Electric Fan Installation Warning!
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From: Massachusetts
Electric Fan Installation Warning!
I had to replace my radiator last week, I installed an electric fan kit on 8-29-02 using pins and rubber locks that fasten the fans directly to the radiator by slipping 3/32" or so pins through the fins of the radiator between the tubes. If you look at my installation you can see it was a quality installation, taking care to do things right.
See: https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...threadid=88718
I sprung a leak in my cooling system and thought it was a hose, when I inspected the problem I found something much worse. What I found was; the pins that held the fans to the radiator had worn through one tube and had significantly worn several others. I bought a new radiator because I felt the original one was worn in too many additional places, so even after the leak was repaired I would have worried that a new leak would spring up at another mounting point.
I brought the radiator into work and had a group of mechanical engineers look over my problem and we came up with first the plausible cause and then a fix, essentially mounting the fans without using the pins and rubber locks. The consensus was the fastening system used on my truck would work sufficiently with a radiator that had vertical cooling tubes, the F-150 has horizontal tubes. The pins that go through the radiator would rest and wear on the fins of a vertical tube radiator but instead wear on the cooling tubes themselves on a horizontal tube unit. The natural vibration and the weight of the fans cause the pins to settle onto the tubes that carry anti-freeze through the radiator, wearing them and eventually causing a leak in the tube.
After some thought I came up with a fairly simple fix that I think will be much more durable and not damaging to the radiator. I used three pieces of 3/32" aluminum cut to the length of the radiator; two of them were 1 ½” wide the other was 2” wide. I located the two 1 ½” strips on the outer edge of the radiator on the engine side and the 2” one in the center. I clamped the strips into place and drilled holes through both the aluminum and the FRAME of the radiator. I then placed the fans on top of the strips and marked where the holes should be. After removing the aluminum strips from the radiator I brought them into the garage and drilled the holes. I then remounted the strips to the radiator using 10-32 stainless screws and lock nuts. Now its time to mount the fans, I used 1/4-20 screws and lock nuts for this. I'm not sure how clear this description is but I posted some pictures of the parts and installation. Also see the wear in several spots on the radiator. Check out the last 16 pictures in this gallery.
https://www.f150online.com/galleries...ew.cfm?num=412
See: https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...threadid=88718
I sprung a leak in my cooling system and thought it was a hose, when I inspected the problem I found something much worse. What I found was; the pins that held the fans to the radiator had worn through one tube and had significantly worn several others. I bought a new radiator because I felt the original one was worn in too many additional places, so even after the leak was repaired I would have worried that a new leak would spring up at another mounting point.
I brought the radiator into work and had a group of mechanical engineers look over my problem and we came up with first the plausible cause and then a fix, essentially mounting the fans without using the pins and rubber locks. The consensus was the fastening system used on my truck would work sufficiently with a radiator that had vertical cooling tubes, the F-150 has horizontal tubes. The pins that go through the radiator would rest and wear on the fins of a vertical tube radiator but instead wear on the cooling tubes themselves on a horizontal tube unit. The natural vibration and the weight of the fans cause the pins to settle onto the tubes that carry anti-freeze through the radiator, wearing them and eventually causing a leak in the tube.
After some thought I came up with a fairly simple fix that I think will be much more durable and not damaging to the radiator. I used three pieces of 3/32" aluminum cut to the length of the radiator; two of them were 1 ½” wide the other was 2” wide. I located the two 1 ½” strips on the outer edge of the radiator on the engine side and the 2” one in the center. I clamped the strips into place and drilled holes through both the aluminum and the FRAME of the radiator. I then placed the fans on top of the strips and marked where the holes should be. After removing the aluminum strips from the radiator I brought them into the garage and drilled the holes. I then remounted the strips to the radiator using 10-32 stainless screws and lock nuts. Now its time to mount the fans, I used 1/4-20 screws and lock nuts for this. I'm not sure how clear this description is but I posted some pictures of the parts and installation. Also see the wear in several spots on the radiator. Check out the last 16 pictures in this gallery.
https://www.f150online.com/galleries...ew.cfm?num=412
Last edited by S'CrewLoose; Jun 25, 2004 at 11:46 PM.
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From: Iowa
Like jstang, I could forsee that.
I did what you did but bolted it to the top and bottom frames, not the radiator it self, my supports had to be bent to reach up and out to them over the radiator core. I thought about the possiblity that the radiator may expand when fully heated and try to stretch the bars or not allowing the radiator to expand if bolted to the end pieces of the radiator. And I just didn't like the idea of the weight hanging on the radiator. Just a thought!
Good clean looking installation S'Crewloose and great pic's, hope that plastic tie mounting system isn't going to be an "issue" for every one after some time.
How long did it take for yours to wear the core out?
Gene
Da----- 8-29-02! How many miles then!
I did what you did but bolted it to the top and bottom frames, not the radiator it self, my supports had to be bent to reach up and out to them over the radiator core. I thought about the possiblity that the radiator may expand when fully heated and try to stretch the bars or not allowing the radiator to expand if bolted to the end pieces of the radiator. And I just didn't like the idea of the weight hanging on the radiator. Just a thought!
Good clean looking installation S'Crewloose and great pic's, hope that plastic tie mounting system isn't going to be an "issue" for every one after some time.
How long did it take for yours to wear the core out?
Gene
Da----- 8-29-02! How many miles then!
Last edited by triumphman; Jun 26, 2004 at 11:17 AM.
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It took less than two years, I should have known too, I did question the mounting method but was assured it would be fine.....oh well, live and learn. I guess it was about 30,000 35,000 miles
Last edited by S'CrewLoose; Jun 26, 2004 at 01:08 PM.
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From: New Orleans LA
Thank You for the writeup, I'm now planning to convert my Efans to your mounting system.
I'm curious, does the 1/2in gap between the fans and the radiator diminish the airflow any? I'll most likely bent the support beams a little closer to the radiator and glue on some rubber feet to prevent touching the fins.
Fritz
I'm curious, does the 1/2in gap between the fans and the radiator diminish the airflow any? I'll most likely bent the support beams a little closer to the radiator and glue on some rubber feet to prevent touching the fins.
Fritz
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Fritz,
I'm not an engineer, but I'm thinking that these fans are powerful enough to overcome the half inch or so gap imposed by the mounting system. I've seen lesser fans mounted further back on the shroud without problems. I have not had enough time to analyze it yet though. If I find a problem, I'll let it be known here.
I'm not an engineer, but I'm thinking that these fans are powerful enough to overcome the half inch or so gap imposed by the mounting system. I've seen lesser fans mounted further back on the shroud without problems. I have not had enough time to analyze it yet though. If I find a problem, I'll let it be known here.
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From: Iowa
Fritz,
S'Crewloose is right, I've had mine on beams, mounted about a 1/2 to 3/4 of a inch from the radiator for about two years now and they work great. You can watch the temp start to climb while idling and the minute the fan or fans(they are staged, #2 overriden by A/C clutch) come on the temp starts to come down. While moving, the fan hardly ever runs unless I'm pulling a loaded trailer or running the A/C in stop and go traffic.
Gene
S'Crewloose is right, I've had mine on beams, mounted about a 1/2 to 3/4 of a inch from the radiator for about two years now and they work great. You can watch the temp start to climb while idling and the minute the fan or fans(they are staged, #2 overriden by A/C clutch) come on the temp starts to come down. While moving, the fan hardly ever runs unless I'm pulling a loaded trailer or running the A/C in stop and go traffic.
Gene
Last edited by triumphman; Jun 29, 2004 at 09:27 AM.
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From: Massachusetts
New installation seems to be operating just fine in all environments it has been exposed to. I have a few extra sets of aluminum stand off's if anyone is interested, they are yours for the price of shipping....
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question for you SCrewLoose, those are the troyer fans right?? I want to get them for my truck also if they are, Does Mike know bout the problem? Ill do the same as you did with the brackets excellent looking and it will work perfectlly no doubt, when i do get them I have questions about running them, Id like to have them run on very hot days for like ten mins after i shut the engine off, maybe put i delay on break relay on them or a toggle switch of some sort, keep the engine cool on 90+ days here, but in the winter they will be wonderfull, takes like 15mins to get engine semi warm on 8 degre days here in Chicago,.
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Hi Chicago_guy,
Yes they are Troyer fans and Yes Mike does know about my problem. He doesn't seem to be too concerned, he believes his system of mounting is fine, I and my radiator disagree whole-heartedly. I think the pins and rubber system worked fine on radiators with vertical tubes, but are all together wrong for horizontal tube radiators that are in F-150's. I have one more set of brackets availible if you would like them, email your address and I will send them to you. I had cut two sets extra but one is already claimed.
Yes they are Troyer fans and Yes Mike does know about my problem. He doesn't seem to be too concerned, he believes his system of mounting is fine, I and my radiator disagree whole-heartedly. I think the pins and rubber system worked fine on radiators with vertical tubes, but are all together wrong for horizontal tube radiators that are in F-150's. I have one more set of brackets availible if you would like them, email your address and I will send them to you. I had cut two sets extra but one is already claimed.