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View Full Version : SPAL electric fan Wiring Kit problem-Can anyone help?


kaptainkid1
12-19-2010, 04:49 PM
I just finished an cooling overhaul on my e36 and I'm stuck on the following hook up.

I bought the following new parts 16in Spal Fan, Spal Wiring Kit and 185/88cc thermostat switch and new all aluminum Radiator. It seems I've followed exactly everything on the SPAL electric fan wiring DIY:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=618192 (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=157)

but it seems my new electric fan "clutch fan" replacement will not cut on when the Auxiliary fan turns over after the car reaches correct hot temp. The Spal fan will come on if I ground the gray wire lead from the Spal relay. I'm guessing the relay isn't wired correctly because the fan won't come on. Can anyone help me trouble shoot my problem??? I read somewhere I needed to ground the temp switch mounted on the Radiator which I did and nothing happened. Are these the wrong instructions for hooking up Spal wiring kit???


Here are the steps I took-

Spal electric fan wiring DIY
So I wired up my Spal electric fan today and here is how I did it. This may not be the trickest wiring job but I looked around for a while here and couldn't find anything like this.

Just the wiring took a couple of hours to do but I work very slow.

Dissconnect your negative battery cable first before doing any electrical work!!

1st, I found a cool place to mount the Fan Relay. Right behind the power block on the pass side of the car is the perfect spot.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f393/epeviston/IMG_1921.jpg

The only wires from the relay that need to go all the way to the fan are the red and grey wires. So I test routed them together along the top of the fender well and then down behind the right headlight. I figured out that they needed to be tape together for about 48" with about another 10" free so the grey wire could go up to the fan switch and the red wire to the fan plug.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f393/epeviston/IMG_1938.jpg

The yellow wire from the relay goes to the power block but you can cut off all but about 3" of it and crimp on the fuse holder and terminal connector and tape it all up.

The orange wire from the relay needs to be about 21" long and taped up to about 18".

This is what the relay should look like now:

top wire is the red and grey wire wrapped together
middle wire is the orange wire that goes to the diagnostic port
bottom wire is the yellow...dedicated power source and fuse holder

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f393/epeviston/IMG_1924.jpg


I then bolted the relay back into place behind the power block. I pulled the wrapped red and grey wires underneath all the wires that are clipped to the top of the pass fender well and then down behind the right headlight.

Then I pulled the diagnostic port off of its mount and pealed the boot off the bottom of it...routed the orange wire down underneath the secondary air pump and into the bottom of the boot of the diagnostic port. A little plastic/rubber lube works wonders here.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f393/epeviston/IMG_1925.jpg

Then I cut the wire to pin 16 and installed a double connector on the pin side of the cut. Then put a connector on the orange wire from the relay and a connector on the Green/white striped wire that I cut and connected them all together.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f393/epeviston/IMG_1927.jpg

Then I installed a double connector onto the black/white stripe wire from the fan switch in the side of the radiator (I put a double connector on both wires for testing later but you prob only need to tee into the black/white stripe)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f393/epeviston/IMG_1930.jpg


I then went back and popped the side cover off of the power block and connected the dedicated power source for the relay.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f393/epeviston/IMG_1929.jpg

In the next couple of days I'll get around to installing the fan onto the radiator and I'll post pics of that too.
walker7182006
12-19-2010, 05:17 PM
the link you put in there did not work. thanks for posting up the diy tho. i have saved it cause i have not found a good diy for this. sorry i cant be of any help but good luck. i intend on doing this as well. your diy is comeing out better then some of the other's ive found. so hears a bump
diz330
12-19-2010, 07:10 PM
so what are the advantages of this fan? it replaces the stock one that is mounted to the water pump correct? where did you get it and whats it cost?

i'm asking because i'm in the middle of a aluminum radiator install and aftermarket water temp, oil temp, and oil pressure guage setup. thanks.
kaptainkid1
12-19-2010, 07:58 PM
Hey Diz330,

Well, My e36 stock radiator just cracked and I decided to upgrade the cooling system with new hoses, water pump, aluminum thermostat housing, thermostat and lower temp switch. Basically I did a Fan Delete Mod and I'm second guessing my work. I've came across a lot Bimmer Enthusiastic this weekend at the Dockweiler meet and some have told me it's over kill. My rationale was get rid of the time bomb fan blades. I found most of the fan blades issues due to poor maintenance. Which include improper installation of radiator hoses, failing engine mounts. Any case I'm having problem with Spal wire kit but I found a BMW MOD specialist who will help me with final steps this week. I met him too at Dockweiler meet. So if I don't solve the problem myself I'll take it to specialist. Here is the links to the Spal Kit-

http://store.bimmerworld.com/cooling-c7.aspx

If you do the electric fan, you'll need Spal 16in fan(puller air flow), Spal wire Kit, Lower temp switch, spal fan shroud gasket and fan quick mount kit. $180 plus shipping.

Advantages: if your engine mount fails no fan blades problems. usual problems from exploding fan blades- damages hood, hoses, radiator, fan shroud. Costing thousands.

Also you can just run a fan delete mod(FDM) with no fan clutch or fan on your car. You'll just have to update your coolant with a flush and use water wetter with bmw coolant and regular distill water mix running in your system. I heard that's fine for everyday driver.
ultimachi
12-19-2010, 10:28 PM
I can't remember exact details of my install and I'm not near my car at the moment, but I have a question. I don't see where you put your ground? I did exactly what you did, but my ground is on the engine block behind the coolant expansion tank.

I also can't remember which wire coming from the coolant temp sensor is the high temp switch wire and the low temp switch wire. I have it connected to the low temp switch. The fan never came on when it was hooked into the high temp switch.

My suggestion:

- Check the ground
- Check whether you're connected to the high or low temp switch.

An easy way to check is to turn on the A/C. That should kick on the fan regardless.
kaptainkid1
12-19-2010, 10:47 PM
Hey Ultimachi,

I'm sure I grounded the Spal Fan correctly because it's attached to chassis. The Spal Relay was grouded behind the Positive lead port on the first Picture which I'm sure is correct. The gray wire from the relay could be connected to wrong lead. I attached to the temp switch whether its the high or low i'm not sure. What colors are wire to the low temp switch? Also connecting the orange wire to diagnostic port pin"16" seems fishy to me as well but I did it according to this DIY.
ultimachi
12-19-2010, 11:01 PM
Yes I connected the orange wire there.....(or was it the grey one?) I have to check and look man. But I tapped into the diagnostic port.

I'll look sometime this week when I get a chance and let you know.

UPDATE

I looked under the hood today and this is what I saw.

The orange wire indeed goes into the Diagnostic port. I didn't pull the boot to see which pin though since I didn't want to mess with it.

The grey wire goes to the temp switch on the side of the radiator. It's spliced into the green/black wire.

The black/white striped wire is the high temp switch. I had it spliced into that one initially but the fan never came on. I don't think it comes on until 210+ degrees F anyways that's why it never kicked on. And me having a PWR aluminum radiator and Stewart Hi-Po water pump, I don't see it reaching those temps often.

I say tap it into the green/black since that's the low temp. I have the spal curved puller fan, and when that thing turns on, it's only on for about a minute then it turns off. You can literally stand by your drivers door and feel the air hit you in the face with the hood propped up.

Also, the fan turns on with the A/C now too, when before it wouldn't. Hope this helps.
kaptainkid1
12-21-2010, 03:05 PM
Ultimachi,

You da man!!! whooo whoa! it works... Everyone it's Green/Black wire!!

My ride is running smoothy...
NHmfree
08-04-2011, 09:32 PM
Bumping an old thread instead of starting a new one...

I just finished the install exactly like this (green/black wire), but the fan ONLY comes on with the AC. I took the car for a ride, brought it back and let it idle and it never came on. The temp started to creep which concerns me. Any ideas?

Thanks.
JCooper
08-04-2011, 09:44 PM
temp switch gone bad perhaps?
NHmfree
08-05-2011, 05:08 AM
I bought the Bimmerworld Spal kit which comes with a new, lower temp switch...
flyfishvt
08-05-2011, 07:22 AM
The wires to the temp switch provide ground to the aux fan relays. Run a ground wire to the splice in the black green wire. If both fans turn on then you have a bad wire somewhere. The brown wire on that switch goes directly to ground. Mine was broken in two places but it was broken inside the insulation so you couldn't see it. I ended up splicing in a new ground wire. Test continuity between the brown wire pin of the connector and the car chassis. Also just take a second look at the temp switch connector. The wires have a tendency to crack and break right at the connector.
NHmfree
08-05-2011, 10:32 PM
The wires to the temp switch provide ground to the aux fan relays. Run a ground wire to the splice in the black green wire. If both fans turn on then you have a bad wire somewhere. The brown wire on that switch goes directly to ground. Mine was broken in two places but it was broken inside the insulation so you couldn't see it. I ended up splicing in a new ground wire. Test continuity between the brown wire pin of the connector and the car chassis. Also just take a second look at the temp switch connector. The wires have a tendency to crack and break right at the connector.

Good info, I'll look into this and check back. Thanks.
NHmfree
08-13-2011, 09:58 PM
Finally getting my car back together (it was apart when I posted), and I hope to get to this tomorrow or the next day.

When you say run a ground wire to the splice in the black green wire, I'm not really sure what you mean now that I started refamiliarizing myself with the wiring. I should run a ground from where to where?

Also, I noticed on Bimmerworld's site that they sell three types of relays.

-185 degrees
-195 degrees
-"basic kit that can incorporate the factory auxiliary fan switch. This kit is designed to power the Spal fan when the auxiliary fan is switched on."

I'm wondering if the cheap, "basic" relay is the one that comes with the Spal kit that they sell. Would this render all of the wiring DIYs useless as it is simply not the correct relay?
Pdwight
08-13-2011, 10:09 PM
A really well written DIY with pics would be great for this project.
NHmfree
08-13-2011, 10:12 PM
A really well written DIY with pics would be great for this project.

The one posted above is, and has worked for a lot of people. Just trying to figure out why it hasn't for me...
kaptainkid1
10-17-2011, 04:38 PM
11 month update on my FDM, and my fan comes on with no problem. I hear my fan running quite often during stop and go traffic. Also I noticed since people are concern about overheating and electrical problems I haven't seen any negative resolutions since my conversion. Engine runs smoothly and temp gauge isn't affected by the lower t-stat. I have peace of mind and my upgrades haven't failed me yet.
Spyke
10-17-2011, 07:02 PM
I didn't want to mess with all that shite, I hard wired into the fuse box, using the radio fuse. No problemos, fan on all the time. I suppose I could wire in a kill switch, but it seems pointless.
kaptainkid1
08-17-2012, 03:27 PM
All is well with FDM after 2 years... Still running strong.
PHARMDVIPER
08-17-2012, 03:56 PM
I followed your diy to install mine :buttrock
dhangjr
01-14-2013, 05:31 PM
All is well with FDM after 2 years... Still running strong.


thanx for keepin updated. Im gonna do this after fan blew my radiator up due to fan shattering. I was lucky
kaptainkid1
04-20-2013, 02:45 AM
Hitting 3 years still all is good. Love the FDM and the car needs a tune up but still running strong. I also just refresh my top with new straps and cords.