niceguy678us Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 I spent a bit of time at the pick and pull today. I pulled a heater blower motor from a 76 280Z, a 90 honda civic, and an 84 LTD. These three have been the subject of debate on several forums talking about upgrading your heater blower motor. I brought the three assemblies to the counter and hooked up each to a tester (small, handheld, portable device that you hook up to a part as an adjustable power source) As I hooked up each I gave a rating of 1-2-3, and attained this score by the ammount of wind the cage pushed ( I held the assembly "motor side down" with the cage facing towards me to "feel" the airflow from the sides)***do not try this at home serious injury may occur**. 1.The worst was obviously the datsun, very weak in comparison to the other two. 2.Next up was the honda, it had about 20 % more flow in multiple comparisons back and forth with the datsun just to be sure. 3. And finally the LTD, this thing was AMAZING, I could feel the torgue in my hands more so than the other two, and it flowed about 40% better than the honda, I would say this one would be the best of them all by a long shot. My money went to the LTD blower motor assembly. The LTD assembly is mounted under the hood in the passenger side uppermost corner of the engine compartment (easy to get to) but will require a little "custom modifications" to the datsun heater blower "box" to make it fit, but it is possible if you are mechanically inclined and are not scared to do a little cutting and drill new bolt holes. In a previous post I had said " I want to turn on the A/C or heater and have it rearrange my hair" well the LTD is the way to go for this effect hands down. I will post the installation procedure as soon as it is in there. Oh by the way the part was like 5 bucks. They did have a blower motor already pulled (but already claimed by a customer) from a 96 cadillac that looked REALLY KILLER!!! It is a 150 dollar unit USED !!!! New they are like 300-400 bucks !!! But it had a "pancake" style motor that only stuck out about an inch, but the cage was way to long and would not have fit at all in the datsun box. I didn't get to test this one since the customer had already paid for it and on their way to get it, and I won't be testing one any time soon because it's on the firewall BEHIND THE MOTOR, you have to pull the motor to get it out . Figures though, as soon as you get the right one a better one shows itself, I'm sure I'm not the only one with this affliction....lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Yep, that LTD fan/blower will definitely do the trick. Did you get the resistor pack (for the different speeds) also? I made my own out of nichrome wire (like the 240Z) but it'd be alot easier to get the LTD part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 ...I spent a bit of time at the pick and pull today. I pulled a heater blower motor from a 76 280Z, a 90 honda civic, and an 84 LTD. These three have been the subject of debate on several forums... You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar...with too much time on your hands Seriously, that is EXCELLENT information and I thank you for posting that. I now know that the LTD unit is the animal to hunt when I'm at Pik-n-pul Thanks!! Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Awesome info! Please take pix and document everything too. So, what is and LTD? Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Ford LTD (big boat) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zcarnut Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 My guess is that the better the airflow the more current the fan motor requires. Some fans I have inspected require as much as 20 amps. So, make sure that your Z car wiring and the connectors can handle the increased amperage. You do not want any fires!. In addition, the voltage drops in the stock fan circuit will increase so that you may get much less than full battery voltage at the fan. This will only reduce the speed of the fan. True, the fan speed "adjustment" resistors will limit the current, but in "high" speed mode the resistors are all shorted out. So make your measurements in that mode. The best method is what the audiophiles have found out, a direct connection to the battery with an increased sized wire. Always use a fuse or a fuse wire in your circuit. A relay will extend the life of your stock Z fan speed switch. You may even need to upgrade your alternator. Check your charging operation with the fan in high speed, high beams on, engine running, etc. with a half discharged battery. You should have at least 5 amps available (10 amps preferred) to charge the battery. I'm all for increased performance from the lousy stock fan (I am using a 280ZX fan motor myself) but let's do it right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Hi Steve! I concur on all counts. I believe I measured 8 amps on high speed for the 84 Ford LTD (that's full size, not the smaller "LTD" of that year). I used the stock fan switch to resistor-pack harness from the Z. From that, I ran three relays, one for each speed (probably overkill), to route pwer from a 12 gage positive wire that hooked into a large +battery junction. 12 gage was used for ground to the fan motor as well. So the 240Z switch only handles the less-than-an-amp current of the relay coil. All high current wiring is new and runs through the relays and fan motor only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ted-Z Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Pete, How does the fan fit? How much modification was needed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 I used the 240Z fan housing box and put the LTD fan and motor in/on it much like the 240Z fan and motor. I had to open up the hole, and weld nuts onto the fan box to allow for the extra length of the LTD fan. I sealed between the LTD motor/fan mounting plate and the fan box with some heater hose made into a ring. No big deal. It makes the glove box get a bit crunched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niceguy678us Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 Sorry guys I've been really busy lately and haven't had a chance to get back to ya. Pete has done the swap obviously and knows a bit more than I do. Pete maybe you could email me with the wiring diagram for the relay mods, or make any recomendations for things you "in retrospect should have done but didn't". Any info will be appreciated. I also picked up the tercel mirrors $30 for both of them, and pancake 2 speed 3 wire motor taurus fan for 10 bucks:rockon: !!! I will put together a writeup on this topic if you would like with acrediting pete for the help also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 "Would have done different" on the blower fan: 1) Get the resistor pack for that fan from the LTD. The JY monkey couldn't find it and only they are allowed in the JY. Ugh. 2) You can probably get away with 1 (high speed) or 2 (high and medium) relays. Low doesn't pull much current (depending on what resistance you use for it). I believe I have a diagram of what I did. I need to start looking for it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niceguy678us Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 Thank you so much pete!!! I am not an electronic genius so a diagram would help me as well as others I'm sure. I am getting better though the more I learn about wiring issues, just takes time and patience. I can go back and try to find the LTD relays, do you know where they are located in the car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 If you don't hear from me on the diagram, email me. My memory is GONE. No idea where the relays are on the LTD, much less the needed resistor pack for the fan. I used simple harness relay sockets and VF40 relays that you can get in any decent parts store, although I ordered them from Digikey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted July 11, 2003 Share Posted July 11, 2003 If you don't hear from me on the diagram, email me. My memory is GONE. How 'bout I write you on a daily basis so you can't forget? "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" ..... That's the sort of information I'd just about pay money to get, and deserves a prominent place in the Hybrid FAQ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 11, 2003 Share Posted July 11, 2003 MANY times a day. Thanks for the reminder !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Are we there yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg SmileZ Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 I am looking forward to the diagram. What year LTD did you get the blower from? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Found the diagram. I'll make a prettier version this weekend and post it on my site and leave a link in this thread. My fan is from a 1984 FULLSIZE LTD. I understand that Ford made a fullsize LTD, and a baby, based on the fox floorpan (In 83, the Fairmont became the "LTD", and the Zephyr became the Marquis). LTD heritage: http://www.ford-fox.org/faq.php?myfaq=yes&id_cat=1&categories=Fox+vehicles "LTD split lines in the mid eighties, creating a fairmont based fox platform LTD. The full sized LTD was called the LTD Crown Victoria. The Crown Vic had the 255 and the 302, the LTD came standard with a 2.3 liter four (what a shame). " (from http://www.fordltds.com/information.html ) So the Fullsize LTD (LTD Crown Victoria) is the car you want the fan from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 Doh! Sorry I forgot to post the link to my blower fan wiring modification. No fancy web page interface, just open this directory and download any of the files that start with "blowerfanrelaycircuit". There are CAD files (CADKEY .prt, Autocad .dwg and .dxf, and IGES .igs), vector graphics (.wmf), and bitmap (.gif) There are color .wmf and .gif versions as well as black and white (B&W) versions. http://mywpages.comcast.net/pparaska/image/electrical/ What I did was get extra male and female Z connectors (6 position) and made up a harness with relays that plugged between the fan switch harness and the blower&resistor harness. Plug and play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niceguy678us Posted July 31, 2003 Author Share Posted July 31, 2003 I can't look at the files, I had the same problem with the one you emailed me (just going to wait for you to post it since I didn't want to bother you about it) Do you have to have special software to see the images or something? I don't have very much knowledge of things in relation to computer settings, programs etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.