cstarbard
Member
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2017
- Messages
- 225
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 18
- Age
- 30
- Location
- Oakham, MA
- Vehicle Year
- 1996
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Size
- 2.3
- Transmission
- Manual
- My credo
- It do like it be
Hey guys,
I just recently did the Volvo fan swap onto my 96 2.3. Overall I'm very happy with it, but I'm wondering what other options there are for temperature switches besides the BMW and VW switches listed in the tech section here, and here's why:
For my 2.3 I thought the lower temperature BMW switch with 180 degree and 215 degree settings made sense, which it does. But: I had a scanner hooked up to my truck to check at what temperature the switch would kick the low speed of the fan on and off, and I found that the fan came on at 170 degrees and wouldn't shut off until 106 degrees. I tested this half a dozen times with the same results.
170 degrees is a totally sensible point at which to kick the fan on, but I was surprised that it took cooling down to 106 degrees to shut it off. This isn't necessarily a problem, I was just hoping the fan would shut off much sooner than that. At this point, once low speed kicks on, the fan essentially stays on for the remainder of my time driving the truck for the day unless I shut it off for a long time before driving again.
Are there other options for temperature switches that would shut low speed off at a higher temperature? It just seems unnecessary to have it running that long.
I can fabricate housings for any temp switch so the thread specs, physical size of the switch really don't matter to me.
Also, I'd like to add a note as an FYI to others looking to do this swap, who need a temperature switch housing for the BMW switch. The switch has 14x1.5 threads; if you don't want to run adapters or can't find any temp switch housing to start with, you can make a housing on the cheap using some common parts store parts. For mine, I found Advance Auto carries tons of lug nuts with 14x1.5 thread, so I drilled a hole in a 1.5" exhaust connector tube and welded the lug nut to the tube, thus making a temp switch housing with correct thread. It fit right in my radiator hose no problem. Just be sure if you do this to weld barbs of some kind on the exhaust pipe... ask me how I know. ) Nothing makes a fun time like the housing blasting out of your radiator hose. Even if you can't weld, I imagine paying to have it done would be cheap.
Thanks in advance. Chris
I just recently did the Volvo fan swap onto my 96 2.3. Overall I'm very happy with it, but I'm wondering what other options there are for temperature switches besides the BMW and VW switches listed in the tech section here, and here's why:
For my 2.3 I thought the lower temperature BMW switch with 180 degree and 215 degree settings made sense, which it does. But: I had a scanner hooked up to my truck to check at what temperature the switch would kick the low speed of the fan on and off, and I found that the fan came on at 170 degrees and wouldn't shut off until 106 degrees. I tested this half a dozen times with the same results.
170 degrees is a totally sensible point at which to kick the fan on, but I was surprised that it took cooling down to 106 degrees to shut it off. This isn't necessarily a problem, I was just hoping the fan would shut off much sooner than that. At this point, once low speed kicks on, the fan essentially stays on for the remainder of my time driving the truck for the day unless I shut it off for a long time before driving again.
Are there other options for temperature switches that would shut low speed off at a higher temperature? It just seems unnecessary to have it running that long.
I can fabricate housings for any temp switch so the thread specs, physical size of the switch really don't matter to me.
Also, I'd like to add a note as an FYI to others looking to do this swap, who need a temperature switch housing for the BMW switch. The switch has 14x1.5 threads; if you don't want to run adapters or can't find any temp switch housing to start with, you can make a housing on the cheap using some common parts store parts. For mine, I found Advance Auto carries tons of lug nuts with 14x1.5 thread, so I drilled a hole in a 1.5" exhaust connector tube and welded the lug nut to the tube, thus making a temp switch housing with correct thread. It fit right in my radiator hose no problem. Just be sure if you do this to weld barbs of some kind on the exhaust pipe... ask me how I know. ) Nothing makes a fun time like the housing blasting out of your radiator hose. Even if you can't weld, I imagine paying to have it done would be cheap.
Thanks in advance. Chris
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