david85
Full Access Member
So what became of this?
Fan clutch upgrade...
- Thread starter ifrythings
- Start date
ifrythings
Full Access Member
I didn’t get much of a chance to play with it last summer as I pulled the engine to swap cranks and by the time I got everything back in the weather cooled down. At the moment I just built a very simple comparator circuit (actually 4 of them in one) that reads a ford efi temperature sensor in the block and when it gets to I believe 210f it turns the fan on.
It also turns the fan on when the ac pressure goes over 250psi and being that the temp switch for high idle died I incorporated that into it too. Also added the over temp light so when it hits 235-240 it will turn on the light. It seams to work fine, locks up in 15 seconds or so when I was playing with the ac before it got to cold and brought the ac from 400psi down to 150psi (idling in the parking lot). I haven’t got the coolant hot enough yet to see if it automatically turns on or not. I also have it hooked up to a manual switch just in case it doesn’t work in my experimenting phase.
It also turns the fan on when the ac pressure goes over 250psi and being that the temp switch for high idle died I incorporated that into it too. Also added the over temp light so when it hits 235-240 it will turn on the light. It seams to work fine, locks up in 15 seconds or so when I was playing with the ac before it got to cold and brought the ac from 400psi down to 150psi (idling in the parking lot). I haven’t got the coolant hot enough yet to see if it automatically turns on or not. I also have it hooked up to a manual switch just in case it doesn’t work in my experimenting phase.
david85
Full Access Member
Is it fully unlocked when you first coldstart in the morning? This is one thing that always annoyed me with viscous clutches (unless I always had bad ones).
Do you still have plans to develop the PWM control?
Do you still have plans to develop the PWM control?
ifrythings
Full Access Member
If you wanted more control over your cooling this is a good way to go, find a clutch for a good price and get a bushing made up, grab a cheap fan controller and you not be disappointed. You can also add a manual switch for full control.
I know at the beginning I was talking about a complex controller and this and that but after actually playing with this clutch I would just run it with an on/off controller and if you have ac, add that to it also for better ac when stopped.
I know at the beginning I was talking about a complex controller and this and that but after actually playing with this clutch I would just run it with an on/off controller and if you have ac, add that to it also for better ac when stopped.
ifrythings
Full Access Member
I find with the one I’m using is it starts up in whatever state it was in last, so if it was locked up when you start the truck it will be locked for a bit. This doesn’t have your typical Toyota truck fan roar every time you start the truck. The clutch is a little slow reacting till it warms up then it seams to behave.
I do still want to play with the pwm control and see if it makes a difference, I have a buddy that has a 6.4L that is willing to let me take the oscilloscope to it, just waiting for the weather to warm up so I can start taking measurements and maybe figure out how ford programmed the fan to work.
david85
Full Access Member
Honestly I'd be fine with the on/off control. I've seen how the clutch style fans work on big rigs and they are ******* belts. I also hate the OEM style because it takes a good 5-10 minutes of driving for the clutch to release, even in the dead of winter. There was a time when I even removed the fan for winter driving because it gained me at least 1 MPG. Now that I daily the truck I could probably gain 2 MPG with how stubborn my clutch is to release on cold winter mornings.
I always like the idea of electric fans, but total CFM and long term durability kept me from going that route. If a bushing adapter and switch are all that's needed, I'm tempted the most by this idea.
I always like the idea of electric fans, but total CFM and long term durability kept me from going that route. If a bushing adapter and switch are all that's needed, I'm tempted the most by this idea.
ifrythings
Full Access Member
Small update, not a big update but something.
So I decided to ditch trying to program this thing on the microchip brand micros and figured I’d try the Arduino series. Well to put it simply, what took me a month and a half to get a half working program without a screen on the microchip chips I have done in two days with a working screen!
Not sure how to layout the screen yet but here is what I have so far.
I would like to be able to make it user selectable for what is displayed and position and make a utility page or something like that where the less needed items would go like ac pressure, cool to know but don’t really need to stare it at all the time. Maybe add in tps, timing if my idea of reading the ford sensor actually works, any other random thing I think of haha.
Note: it’s just reading random crap right now so the values in the pic below don’t mean much till I hookup the sensors.
So I decided to ditch trying to program this thing on the microchip brand micros and figured I’d try the Arduino series. Well to put it simply, what took me a month and a half to get a half working program without a screen on the microchip chips I have done in two days with a working screen!
Not sure how to layout the screen yet but here is what I have so far.
I would like to be able to make it user selectable for what is displayed and position and make a utility page or something like that where the less needed items would go like ac pressure, cool to know but don’t really need to stare it at all the time. Maybe add in tps, timing if my idea of reading the ford sensor actually works, any other random thing I think of haha.
Note: it’s just reading random crap right now so the values in the pic below don’t mean much till I hookup the sensors.
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jaluhn83
Full Access Member
What are you using for sensors? I was going to built something using LM34's either open or potted in a brass fitting but haven't gotten around to it. Nice thing with the LM34 is it will give you a direct reading in mV correlating to the temp, so it's easy to read.
ifrythings
Full Access Member
@jaluhn83 I am using stock ford sensors as they are free from parts trucks and the wrecking yard, they are already water proof with water proof connectors, have a temp range from at least -50F to 320F, they are all the same sensors just in different packages including the transmission temperature sensor which can be piggy backed off of with out bothering the TECA.
Only downfall is they are not linear, the closest I could get was a 9th order polynomial which is to much math to make a small controller with no FPU run so I converted it into a lookup table and use the ADC result to lookup the corresponding temperature valve.
Note: the ford sensors are NTC resistors requiring only 2 wires.
Only downfall is they are not linear, the closest I could get was a 9th order polynomial which is to much math to make a small controller with no FPU run so I converted it into a lookup table and use the ADC result to lookup the corresponding temperature valve.
Note: the ford sensors are NTC resistors requiring only 2 wires.
jwsfarrier
Full Access Member
Those pics of the engine bay are impressive. Not to change the subject, but would you be able to post a few more pics of how you plumbed the for the CV4500. I have one to install and unsure how and where to put it. I'm going to use that same Banks adapter as well. Thanks a bunch for all the great info on this thread!
ifrythings
Full Access Member
Small update, got it mostly working now, just need to add the last few sensors and make a case for the controller and mount the screen. I’m just using an Arduino nano for now but it doesn’t have enough analog to digital inputs so I’ll be changing that out at some point. I probably have about $15 into the controller and $13 in the screen. If anyone wants to build one I would be happy to share the schematic and code if anyone is interested.
Note: this is just a prototype board so it looks pretty scary but it really isn’t, I would like to make a proper board one day when I find time and a place that will make them fairly cheap.
Temperatures seem pretty close to the auto meter gauge. Intake temp is usually a few degrees off from temp sensors that are submerged into liquid.
Ignore the strange “symbol” below the ACP, somehow something pushed on the screen wrecking that spot. I don’t have the Engine oil temp, transmission oil temp or exhaust back pressure sensors hooked up so ignore those for now and the fan saying inf rpm is because the engine isn’t running.
The fan seems to cycle on and off in stop and go traffic as needed to keep the ac pressure below 450psi, for a Crewcab I can freeze out people in the back while stopped.
Got the zf temp sensor welded up, just need to put some paint on it and put it on and run the wire up to the controller.
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Note: this is just a prototype board so it looks pretty scary but it really isn’t, I would like to make a proper board one day when I find time and a place that will make them fairly cheap.
Temperatures seem pretty close to the auto meter gauge. Intake temp is usually a few degrees off from temp sensors that are submerged into liquid.
You must be registered for see images attach
Ignore the strange “symbol” below the ACP, somehow something pushed on the screen wrecking that spot. I don’t have the Engine oil temp, transmission oil temp or exhaust back pressure sensors hooked up so ignore those for now and the fan saying inf rpm is because the engine isn’t running.
The fan seems to cycle on and off in stop and go traffic as needed to keep the ac pressure below 450psi, for a Crewcab I can freeze out people in the back while stopped.
Got the zf temp sensor welded up, just need to put some paint on it and put it on and run the wire up to the controller.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
cheap bronco
Full Access Member
I'm good with auto electrical but not with the small fancy programming stuff. How bout you look into making it for the forum buddies along with the bushing fan adapter
ifrythings
Full Access Member
If I had the resources to make these within the budget of most people on here I would but at the moment just making the bushing would be $70-$100 and I would need a stock fan clutch to rob the shaft from. The electronics would probably be around $50-$100 and I don’t have the ability right now to provide support and debug. Now the big thing is this costs me so much because I’m paying conversion, shipping, duties and other random costs that guys in the sates wouldn’t have to pay. I’m sure you guys can get these bushings made for less than $50 and a simple fan controller for $30 from rockauto or just an on/off switch and your up and running besides the cost of the clutch.
I believe my 09 at work has this setup from the factory. I would not get too hung up on the electronics to control the fan, I have come to believe using the factory setup that they could have come up with a better control system for it. It does some weird things sometimes. One thing the "brain" doesn't take into account is the rpm of the engine. Of course that has a large affect on how much cooling the fan can do, no matter how "locked up" the clutch is at any given time. I have experienced the fan surging on and off as it's trying to find a sweet spot as the rpms are going up and down for road conditions. It works fine, I just think they went overboard on some of their control algorithms, simpler is probably better.
