After much research through this forum on efans and the HHR install I decided to go with a slightly stronger fan. I installed a Mark 8 fan and while I'm having a little difficulty blowing fuses on my controller it's in and works.



There is a decent amount of trimming (Which I didn't take nearly enough pictures of while I was doing the install) so if your not comfortable cutting up a $100 fan I wouldn't go this route. I also installed a new GMB water pump because I was unable to get the fan off the old pump and instead of working up a complicated device to enable removal of the old fan I just changed the pump.



Old pump is out:



alternator out as well as (I'm assuming) the bolt for attaching an engine lift removed.



New Pump is in:



Before trimming:



I will take more pictures when I get back into town of the final trimming and wiring, nothing too special with the wiring and actually as I got further into it I got much much lazier.

 

Also would anyone happen to know what this rubberish, more like a silicone, ring of grey goo would be? It was sitting in the radiator when I took the cap off to drain it. Nothing came out in the fluid I drained out, or in what spilled out of the motor when I took the water pump off.

 

LOl you are the second person to post a picture of that ribbed gunk. I did not have that in my truck. No one has determined what it is.

My guess is that is was some type of casket on the radiator cap that has melted

 

Is it the spring that is inside of the OEM lower radiator hose? Mine had a long windy spring that holds the shape of the hose..the replacement Gates hose did not have one of these and I think its rather unnecessary.That does look somewhat like a spring that was destroyed by heat? But I don't know why metal couldn't withstand water temps of 190-200

 

Who died?!

 

One reason may be the that the Mark VIII fan pulls far too many amps. The only reliable way people have been able to make it work is by wiring it straight to the battery without a fuse. Sure the controller may be fused fine, but the fan should be fused as well, and its nearly impossible with these old Ford fans.

The lowest I've seen reported that a Mark VIII or Taurus fan pulls at startup is 80A. I've seen some reports go as high as 110A. Wow.

It is your truck and you can do with it what you want, but the best bet is a Black Magic 180 Extreme from Flex-a-Lite, or a couple of fans from TCP, or something along those lines. The Black Magic pulls less than 30A at startup on the coldest day, so it can be fused, and it blows 3300 CFM. Thats almost enough to keep a 5.9L V8 cold with full A/C, its definitely enough to cool a 4.7L V8. What I had on my 5.9L V8 Ram finally were two 16" fans from TCP, and each of those blew 3000 CFM and only pulled 11 A each on startup when it was sub-zero outside. (They tend to pull more amps the colder they are, just like any electrical/electronic device.)

 

It's either a soft rubber or a silicone ring. I'm thinking it used to be an oring that was somewhere and it let go.

The fan starts up and runs no problem, it's after 3 - 4 mins of running that the fuse goes. I don't know if the fan is trying to increase speed or if it's just pulling so much power that the fuse is only lasting so long. Last time I looked at the black magic 180's they were $300+ but it's also been a few years, I might have to look into one if I can't figure something out with the Mark VIII.

 

You may have too small of a fuse. I have the same fan on my RT and had the same fuse blowing problem at first if I was in stop & go traffic with hot outside temps. I replaced the fuse setup with a 30 amp circuit breaker and the problem disappeared. Even if the circuit breaker does heat up enough trip off after a short time it cools back down and your fan is back to working again.

 

Make sure your wiring can handle that many amps.

 

I was going to switch to a breaker when I get back in town and see if that solves the issue, I ordered some high amp relays as well. The fan has a lead designated for a/c engagement which I plan to power with a relay. The engine temp drops pretty quick with the fan running (using torque to monitor temp)