Drivetrain Tech General discussion of drivetrain for the Ford Ranger.

anyone elses efan suck?

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Old 08-03-2006
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anyone elses efan suck?

Ok so I put on my efan today... yay.... I love how smooth my truck idles now and the annoying whuuur that's gone..

But, upon doing the install, I found a few kinks... If I've stopped for a few minutes..., and the fan is on, and my AC is on, my ac quits working, and begins to blow warmer air.. Once I get moving again, it cools back down. Stopping at a traiifc light I noticed this. Brief stops don't produce this, but longer ones do.

What can I do to correct this? Will this damage my a/c?

Also, my tranny temp runs a bit higher than it used to... It's running about 205 after 30 minutes or so of good hard driving. It usually ran about 185-190. Again, is this bad? This can probably be fixed with a bigger cooler up front...

I am considering putting the stock fan back on. I love my efan... but I love my truck's health more..
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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If you are triggering the fan from the compressor clutch, the AC preformance will fade at idle in hot weather. The electric fan just does not cool the condenser enough when it is only on part of the time.

I had to trigger mine from the AC-enable wire to make it run constantly whenever AC is allowed by the mode selector switch. The color code is solid purple and it can be found behind the HVAC control panel or in the engine harness going to the PCM.
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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My controller refuses to turn off. It turns on as soon as I start the truck and doesn't stop until I turn the truck off. I've contacted Bob via email and pm. No word back from him whether or not I'm getting a new controller...My a/c is always cold, lol. But then again, so is my engine. It stays about 1/8" below normal.
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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There's something definetly wrong if your AC is getting warmer at stoplights. It should be colder than normal. That would lead me to believe the fan is cutting off....for whatever reason.

My AC is CONSIDERABLY cooler now with the e-fan, as well as lower engine temps. However, I have noticed a sizeable increase in my tranny temps while in city driving. I assume this is because the e-fan pulls air through a more concentrated area than the stock mechanical fan, therefore, not pulling as much air across the tranny cooler. I'm still debating on what I want to do about it.
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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Someone give me a dunce hat....

I popped the hood and flipped on the fan via my switch I rigged up, without the engine running... I dropped a recipt (only thing i had) into the engine bay, and the fan SUCKED it up to it...

My fan was wired backwards... LOL... I swapped the connectors, pulled on the fan, and LOADS of air flooded into the engine... BA-DOW!

Thanks guys... I guess I'll have to chalk this up to plain ol' stupidity...
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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You probably didnt need to kill the receipt. haha... but if you put your hand by the grill and feel air blowing out on it, it's backwards or wired backwards. Mine was like that initially and with the ProForm I just had to reverse the GRN and BLK wires. The blade wasn't reversible but the polarity is.
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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Originally Posted by tekrsq
There's something definetly wrong if your AC is getting warmer at stoplights. It should be colder than normal. That would lead me to believe the fan is cutting off....for whatever reason.

My AC is CONSIDERABLY cooler now with the e-fan, as well as lower engine temps. However, I have noticed a sizeable increase in my tranny temps while in city driving. I assume this is because the e-fan pulls air through a more concentrated area than the stock mechanical fan, therefore, not pulling as much air across the tranny cooler. I'm still debating on what I want to do about it.
Eh, actually mine gets warmer when i come to a stop as well.. the way i look at it, since the compressor runs off then engine, the more rpms the engine sees(or more load on the engine), the better the compressor works I've always noticed that in cars, on test drives and such..
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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Originally Posted by rwenzing
If you are triggering the fan from the compressor clutch, the AC preformance will fade at idle in hot weather. The electric fan just does not cool the condenser enough when it is only on part of the time.

I had to trigger mine from the AC-enable wire to make it run constantly whenever AC is allowed by the mode selector switch. The color code is solid purple and it can be found behind the HVAC control panel or in the engine harness going to the PCM.
That's all fine and well but when the truck is up to temperature the fan stays on at all times anyways. The only time that my fan kicks on and off with the A/C on is when my truck is cold first thing in the morning. When I'm up to operating temperature it stays on constantly. It does take a little bit longer to initially cool down my truck it seems like but I can't complain about letting it sit and idle. I've sat through entire 1 hour lunch breaks and it's been fine the whole time. I did however keep the stock shroud if that helps any.
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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Originally Posted by 67cobain94
When I'm up to operating temperature it stays on constantly. It does take a little bit longer to initially cool down my truck it seems like but I can't complain about letting it sit and idle. I've sat through entire 1 hour lunch breaks and it's been fine the whole time. I did however keep the stock shroud if that helps any.
With the A/C off, my fan only runs when necessary, meaning when the radiator temp goes high enough to trigger the fan T-stat. It definitely sounds like the trigger temperature of your t-stat is set lower than mine.

With my truck, when the A/C is off, the fan is off most of the time except it will come on intermittently when the truck is stopped and the rad temp creeps up. That's why I have an A/C issue when idling at a stop if I use the compressor to trigger the fan. Using the purple A/C-enabled wire keeps the fan running constantly when the A/C is on just like yours does.
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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Im going to the shop soon to get this installed, what do I need to tell them? wire to the purple a/c wire? I dont think it should have any probs cooling my 4 banger, and my a/c is almost always on cause its texas,,

sorry about the hijacking of the thread,,
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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Originally Posted by XL2.3
Im going to the shop soon to get this installed, what do I need to tell them? wire to the purple a/c wire? I dont think it should have any probs cooling my 4 banger, and my a/c is almost always on cause its texas,,

sorry about the hijacking of the thread,,
I tried wiring it both ways. While driving, it made no apparent difference in A/C performance. This is what you might expect since driving pushes air through the condenser. At idle and stopped, my truck needed more airflow through the condenser than the efan could supply when triggered by the compressor clutch circuit. That's why my A/C trigger is now from the purple wire.

You do realize that your 2.3L has both a belt-driven fan AND an electric fan already, right?
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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The temp sensor on mine is totally non-functional for some reason. However, that aside, I will definately agree that the AC works best with the fan staying on via the purple demand wire behind the HVAC panel. I tried the compressor clutch and it was a waste. Also, the only time the coolant temp is ever warm enough to even require the fan is if I sit at idle for more than 10 minutes.
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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Originally Posted by rwenzing
With the A/C off, my fan only runs when necessary, meaning when the radiator temp goes high enough to trigger the fan T-stat. It definitely sounds like the trigger temperature of your t-stat is set lower than mine.

With my truck, when the A/C is off, the fan is off most of the time except it will come on intermittently when the truck is stopped and the rad temp creeps up. That's why I have an A/C issue when idling at a stop if I use the compressor to trigger the fan. Using the purple A/C-enabled wire keeps the fan running constantly when the A/C is on just like yours does.
Yes sir, this is Florida, mine comes on at about 170 degrees. It takes less than 2 minutes to get to temperature here even with the A/C on.
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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Originally Posted by 67cobain94
Yes sir, this is Florida, mine comes on at about 170 degrees. It takes less than 2 minutes to get to temperature here even with the A/C on.
yea but most of the country is as hot as you right now... it was 100 today and it still takes mine a while to go up to 205 when mine turns on, probably about 3 miles so around 5-6 mins...
 
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I should also state that not only does my eFan suck, it also blows. It does one or the other depending on what side of the radiator you are using for perspective.
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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Originally Posted by rwenzing
You do realize that your 2.3L has both a belt-driven fan AND an electric fan already, right?
I honestly did not know that...
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soooo im in the corner and the efan is now forsale as I dont even want to mess with it
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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hmmm, driving around in Va today i noticed my AC not as cool as it was before the e-fan, maybe becuase it is over 100 or maybe i need to wire it up to the purple wire behind my HVAC controls instead of directly to the compresor.
 
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It is definately due to the compressor vs purple wire. I did the same thing and had the same result. I have it hooked up to the purple wire now and it is ice cold all the time.
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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well my 93 is been doing that this summer, at standstills I lose A/C then once I get rolling it comes on ice cold...
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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Originally Posted by FireRanger
It is definately due to the compressor vs purple wire. I did the same thing and had the same result. I have it hooked up to the purple wire now and it is ice cold all the time.
Thanks i think i will swith it to the purple wire tomorrow
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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I have no clue what you guys are talking about here??? The compressor wire turns on the Electric fan when the compressor is running..right?
Whats the purple wire do?, keep the fan on anytime the A/C is in the ON position even when the compressor is off?
Well boys & girls since I was an A/C mechanic(big stuff
) & also installed, troubleshot & repaired automotive A/C's when I was a mechanic when the compressor is not running its not going to remove heat other than the evap. coils are still cold so the interior fan will blow air over it & remove some heat for a very short time. The refrig. process has stopped when the Compressor is not running. When the compressor is running then the condensor comes into play & thats when you need the electric fan to run so it will remove heat from the condensor by pulling air across it. Now when the compressor comes on & if the Electric fan is always running it will start removing heat a bit quicker because the condensor is already cool but we are only talking maybe just seconds @ that.
The way I've seen cars with stock electric fans is that when the compressor is running the 2nd fan runs but when the compressor goes off so does the 2nd electric fan & the 1st fan will continue to run off of coolant temp.
This ends the A/C class for the night, gotta get ready for work.

Rick
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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Well, I thought the same thing and it sounds perfectly logical. However, none of us are making up our findings. It doesn't work nearly as well coming on and off with the compressor as it does just staying on.
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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Well, it makes no sense, if the refrig. process has stopped the electric fan will make absolutely no impact on the refrigeration process since its stopped. This is fact not fiction & more than likely the reason why car manuf. that use electric fans also run off the compressor.

Rick
 
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Originally Posted by RHuckster
The way I've seen cars with stock electric fans is that when the compressor is running the 2nd fan runs but when the compressor goes off so does the 2nd electric fan & the 1st fan will continue to run off of coolant temp.


Rick
nope.....on my daily driver, a '93 Subaru, the second fan runs all the time the when the a/c is on.......never goes off when the a/c is running......that will give best performance to the a/c in stop and go traffic and idle.......a person should put an interruptor switch in the wire connected to the PURPLE wire so the fan can be shut off at highway speeds....at highway speeds the truck will force enough air into the condensor!
 
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Old 08-03-2006
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It makes since, the compressor goes off cycle, there for your fan isnt getting power. Where as if you connect it directly to the controls you will get power to you fan when ever your AC is on.
 

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