bjhines

I found a master list of everything the highly desireable Taurus fan comes on. This would make a great JY master pull list. Radiator Fan Assemblies Item Number Description -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DORMAN PART NUMBER 620-101 1995-90 Taurus, Sable, Continental -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Detailed Applications Year Make Model Engine Application Note 1995 MERCURY SABLE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1995 FORD TAURUS: SE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1995 FORD TAURUS: LX V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1995 FORD TAURUS: GL V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1994 MERCURY SABLE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1994 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL: SIGNATURE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1994 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL: EXECUTIVE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1994 FORD TAURUS: LX V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1994 FORD TAURUS: GL V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1993 MERCURY SABLE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1993 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL: SIGNATURE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1993 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL: EXECUTIVE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1993 FORD TAURUS: LX V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1993 FORD TAURUS: GL V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1992 MERCURY SABLE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1992 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL: SIGNATURE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1992 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL: EXECUTIVE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1992 FORD TAURUS: LX V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1992 FORD TAURUS: L V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1992 FORD TAURUS: GL V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1991 MERCURY SABLE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1991 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL: SIGNATURE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1991 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL: EXECUTIVE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1991 FORD TAURUS: LX V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1991 FORD TAURUS: L V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1991 FORD TAURUS: GL V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1990 MERCURY SABLE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1990 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1990 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL: SIGNATURE V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1990 FORD TAURUS: LX V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade 1990 FORD TAURUS: GL V6 - 3.8L (232 CID): GAS: FI: N: 4 Incl. Shroud, Motor & Blade --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a diagram of what I believe the SPAL PWM is doing inside their little black box. It is likely MOSFET controlled and VERY simple. ...

The whole idea of the PWM(pulse width modulation) control is based on A-STABLE high frequency pulses that have a variable duty cycle. I suppose that monostable operation would come into play when the fan is OFF or 100% ON. I checked on parts. I have a few various high power transistors. But to get up to 500Watts for the high-speed wire on the Taurus fan I will need 10 output devices in parallel. G-dammit. That gets unreliable. There are more powerful devices available but they cost $20 EACH. That can get costly as I try to find the limits of the system.

At this point I am thinking that a custom, solid-state, 2-speed-fan controller might be cheaper and more reliable. There begin to be problems with timing the various make and break relay contacts. I have a box of various power transistors and some heat sink extrusion. That is a 2 week project at least. Hmmm... A simple 555 or 7555 timer IC has duty cycle on square wave functions. I think it varies by resistance between two pins. The temperature sender units all start at high resistance when they are cold and the resistance drops as they warm up. There is your duty cycle right there. There are also alarm functions on the 555 IC that could trigger the switchover to the high-speed fan-wire. I would prefer to vary the 12V signal and allow direct grounding at the fan.

The fan controller supplies constant 12V to the Red fan power wire in the SPAL fan harness. The Spal PWM varies the ground resistance between 1Mohm and ~.05 ohms. That is the problem with hooking it up along with a relay to control the high speed fan wire. That is also how they manage to keep it turning even when it is essentially off. Anyway. Here is the revision 3 version of the wire diagram. The relays are rated for 40A on the NO terminals but they are only rated at 20A on the NC side. I had to reverse the NC-NO contacts on the SPAL PWM fan drive relays. This adds yet another relay dammit. I think I can get my hands on a suitable DPDT relay that will still do the trick current-wise for the low speed circuit. ...

This is not entirely worked out yet. 1. I would like to supress spark across relay contacts. This can be done but I will have to study up. 2. I would like to find an affordable, multi-pole relay to simplify some of this. It may not turn out to be cheaper or better. I have a 4 relay box that will house them just fine. But then I need yet another relay box for the ignition, headlights, etc. 3. I don't know if the motor Diode will do anything for me. I would have to add another to the low speed wire. This would be revision II. Notice the resistor-capacitors across the relay contacts for inductive loads. I am thinking that a 50mfd capacitor and a 3ohm resistor across the switch contacts will be sufficient. ...

OK... I am using this thing unless I decide to use it to drive a waterpump instead. The PWM can handle 30Amps. That is not enough to run the 1992Ford taurus 3.8L cooling fan on HIGH SPEED. It will do just fine for LOW speed. I intend to use high speed for the fan as well. I would like the PWM to control high speed operation through a relay. This would seem easy enough, except that the PWM fan harness must return ground back through the unit. The High speed relay would need ground to go directly to ground. I also do not want both the high and low speed terminals on the fan wiring getting voltage simultaneously. --------------------------------------------------------------------- These problems can be solved, But I really wish there was an easier way to accomplish this. This is a diagram of what I have so far. I am lifting the PWM entirely out of the fan circuit when the secondary fan(grey wire) is activated by the PWM. The PWM will drive a resistor(~16 OHM), when the high speed side is switched over. The relays for this are SPDT 40Amp NO terminals and 20A NC terminals. They have considerable inrush rating of over 100A on both terminals.

I'll bet that most of that deer is between the engine and the front clip. I think we only see what is up top.

I would likely not be on the phone if it were not for their poor assembly and QC. They are as poor as their product and their unwillingness to deal with the quality issues.

I purchased a SPAL Pulse Width Modulation fan controller for $65 from an online Circle Track supplier. The thing is heat sinked and uses transistorized control circuits to slow the fan down and draw less power when it is not needed. It will also keep the fan turning enough to ensure it does not block flow through the radiator core when the fan is NOT on and the car is moving. I was unsure of a lot of things about it's operation, but I ordered one anyway. It came with a bunch of premade harnesses to hook it up. The first thing I found was that the wiring harnesses that come with the unit were poorly assembled. There are literally pins bent and improperly seated in the Weatherpack connectors. This will make it impossible to hook it up with the wires they sent in the box. Obviously I can make new connectors, but this was very frustrating. Here is one pic of the main power harness. The other problem is with the sensor harness. Another issue I have is that the blister switches and indicator lights are mounted with a sticker that has only partially adhered to the case of the unit. They went to all that trouble with the wiring to make it weather proof, yet the switches to control the unit are openly exposed. Whatever happened to the sticker adhesive has ruined it for good. It simply will not stay stuck. I will seal it down with some adhesive, but again this is an issue I did not want to deal with. I decided to call SPAL to get them to send new harnesses and a new switch/indicator sticker. This seemed like an easy fix for the problems to me. I also had a few questions about the way they control the fan in their cicuit. The technician was single track minded with intent to get me off the phone as quickly as possible. The first thing out of his mouth was "Return it to the store, not to us". I informed him that I would have to pay shipping to send it back and I thought there was a better way to deal with the problems. I could barely get another word in before he told me that they do not make that unit anymore, and he could not do anything with it. They have moved on to another version. I asked him if he could PLEASE check into the parts and get back to me. He finally said he thought they could get more harnesses sent but the switch-sticker was not something they could send me. I said OK send what you have. God forbid I would have another question for this A-hole. I pinned him down on answering another question about their control circuit and he just brushed it off without an answer. In fact he told me he had things to do and could not do anything else for me. I asked about their new version and I got some crazy comment about it is still in testing and there are no new features. I have dealt with many, many small scale manufacturers in the electronics industry. The person I spoke with at Spal USA was a pain. If that is how they want to do their business I will never deal with them again. Judging by the number of problems I have had with the SPAL assembly quality, I will not touch another SPAL product again.

I have a Moroso 5" V-groove Pulley in a metric size. I made a small spacer in the lathe to space the pulley properly. It is one-to-one on my track car. I am using a late model 300ZX alternator I adapted to use on the L-engine. 1. The CHG light wire helps to exite the coils at low RPM. 2. The Voltage sensing wire keeps the voltage higher at the fuse panel.

I have been looking into some of this as well. Back in the day I worked with a high end car installer. I was in another part of the shop, but I spent a lot of time in the install garage to see how these guys did their work. They used a couple of guys and some propane torches to make really nice bends on straight lines. They also used the torches to smooth out and clarify the cut edges. They were not doing anything but bending the sheets like they were bending sheet metal on a brake. The bends looked great. The material was sometimes 1/2" thick.

amps/volts are not interchangable terms. What do you have?

That moron doesn't know a damn thing about paint. How the hell is he an "ex body man"? I have seen something similar from an "ex body man". We assume that they were "exed" due to retirement. I have a feeling he was "ex" from a body job he had 50 years ago in high-school. It is one thing to ask for a 12-hour paint job. But for him to waste materials due to complete ignorance is all on him. I would make him soda blast it again.

Ground is easy enough to change. The chg and V-sense wires are easy to figure out with a volt-ohm meter. One wire alternators have some disadvantages, especially in a street driven car with multiple electrical accessories and a need to run lights and other things while at idle. Don't do a ONE-wire system. That is not acceptable for street use.

These are great ideas. I have also considered putting aluminum tape around the inside of hte gauge housing to better reflect the light from the rear. I am just afraid that the green light would be reflected differently as well and mess up the even backlighting.

I tried out the Ultra violet LED idea. The only one I could get locally, is mounted on a large heat-sinked chip. I got one and poked it in the housing to see how it lit the gauge. The pointer is definitely flourescent. It glows brilliantly under UV light. NONE of the other markings are flourescent. That will do the trick to get the needle to really stand out. I have run into a snag in mounting though. It seems that UV is utterly absorbed by the plastic gauge housing. It is not reflected onto the gauge face the way the visible spectrum is. I am going to have to mount the UV LED in front of the gauge face for it to work. The other problem is that the high power UV LED I have is WAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! too bright. The damn needle light completely blots out all of the backlighting on the numerals. Jeeeze... I am scared to look at the LED chip now that I see just how much UV that thing puts out. That thing will give you a sunburn for sure!!!! I am pretty sure they were designed for UV set plasics like teeth fillings and prototyping work. That thing is dangerous. Here is a picture of the guage lit with the super UV LED. The camera apparently CAN SEE UV light. I took this picture and it looks nothing like it does to my eyes. To me there is a hot-pink glow comming from the needle like a hot-pink flashlight. The purple glow is very dim in real life. There is no glare on the gauge face to my eyes. You might notice that the NUMBERS and RPM stand out in this pic. The hash-marks and the yellow writing are barely visible. That is not the case to my eyes. NONE of the writing on the face is the least bit flourescent to my eyes. I think the difference is that the camera sees UV light reflected from the white pigment and shows those numerals very well in the pic. Obviously the yellow paint does not relect UV as well as the white. I any case, the only thing I care to see with UV is the flourescent needle. The green backlights are lit in this picture. You can't even tell they are on. That part is true to my eyes as well. The needle glows so brightly you can barely tell the backlights are on. I ordered some low power 5mm UV leds for the job. They will get here late this week.

I tried out the Ultra violet LED idea. I could only get them locally mounted on a large heat sinked chip. I got one and poked it in the housing to see how it lit the gauge. The pointer is definitely flourescent. It glows brilliantly under UV light. NONE of the other markings are flourescent. That will do the trick to get the needle to really stand out. I have run into a snag in mounting though. It seems that UV is utterly absorbed by the plastic gauge housing. It is not reflected onto the gauge face the way the visible spectrum is. I am going to have to mount the UV LED in front of the gauge face for it to work. The other problem is that the high power UV LED I have is WAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! too bright. The damn needle completely blots out all of the backlighting on the numerals. Jeeeze... I am scared to look at the LED chip now that I see just how much UV that thing puts out. That thing will give you a sunburn for sure!!!! I am pretty sure they were designed for UV set plasics like teeth fillings and prototyping work. That thing is dangerous. I ordered some low power 5mm UV leds for the job. They will get here late this week.

Was electrical tape ever mentioned?

Now that I have seen how jcb3 and others have done theirs, Ihave chosen to install indicator lights in mine as well. The housing and gauge internals can be removed by taking out 2 small screws on the back. I carefully drilled holes and mounted a pair of turn signal indicator LEDs in housings. I also mounted a super-bright RED shift indicator LED. I used heat shrink to cover the backs of the LEDs so they do not pick up light from the gauge backlighting. Here is the modified face. Here are shots of the LEDs lighted to show relative brightness. The RED LED shift indicator is a 3000mcd super-bright that really shines. It is pretty damn bright. Here are just the turn indicators. They are bright enough to see in the day without being distracting at night. ...

jbc3, You are THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!! I bow to you for giving me the courage to do this myself. It is super trick the way you mounted the indicators in the autometer faces. This is one of the oldschool Hybrid Z threads that drew me to this site!

Thanks for linking to this thread JBC3!!!!! Bump!!!

I have a few more to try. I might get some more pics tonight.

The trick is getting them in there without kinking them or using a bunch of connectors. It would help to have a lift but you can do it on jackstands.

Good question what is really is. If it is a big capacitor then you can get them from car audio stores in much larger capacities. The car audio guys are using them to provide large amounts of power in short spikes. That seems like the opposite of what this device says it does.