I will do a full write up with some pics of this operation, but I thought i would give some initial impressions...

I found that nobody really makes a factory-fit kit for the 03 Expedition. the FAL 270 will fit the F150 and older Ex's but not the newer ones. However they market a universal kit, the 295, that lists the 03+ Expeditions. Hmmmm. They should say almost fits.....

The kit houses two 13.5" fans that are set on the diagonal of the fan housing, rather than side by side. On the opposite corners there are openings with rubber flaps that allow ram air to pass through - nice idea actually. However the kit states it is a 27" fan, but the actual measurements are 27 1/2 inches side to side. That would fit the Exp radiator core, but unfortunately, there are two heavy steel braces on either side of the radiator that run the full length (up and down), that effectively cut the exposure of the core down to 27 and maybe a few 8th's of an inch.

I ordered the kit anyhow from Amazon for $374, shipped. the kit has the fans, the controller and a bunch of wire and connectors.

I had to do a lot of modifications to make this work, and enlisted the help of a good friend with a very complete auto shop in his back yard to mount them. In order to make contact with the core, i had to notch out the fan housing on one side and let it ride up on the steel brace. Oye.

One thing I did differently is that I installed the controller inside the cabin rather than in the engine compartment. After reading numerous posts about controller failure from who knows what in there (heat, humidity, freezing, dirt), I thought i would put my fancy relay where Ford put theirs - behind the glove box

This necessistated mounting the controller and running longer heavier gage wires through some body openings and out to the battery and the fans.

I just got the fans up and running last night. Seem to work ok, after I fixed a ground fault inthe AC tap line

I still need to hook up a laptop and the Xcal2 and check the turn on temps with the data logging software and calibrate the controller.

All in all the kit seems well made and durable. I'll do a better write up soon with some pics and details of where I put stuff.

One last thing - until I am confident that they will run ok, I am keeping my old fan in the back of the truck. With the shroud off, you can actually fit the OEM fan with the FAl fans in there! I drove it around abit like that (out of necessity) for short distances. Looks funny, like I am trying to generate a huge vaccuum in front of the truck and suck my way down the highway

later...

 

Glad you got it worked out. I had an experience with electric fans last night myself. In the end I ripped out the entire system that I got from TP and threw it in the garage. I love my truck by wrenching on it until 0130 on a work night isn't my idea of fun. I'll post a thread and pics in a few days, going to be busy tonight.

 

good idea putting the controllers behind the dash, i have had three controllers fail on me, i have had it hard wired to switches for about a year now, i am so used to turning them on manually. hopefully everything works good for you.

 

+1 cant go wrong with a switch. also u can get a mechanical thermostat switch which ive got but aint put it in yet. it screws into the coolant cross over on the intake manifold turns the fans on at 210F

 

I want to add a manual switch independent of the controller (there is an option to mount an on or an off switch via the controller) so that if the controller fails, I can turn them on and off until a replacement can be had.

Any suggestions on adding a separate switch?

 

here is were i mounted my switches, one for each fan, one for my onboard air system and one for my independent tranny cooler fan, the mounting looks crocked in the pic but it is level, the switches have there own independent rellays that can be seen in the second pic in the top left corner, on the firewall

 

Ive got my own wiring harness for my ebay fan, ran me about 60 bucks out of pocket...

But looks good. Are you gonna do anything to make sure the fans dont stay on past 40 MPH?

 

I'm still pondering the idea of an AC cutoff switch when the vehicle is moving forward at cruising speed. The idea of a snap action switch would be fairly easy to implement - in fact I purposely left a big loop of wire in the AC - efan switch line for that. However, as a friend of mine pointed out, KISS should be factored in too. The more options I have, the more potential for failure. Winter time weather I think could be a problem for the snap switch. It could easiliy get frozen open or closed or shorted or busted w/ ice.

I'm trying to think of other "speed" indicators, change in air pressure, change in the AC condenser temperature (just like the radiator probe), somehow tie into the speedo circuit. Sigh. I dunno right at the moment.

My next priortiy would be to install an emergency ON bypass switch in case the controller doesn't wake up some morning. Any thoughts on putting one in, in parallel I guess to the controller circuit?

I will be compiling my pics soon and doing a post of my install. I promise