To save myself from carpal tunnel syndrome, here is a how to on the fan switch mod.
Im going to try to explain this as if I were talking to a bunch of idiots. I was always taught in grade school to do that. That way, everything is covered and there 'shouldnt' be any questions.
This mod will allow u to turn ur cars main fan on at will, with the simple flip of a toggle switch. Mostly beneficial for the dragstrip while waiting in line to drag, to keep coolant temps down. Remember, coolant also runs thru the turbo and having a cooler turbo will yeild more efficient power. *works best in conjunction with the 180 or 160 degree t-stats. available from Howell Automotive. I personally recommend the 160, but if u live in antarctica, get the 180.*
Things needed:
Wire strippers
electrical tape
5 amp fuse
roughly 10 ft. of 18-20 gauge wire, nothing big
small, two wire/prong toggle switch
small metal rod for running wire thru firewall.
15 minutes of ur time
First, if u have the stock intake u will have to remove the airbox portion. This is easy and makes getting to the wire u need alot easier as well.
Locate bundle of wires (loomed and taped) directly above stock computer. This bundle, roughly an inch in diameter, is pretty much right above the top of the computer if ur standing in front of the car.
Stock computer is located directly below stock airbox.
cut away loom and tape on bundle and locate BLUE WIRE WITH PINK STRIPE. Not light blue, not navy blue, not the new 04 SRT blue...just a medium blue.
Once found u need to test the wire to make sure its the right one. Im pretty sure its the only blue/pink wire in that bundle, but test it anyways for liability reasons.
TO TEST: rig up a simple 2 foot wire with inline fuse. Take a scrap piece of wire and cut it in half. strip back one end of each wire and wrap around either prong of that 5 amp fuse. (doesnt have to be five amps, but should not be any more than 7.5)
Make sure that each wire end u have wrapped around the prongs of the fuse dont touch each other...that would defeat the purpose of the fuse.
Now, strip back some sheathing on the blue/pink wire. connect one end of ur inline fused wire to the blue/pink wire. Connect the other end to a ground inside the engine bay.
Cars ignition must be turned to the on position for this test. I recommend having the car already on BEFORE u touch the wire end to ground. That way if the fuse is going to blow, which would be immediate if the polarity wasnt right, ud catch it instantly.
once the car is on and u have either end of ur fused wire in place and the fuse doesnt blow, keep each end where they are and the fan should kick on in around 5 seconds or so.
u have just correctly tested for the wire. Im pretty sure its the only blue/pink wire in the upper most bundle coming off the computer, but test it anyways. dont just hook up a wire cuz someone says so.
Now u can hook up ur 10 ft of wire to the blue/pink wire and run it thru the firewall. (Verdict1 and myself always recommend relooming and taping all wires/bundles u deloomed and detaped.) To be neat and to keep ur mod discrete.
Thru the firewall, Verdict1 and I recommend going thru where the vacuum line for the boost gauge goes thru. Directly behind the battery on the FW ull see a single line, by itself, wrapped in foam.
Using ur metal poking rod, tape the other end of the 10 ft wire u connected to the blue/pink wire to the rod and 'poke' it thru the grommet.
Once thru all u really have to do is find a place to mount the toggle switch, hook up the line u ran thru the firewall to one side of the toggle and connect the other side of the toggle to ground.
Verdict1 and I have our toggle switches mounted in the rear of the pocket between the rear def. switch and the 12v acc. out socket.
***stage 2 people using the turbo toys hardware may want to find another location, since the pocket will be filled with other things.***
The rear of the pocket provides a fully hidden location. Plus, there are already two clean holes already in the rear of the pocket.
To access pocket, pull down on air vents above radio with slight pressure. They will pop out revealing two screws at the top of the vent mounts.
Remove all four HVAC knobs and firmly pull on entire trim piece to remove. Grabbing divider piece that seperates air vents is best.
*if HVAC knobs wont come off, just begin removing trim piece...they'll pop off easily*
two screws hold in pocket...remove pocket and install toggle switch in one of the predrilled holes.
connect line that u ran thru engine bay to one side of the toggle and tap the other side of the toggle to ground. U can use the black wire on the 12v acc. outlet plug to the right of the pocket for a ground.
Again, if u choose another location, just find a good ground and hook up the other wire as described above.
be sure to hide all wires and do a clean install. If you dont u suck.
Thats pretty much it.
while at the track waiting to drag, keep car running, hood opened, and the defroster on. This will keep coolant temps ultra low, especially if u have a 160 t stat. U can run the a/c too instead of the defroster, but then u get all cold and the shift knob feels slippery and to hell with that. The defroster turns on the a/c, but doesnt get the inside of the car all cold...plus it cranks on the secondary smaller fan inside the engine bay.
Good luck and dont mess anything up. This is a very simple install and should cost u next to nothing.
If u have the 160 t stat and are idling for long periods of time, like say in traffic, use the switch to keep temps under control, until u can get moving again. They will safely rise above 200 degrees, but ull see once u start moving, the temps drop quickly (with 160 t stat).
Sayno2rice and i have a little how-to on this but we have not uploaded/posted yet. we mounted our switch the same location as you have. we did not splice/cut any wires at all. we simply clip it on the fuse where the blue/pink wire is. we ground on the screw right behind the driver side cup holder.
Note about the blue/pink: we were fooled at 1st between the blue/pink and blue/red. this caused as one 10amp fused (it blew up).lesson learned: have plenty of light to be able to tell red vs pink.
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Mods:
- Mean-looking Headlight Stickers (Pat#D0507845)
- Red and Blue buttons
- MaxxFab SEE
- Zipties (and lots of it)
very cool guy's awesome job on the post !!! this is the next mod i'm doing !!!
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04 SRT-4 Flame Red ,ATP .57 trim kit w/ Tial WG , Jegs over flow res , XSpower BFMIC , 3" Turbo Back single exit exhaust , TWM STS w/ weighted knob , Greddy Type rs bov , Greddy TT , 8mm Crane wires , Prothane mm Instert's , AGP 3" CAI , Hand made oil CC , Fan switch , Blood red VC, Stage 1
Originally posted by SilverBullet very nice how-to.
Sayno2rice and i have a little how-to on this but we have not uploaded/posted yet. we mounted our switch the same location as you have. we did not splice/cut any wires at all. we simply clip it on the fuse where the blue/pink wire is. we ground on the screw right behind the driver side cup holder.
Note about the blue/pink: we were fooled at 1st between the blue/pink and blue/red. this caused as one 10amp fused (it blew up).lesson learned: have plenty of light to be able to tell red vs pink.
Simple and straight forward
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Quote: Originally Posted by Dole Smelly
Just for the record, the torque setting for the oil drain plug is 20 ft-lbs, not infinity.
Originally posted by engrishmofaka I have two questions.
#1) Will the fan work like normal even with the switch in the off position or do you have to now use the switch to turn it on
and
#2 Are there any problems that might arise from using the 160-180 thermostat?
#1 - Fan works just like normal when the switch is off. The switch only acts as a bypass, you are not altering the normal operation of the fan. Note - This mod controls the High Speed (A/C) fan only
#2 - There are no problems that I know of running the cooler t-stat. I've been running the 160 degree t-stat since mid July with no problems.
i did the fan switch mod this weekend. works great! vastly dropps my temps!!!! someone needs to figure out how to hook it to a turbo timer.
anyways.. i hooked mine up to a 3 pole switch, with a blue led. i can get the light to work, but not the fan, OR, the fan will work, but not the light. any help?
is the wire that we splice into in the engine bay a ground wire? and by grounding out the fan, it turns on???? cause thats what it looks like to me. i connect the wire directly to ground, and it turns on, but when i hook it up, and flip the switch, [as far as i know] completeing the ground circuit, it still doesn't work.
these are my switches, and yes, i know they are not lined up perfectly. i did that on purpose.
i cant find my pics of the back side, but its the kind with 3 tabs [poles] stickin out.
the pole closest to the LED, is the ground. does anyone know how i can hook up the fan switch, so that the led will come on when i flip the switch on [turning the fan on]????
You will need an extra wire going to the switch to power the LED. Your switch is grounding the fan relay, which in turn switches on the fan, but there is no power going to your LED. If you run power to the other switch pole, when you flip the switch, it will both switch on the fan, and switch on the LED.
i tried that.. i just the same power i have goin to the other switches, but like i said, i cant get it to turn on the fan AND the led at the same time. it's one or the other. maybe i will go try again in a little bit. it was late when we did this mod.
mostly i needed to confirm that this mod just grounds the fan.
actually, iirc, when i would hook up this wire to the switch, the the other pole [ground] to the ground, the led would light up! are we sure that it is ground? i put my light tester on it, then grounded it [tester] and it lit up... someone please explain. i got the right wire.. even had my buddy verify.
well finally got the led on my switch to work. IEATVTEC PM'd me atold me how, by using a relay, i can have the led turn on, and the fan turn on when i flip the switch. thank you so much for helping me get this!
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With the relay you could just simply change the + to a - and everything would work fine.
Alot of work just for a switch, well, not really a lot of work, just more work that just using a regular toggle switch.
All you need is a relay, if ur close to a circuit city Id get one of theirs...very reliable. The part number is DEI-8616. [note: i got mine from radio shack. part number: 275-226, 30 amp auto relay. it has 4 prongs underneath, it is missing prong 87a, which is not used for this]
This should be a fairly small relay. Little black box on the end with 5 wires coming out of it. [note: mine has no wires, just the prongs. you will have to make wires with connectors]
Should run you about $8, maybe a little more or less.
What your gunna do is hook up your switch like normal. Put 12v to the power prong, ground to the ground prong and on the accessory prong you're gunna do this:
****if you get a relay from CC than go by the colors Im giving you, if you get a relay from somewhere else, go by the pin numbers Im giving you....any questions just pm me back****
the CC relay will have these 5 colors:red, black, yellow, brown and orange.
if you get a relay that doesnt have those colors, or just a relay with the 5 prongs on the bottom of it, u'll notice each prong is labeled with a #. The numbers will be 85, 86, 30, 87 and 87a [not used].
so when telling you how to hook it up, Ill give the Circuit city relay colors as well as the prong #'s, in case you didnt get it from Circuit City. Just know that any relay will do if your not close to a Circuit City.
CC colors are as follows:
black=85 = to acc on switch
red=86 = to ground
yellow=30 = to ground
brown=87 = to wire blue/pink wire from fan
orange=87a = not used
The acc prong of your switch needs to go to pin 85/black. Pin 86/red and pin 30/yellow will both go to ground. Pin 87/brown will go to the blue/pink wire to turn on fan. pin 87a/orange is not used.
Since the acc and power on ur switch are common, when u flip the switch the acc is now 12+. you're simply changing the + to a - thru the relay so when u have it all hooked up correctly, the switches light should work fine and the fan should come on.
Just make sure you use good grounds and get ur power from either the battery or ignition harness. Id do the ignition harness...makes for a neater install. dark blue in ignition harness will give you switched 12 volts (when key is on).
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i got my +12v from the ignition. i also rewired my radar detector to get its power from here.
now i just have one more switch left. i have 12 12" led tubes coming in next week that i will use. i already have the switch wired and grounded. just need to plug the acc to the tubes, and wire the ground from the tubes into the switch. easy.
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HOW-TO: Fan Switch Mod
Linear Mode
