Electric Fan Conversion (Not the Tauras)
 

I stumbled upon a BMW M3 at the local picknpull. While looking at this car I noticed it had a nice electric fan. It was a 2 speed fan and the shroud was not very bulky. I decided to pull it off and see what I could do with it. I have tried the Taurus fan and it is just to much work to justify the means. I just got home and was going to see if it would fit in the space allowed. and it slides in-place pretty good. I can see how I am going to try to mount it already in my mind. I was curious and wanted to compare to the Taurus fan just to see which fan pushed out more air. Then I noticed something good for us XJ guys. They are the exact same fan blade and motor. So this will essentially be the same install as the Taurus fan just hopefully without all of the pain of cutting and re-locating the radiator to make it fit. I haven't had the time yet to do much other than compare. Its still possible to have to remove the pulley for the OEM clutch fan. Time will tell. I will update with more as my progress continues.

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Teaser photos with mock up. I had a ac compressor bracket that I had previously broke bolts off in. So I hacked the clutch fan pulley off for mock up. I also used sone zip ties to hold tge fan in place where I want it. I think I may be able to use the pulley if I pull the studs out and out bolt s in to hold it on. That would allow me to use factory belt amd route of belt.
I've only spent an hour or two on it so far so I will add more later. Here are a few pics with mock up.


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Made some brackets to hold the fan in place. I have one of the bottom brackets done so far. I will post up more pictures later.



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Nice! I suspect many fans out there could work with a little ingenuity. You mentioned it's a 2-speed fan? How do you go about wiring that up?

I'm thinking of doing the electric conversion on mine, but my XJ is staying nice and cool and the mech fan is working fine...so maybe I should just let it be for now :)

I wasn't really having any major cooling issues. It gets warm on long mountian climbs. Biggest gain will be the 6-12 hp gain from not running the mechanical fan. Yes it is 2 speed. Same as the Taurus fan. I haven't decided for sure on wiring yet. I know am going to wire to a switch so I can turn off for water crossings. I am going to get into that once I finish the hard ware install.

Looks good. I might do this as well.


If its same motor and blades, how come its less bulky than the Taurus fan?

My guess is its the way they mount in the cars. BMW called this fan a/c condenser fan. They had it mounted the opposite way. I am guessing that was for traffic. The patent number on the blades are the same. and both made in the USA. Motors look identical. they have a different plug but to me every thing looks the same. It seems to spin at the same speeds at the Taurus fan as-well. The picture where you see two different fans is the Taurus fan and the BMW fan. I had removed the Taurus fan from the shroud to try to make is work.

Proly wont find many at the junkyard but if the fan shroud could be got cheap it would be easy to just mount the Taurus fan to that shroud. I just plan on keeping my Taurus fan as a spare and if i fry the BMW fan i could just slap another on it and be done.

If I was installing a 2 speed fan to replace my mechanical I'd set it up to run on low always, and high in tandem with the OEM E-fan. With the ability to turn everything off for a water crossing of course.

Been told the Volvo's of the same era as the Taurus fans being use also have a nice 2 speed, and the fan relay/controler is a separate component that can be easily snagged as well.

The A/C condenser fan on my 1990 Mazda 626LX is easily twice the size of the main radiator fan! Never quite understood that. It pulls a massive amount of air too.

Tge BMW had a mech fan for engine and the had this fan set up as a push fan.

I may do something similar to that. Im not sure what relay I am going to use yet. I am going to a upullit this sat for more 703 injectors I am going to see what I can find that will work easily.

I made sime brackets for the bottom and got It mounted firm. No pictures of that yet.

I didnt have enough room for the fan pulley even with the studs removed. So instead of cutting the pulley off. I just pressed out the bearing and left the bracket orginal.


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I also got my belt route figured out. I am going to get a belt that is 85.5 inches. That's what my measurements came up with.
Here is the route I will be using


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All that is left after that is going to be my wiring. I have not picked what selinoid I am going to use yet.

You might want to consider this for your belt routing, the way you are planning you won't get much wrap on the alternator

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/...psa7fb4169.png

I will check that and see if it will work as well. I ran out day light today. I do like your suggested route if it will work with my setup. I did leave the bracket intact so the belt may be too close the old clutch fan pulley stud.

I checked dougyfresh's route that will only work if I cut the bracket off flush. Im gonna try my route for a while and see how it works. I know its less on alt but a little more on crank, water pump, and psp. If I seem to have issues I will take it all off and cut the bracket off flush.