Guest greimann Posted August 11, 2002 Share Posted August 11, 2002 I thought I would post this tidbit of info here as it is buried in another thread in the Chevy forum. This really has application to all swaps. I just recently switched from the Black Magic fan to the Taurus fan and had the opportunity to do some back to back testing and put some numbers to the consensus that the Taurus fan is the 44 Magnum of the electric fan world (will blow your head clean off ). Test conditions: Drove vehicle for about 1/2 hour to get everything warmed up. Engine temperature measured through Holley EFI data screen. Ambient temperature measured with digital thermometer. Each test the car was in the garage at idle for at least 5 minutes or until the engine temperature stabilized. The fans were wired to run constantly and the Taurus fan was altered to fill in the gap in the shroud at the bottom and to have a closed cell foam gasket at the contact point with the radiator. The radiator is a Griffin 26 X 19. Taurus fan low speed = 178 engine temp - 79 ambient = 99 degree delta Taurus fan high speed = 174 engine temp - 79 ambient = 95 degree delta Black Magic fan = 189 engine temp - 80 ambient = 109 degree delta As the test shows, the Taurus fan on LOW speed beats the Black Magic. I have suspicion that with the fan on high speed, I was bouncing off of the thermostat, which is a 160 deg. unit. The temp sender for the Holley system is in the cylinder head so it will see a little higher temps than the thermostat will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 11, 2002 Share Posted August 11, 2002 "Taurus: the 44 magnum of the fan world" Good test and great informative post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted August 11, 2002 Share Posted August 11, 2002 Excellent information! I'm glad I have the taurus fan that I bought used and save a bundle over a new Black Magic fan. All this puppy needs is some mild cleaning and it'll go great with the Camaro radiator. Thanks for the info Greimann. Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaime240z Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 I'm looking to use a Taurus fan. What year/model should I pull from?Is it an sho, etc....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 Dave, thanks for doing that test, instrumenting and giving us the results! I'd heard that the Mustang GT and Lincoln Mark VIII fans pulled more air through the radiator than a Black Magic fan, and now you've given us another data point. Just be careful - My Mustang GT fan pulls 35amps on HIGH. You need some good sized wiring for that. I'm actually running 2 VF40 automotive relays in parallel to handle the loads. I'd imagine the Taurus fan is the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 86-96 Taurus/Sable....... 86-94 Lincoln Continental.... 94-97 T Bird... Any more applications? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 98 GT Mustang (4.6L) Probably other years around that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LIghtningZ Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 Select mid sized Ford cars, look for s-curved blades and three way wired plug with very heavy wires, black, black-yellow, black-orange. not to be confused with the low duty single speed with only a two wire plug, the fans look almost identical but the low duty is the slightest bit smaller. hope this helps!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greimann Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 One thing I didn't have was a high current ammeter to read the draw, but I can tell that the draw on the alternator brings the idle down more noticeably with the Taurus than BM. To switch the fan on, I am using a Hayden variable temperature switch that I got from Pep Boys. The switch has a probe the inserts into the radiator fins, a 40 amp relay and 30 amp fuse. I have run this setup for a couple of days and no problem so far. That includes a run I took yesterday on route 74, Ortega Highway, in 100 degree weather, uphill for many miles. One thing I would be worried about is longevity of the fan being used on high as its primary mode. In the Ford setup, low is primary and high is engaged when temperatures get upwards of 220 I think. I believe in the winter I will switch to low speed to relieve some of the duty cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted August 12, 2002 Share Posted August 12, 2002 Dave, not sure about the Taurus fan modes, but on the Mustang, Low is used when the coolant temp switch goes high, and High is used whenever the A/C Compressor is engaged. I also wonder about using high speed all the time. I had to use two ampmeters in series (a 30 and a 15, I think) to be able to measure the current. The Mustang has a 60 amp fuse on the fan, so that's the way I went. Probably one of the reasons for such a large fuse is that the startup current spikes a good bit over the 35amps, more like 50. A slow blow 30 amp fuse may not have a problem with that, but I'd keep a few spares in the glove box! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaime240z Posted August 13, 2002 Share Posted August 13, 2002 Cool! literaly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted September 6, 2002 Share Posted September 6, 2002 Originally posted by pparaska:Dave, thanks for doing that test, instrumenting and giving us the results! Just be careful - My Mustang GT fan pulls 35amps on HIGH. You need some good sized wiring for that. I'm actually running 2 VF40 automotive relays in parallel to handle the loads. I'd imagine the Taurus fan is the same way. I picked up a Taurus fan and Relay module from the local Pull-A-Part and I am hoping I can figure out how to wire things up using the OEM module. (Pete, I think I rember you mentioning in another post that you might have a schematic for the OEM fan control circuit. If you do, could you scan a copy for me?) The relay module has a 24 contact connector going to it! I can figure out some of the wiring without a schematic, but there are still a bunch of wires that I don't have a clue where they go. I figure that connecting the appropriate ones to +12 and ground will switch the relays the way I want. That way I can take advantage of both the high and low speeds. Anyway, if I figure it all out, I promise to post a detailed description for others to use. BTW, the module has 4 large relays in it, so like Pete, they've probably paralleled them up for the high current. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted September 7, 2002 Share Posted September 7, 2002 A really good thread on the Taurus fan and incorporated past archive.website info web page wiring photos dimensions was started by BlueX-v1 on 8 -28- 2002 I will attempt to link the 2 web pages. This is a very concise thread on the Taurus fan that I printed it for future reference such as this question about the wiring diagram and all worth repeating.We may have a rising star in this Z community in young Bluex_v1 for research and bringing all the info together. This is the second thread (ford v8 mounts) that I have printed that he has started and of course with Greiman's great test for everything you wanted to know about "the 44 magnum of fans" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted September 7, 2002 Share Posted September 7, 2002 No joke, the taurus fan draws some SERIOUS juice. I've melted wires, burned up two relays, the last one melted the plastic case, so I'll be looking for better relays and even 10 ga wire is hot enough where you cant grab it when its been running a while. I may go and look for something else of the appropriate size tomorrow, if I come up with anything new that works well and covers most of my howes core, I'll let you know. The other day mine of course decided to burn out the relay contacts while I was in a store real quick with the motor running (car locked, the starter doesn't like starting when its hot and I can't afford to change it at the moment). I come out to a car starting to over heat. I go into my bag of tricks and put a jumper wire on to bypass the relay and cool the poor girl down. I like the taurus fan alot, but I'm not sure I want to deal with its heavy amperage usage on my car. More if I find a suitable donor, I may look at like mini-van fans, or small trucks or something, maybe even a escort like Scottie mentioned once or a Tempo (the only thing that worked all the time on the tempo we had WAS the fan, even though it was laying against the engine have the time because it would rattle itself loose from the radiator, crappy car boy... ). Electric fans are great if they don't melt down your car in the process, my lack of electrical engineering sorely shows and I admit that. Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greimann Posted September 7, 2002 Share Posted September 7, 2002 Since I started this thread, I have been running the Taurus fan on a Hayden variable thermo switch, which uses a 40 amp relay, and 30 amp fuse. So far no electrical glitches, other than a noticeable dip in the idle speed when the fan kicks in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted September 8, 2002 Share Posted September 8, 2002 i work as a ford tech.that oem taurus relay box also controle the fuel pump and ac compressor clutch and is controled by the fuel injection ecm.for just a fan control i would skip it.if you need a really heavy duty relay i would get a battery isolater relay from an rv shop.bosch makes some of their little cube relays with 40a comtacts.if you get an old fan and its drawing alot of amps the motor might be worn .in 98 to 99 the mustang gt had a tsb with a fan/ radaitor upgrade but i only got 2 or 3 of the fans and 1 radaitor.most of the late model cars the fans are controled by the ecm and dont run after car gets to a speed where there is airflow with out running the fans.the ac systems have high side swithces to protect the system and the fans keep the high side pressures down.what ever you do dont use those zip tie things through the radiator core on a electric fan-the vibration makes the ties saw into the radiator core tubes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted September 23, 2002 Share Posted September 23, 2002 Paul, Sorry I missed the rest of this thread. Let me know if you want the control module wiring diagrams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted September 24, 2002 Share Posted September 24, 2002 Sure... I would still like to try and figure out if using the original control module could be done. Thanks Pete. Paul Originally posted by pparaska:Paul, Sorry I missed the rest of this thread. Let me know if you want the control module wiring diagrams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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