Chevy & GMC Vans

No pics yet...tomorrow. I did buy a toggle switch for winter/summer operation as well as a green and red LED from Radio Shack for low and high indication. The LED's are RS part numbers 276-0084 and 276-0085. I will install these and my new driving lights tomorrow.

LiftedAWDAstro wrote: and my new driving lights tomorrow.

Hmmm...interesting :-k

Edit: what I meant to say...Actually the whole project is interesting, just have a thing for light...lol

Has this Stickie got stuck?

How bout some wiring specifics?

Thanks, Jim

Here are the low (green) and high (red) speed indicator lights as well as the winter/summer switch. I still need to label them.









Tied the ground into the lighter circuit.



The switch on the left is for driving lights.

lol the new switches just keep creeping into your cockpit don't they....

Yes they do!

I found a flaw in going to the electric fan. :-k When plowing snow, I run the heater on speed 3 usually and this tends to pull enough heat from the engine that the electric fan hardly turns on. This is bad when you want the tranny cooler to keep the trans cool! As a temporary fix to this problem, I just jumped 12V to the winter/summer switch to simulate that the A/C compressor was running constantly. This turns the electric fan on High and cools nicely.

To fix this permanently, I will either put a small 12" fan (which I already have) on the trans cooler or change the winter/summer switch to a 3 position to feed 12V to the A/C signal on the temperature controller. The advantage to the smaller fan is it draws a lot less current than the Taurus on high. The advantage to running the Taurus fan on high is I can use it in summer to take a LOT of heat from the engine and/or tranny. Too cold today to mess with it but tomorrow I plan on fixing this. More pics then.

Looked at placing a 12" fan on the tranny cooler but there isn't enough room between the cooler and grill. So I installed a 3 position switch to give me Summer/Winter/Fan High positions. I need to make up a label tonight at work and then I will take a picture.

Due to a failure of the 2 speed fan controller, I bought a single speed TorqFlo controller from AutoZone. It is part number 733647. I didn't bother with warranty because APE wanted me to buy another controller, send the broken one back and then they would refund the second controller price. #-o ](*,)

Anyway, Ben helped me un-install the 2 speed and install the single speed with high speed override.









Mounted the controller next to the fuse block:

Wire loom installed:





High and low speed cutout relays:



New 3 position switch:

Is there a part number that is on these fans to know I am getting the right one? I know to look for early 90's 3.8L in the Taurus or Sable but just want some numbers to ensure it is the right one.

I don't have a fan part number but if you look at the pics of a 3.8L fan and compare them to a 2.5L or 3.0L fan you will notice the smaller engine fan has a diagonal cutout in one corner where the 3.8L fan is rectangular, almost square.

3.0L:



3.8L:

Just wanted to update where I am at now:

I removed the LED indicators due to the low speed one lighting up as soon as I reached about 30 mph and the fan was off. I also needed more room for the larger 3 position switch. With the switch in summer mode the cooling fan came on when either the temp hit setpoint or the A/C compressor kicked in. Worked well and the engine temps never climbed at all.

I did find that now that it's getting dark when I go into work, when the fan kicks on the head lights dim for a second. Never noticed it last fall/winter. I also found the tranny seemed to be hot just by feeling the aux cooler as I have no temp gauge. So, I wired the fan to come on in summer mode when the ignition is on. The A/C compressor stills kicks on/off as needed and I think the interior is actually cooler. If we get another 90 degree day, I will know for sure. In winter mode, the fan is only controlled by the temp switch. High still works although I haven't had to use it at all. I don't think my alternator would last too long using high at idle.

As for mileage gains...Never saw any real improvements. In fact, if you look at the spreadsheet in my signature, you'll see my average mileage actually fell slightly. Just to clarify though, I never drove the van through a winter with the clutch fan so my average may actually be about the same.

Time for another update.

The second fan controller failed. The fan stays on all the time now unless I pull the relay. Called Auto Zone and they said no warranty. Called TorqFlo and they said the independent sellers place the warranty so nothing from them. Decided I was done messing with it and removed the Taurus fan and installed the stock fan back in. I still need to get a complete stock fan shroud and remove all the wiring. I will probably leave the switch in so I can use it for something else later on. I will report back on mileage after winter. I also keep the mileage link in my signature updated every so often.