A cheap way to cool truck in staging lanes
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Joined: Feb 2009
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From: Hell, AL
A cheap way to cool truck in staging lanes
Hi all,
Someone else asked whether the electric fan for cooling the condensor could be used as an e fan for the whole engine. While I don't think that's a good idea, when I realized that the fan is located in front of the belt driven fan it got me wondering how hard it would be to use that fan to cool the engine while the truck is not running.
As it turns out, it's very easy. What you need is a couple of feet of 12 or 10 gauge wire, 2 female spade terminals, and two medium size alligator clamps. Take the wire and make 2 leads, each with an alligator clamp on one end and a female spade terminal on the other. Unplug the power connector to your electric fan, which is on the driver's side of where the fan shrould meets the radiator. It's blindingly obvious when you look for it. When you unplug that connector you'll see that there are 2 spade connectors inside the plug that leads to the fan. Pay attention to the color of the wires those connectors correspond to. One of those wires is black and the other is some other color I can't remember. Plug one of the spade terminals onto the connector corresponding to the black wire. Take the alligator clip at the other end of that wire and clamp it onto the bolt on the driver's side fender already used to ground some factory wires. Take the other wire you made up and plug the spade terminal onto the other connector.
You'll notice that your fusebox is like 4" from the fan connectors, and it has a bare metal connector running up the side of the fusebox and going into the box. Clip the alligator clamp of the second wire you just hooked up onto that bare metal. The fan will start running. When you're done, unhook the 4 connections you just made and plug the fan back in to the harness.
As usual, use common sense, and don't let it run forever-it'll drain your battery if you do. I have not tried this with the engine running-I suspect it will set a code, because the ecm probably checks for continuity in the fan motor circuit.
Someone else asked whether the electric fan for cooling the condensor could be used as an e fan for the whole engine. While I don't think that's a good idea, when I realized that the fan is located in front of the belt driven fan it got me wondering how hard it would be to use that fan to cool the engine while the truck is not running.
As it turns out, it's very easy. What you need is a couple of feet of 12 or 10 gauge wire, 2 female spade terminals, and two medium size alligator clamps. Take the wire and make 2 leads, each with an alligator clamp on one end and a female spade terminal on the other. Unplug the power connector to your electric fan, which is on the driver's side of where the fan shrould meets the radiator. It's blindingly obvious when you look for it. When you unplug that connector you'll see that there are 2 spade connectors inside the plug that leads to the fan. Pay attention to the color of the wires those connectors correspond to. One of those wires is black and the other is some other color I can't remember. Plug one of the spade terminals onto the connector corresponding to the black wire. Take the alligator clip at the other end of that wire and clamp it onto the bolt on the driver's side fender already used to ground some factory wires. Take the other wire you made up and plug the spade terminal onto the other connector.
You'll notice that your fusebox is like 4" from the fan connectors, and it has a bare metal connector running up the side of the fusebox and going into the box. Clip the alligator clamp of the second wire you just hooked up onto that bare metal. The fan will start running. When you're done, unhook the 4 connections you just made and plug the fan back in to the harness.
As usual, use common sense, and don't let it run forever-it'll drain your battery if you do. I have not tried this with the engine running-I suspect it will set a code, because the ecm probably checks for continuity in the fan motor circuit.
