I installed my electric fans (The Troyer Kit) on my 97 F-150 this last weekend.
It was a pretty straightforward affair. Fritzthecat has some really good thoughts and tips so I will not repeat them here. Here are my thoughts…

To get the engine fan bolt off you can do it any number of ways. One-way is using a Ford (pipe) wrench for the bolt and a piece of flat bar stock to keep the pulley from turning. You could also use a chain wrench instead of the pipe wrench….
I went to AutoZone and barrowed their Fan Pulley/Nut removal kit. The kit is for a 4.9L Ford (older model). The wrench for the fan nut is too big to use but the wrench for the pully works great. So I used that and a pipe wrench with a cheater (2ft long pipe) over the handle.

Since I had the fan and shroud off, I replaced my belt at this time. I have never replaced it (eight years) but after inspection it still looks like new, no cracks, splits etc. I put it in the back of the cab for a road spare…….

Install and mount all parts. Both fans, and both fan controllers.

Fritzthecat is right; it would be easier to install the fans with the radiator removed. I did not do this but I can see where he is coming from… though I did not cut myself once….
But I use mechanics gloves…

I was really worried that I would push a mounting rod through a cooling tube. Take your time and force is not needed.

Now that I have all the parts installed and mounted, it is time to hook up the wiring. This was pretty easy. I did not trim any of the wiring to length. I wanted to make sure everything would work FIRST. Next weekend I will go back and trim and cut to length all wires and cables. I am also going to install a fan monitoring circuit so I know when each fan is running. When I hooked everything up I did not use electrical tape. One reason is that electrical tape has a tendency to unravel under high heat loads. I use a much heavier grade of insulating tape. I don’t remember the type but it is a double-sided (no glue) extremely thick grade of rubber that adheres to itself to form a water/vapor proof seal and will not degrade over time. I have use it on lots of electrical connections on the various Nuclear Submarines I have served on, when I needed waterproof electrical connections. I bought mine at Home Depot.

The installation booklet from Troyer is very good but since I have a very early F-150, wire coloring in the power distribution box is wrong.

You need a switched power source for the fan controllers. This is so they only work when the key is on. Running current on each fan is 16amps. If they were to run with the engine off, say bye-bye to your battery….

I pulled the power distribution box up and off its mounting brackets, removed the bottom, then hooked the battery back up to find a switched power source.

Now that that problem has been solved the next problem is the AC Compressor wiring. How do you get to it…. hears how…

Using a small tweaker (screw driver) slightly pry up the connector keeper and remove the AC Compressor Clutch wire. Careful you don’t pry up too much or you will break the connector keeper off. Now underneath the compressor is another wiring harness. This is your Crankshaft Position Sensor Wire. Clean this connector off and remove it. Mine was a push type keeper. Press, hold and remove….

Now pull up that wiring harness to the top of the engine so you can work on it properly. Attach the splice connector to the AC Compressor wire (you will have to peel back some of the weather proofing) and the green wire from the number one fan controller. The green wire from controller number two will NOT be used. This is to turn on the fan when you turn on the AC.

Now rap that splice connector with that good tape I talked about. Now snake the harness back into place and reconnect.

Now just a thought, when you go to start your truck the first time after this install and IF it does not start or is all fubar, check the Crankshaft Position Sensor connector you removed. Make sure it is tight. Did not happen to me but you never know….

Everything is now connected and I am ready to do a ‘smoke test’.
I turn the potentiometers on both fan controllers fully counter-clockwise (max temp). I did not want them turning on at start up. I used a good meat thermometer and put it at the T-Hot (Temperature Hot, from engine) entrance point on the radiator. I did not go through the fins for this; I got even closer to the T-Hot water entrance point. Look closely and you will see small opening in the radiator between the fins and the water manifold.

Make sure you put the cover shroud back on for proper airflow.

Now comes the hard part. The radiator is VERY efficient at removing heat. With a ambient air temp of 59’ that day I had a very hard time getting the water temp up to 190’. When I did and started to adjust the number one fan, the fan would kick on and the T-Hot temp would drop 20’ in 10 seconds. Really amazing. So it would take another five to 10 minutes of revving and idling to get the motor back up to 190’. 195’ was the maximum temperature I could get the motor up to that day. Since this was the case, I had to guess-ta-mate the setting on both controllers.

I am going to go back up to AutoZone and see if they will let me barrow ScanTool to look at the engine temperature as being reported to the Power Control Module. If not then the meat thermometer will do the trick again.

To really set the temperature settings on both controllers I have to wait for a warmer day…

It has been around 55’ here (Va Beach, VA) all week and my fans are not kicking on. I told you the radiator is efficient.

Big improvement in power and drivability. I have only been driving it since Sunday and about 150miles, and it takes my computer about 250 miles to really wake up… I should have done this upgrade years ago..