKILL]

If you have a temp sensor for a guage installed, would you still be able to have an electric fan that turns on at specific temps. Or do you have to have one or the other due to the fact that there is just the one hole for the sensor?

I use the Flexalite controller (there are better ones, IE, the DCC controller) and it has a sensor that goes inside the upper rad hose.


I used a Mark VIII fan on my TC, you can literally just slap it on the rad, affix the top and go. The bottom fits into the factory "clips" that are down there, so there is no need to retain it. It is also the exact right height and covers I'd say 90% of the rad with the shroud.

I used the Flexalite controller, which is ~$40.00CDN, and a relay from Canadian Tire. I used one of the wires that feeds TAB/TAD when the key is on to supply the power to the relay, and then ran the ground for the relay through the fan controller. This prevents burning out the controller with the current draw from the fan, as the Flexalite fans draw a small fraction of the current (and move a small fraction of the air) that the Mark VIII fans do. I then ran the hot side of the fan directly to the battery and ground it through the relay.

What this accomplishes:

-The relay has no power feed when the key is off, so the fan can't run.

-The relay is powered, but not grounded when the key is on, engine running.

-The thermal switch (flexalite) that goes in the upper rad hose grounds the relay to switch the fan on when the coolant hits a certain temp. When the temp goes down, the circuit opens back up and the fan shuts off.

-The power feed and ground feed are both through some decently large gauge wire; The use of the relay facilitates this, and as such, I don't need to worry about burning out controllers and the like from the pretty high current draw of the fan.



Other stuff:

-3G alternator, I would say this upgrade is a must. This fan draws a LOT of juice.

-High/Low: I only hooked up the low side of my fan. The high side is psychotic, and moves more air then my cooling system could ever possibly need. As it stands, the low side comes on, runs for maybe 20 to 30 seconds MAX and then shuts off, so even it is FAR more than adequate for my cooling needs, and this is with an HO conversion. On a stock lopo, it would be even more overkill.

Some pics:

In this image, you can see the brown wire coming from TAB/TAD and going along the AC tubing, across the side of the battery and it goes to the power feed for the relay:




A good side-shot of the fan and how it fits the rad, as well as how the top mounts:




A drivers-side shot of the fan: