Does anyone know if all 80-83 U.S. e21's came with the electric aux fan in front of the radiator? Or it was part of A/C system and was added when the A/C was installed by the dealer?
Does anyone have a working fan with all the hardware?
Thanks,
Max
I have a heavy a$$ working OEM fan and brackets from a/c delete car. PM me.
If not worried about originality, light SPAL fan is better, more efficient, solution IMHO.
Last edited by DavidF; 08-06-2022 at 08:25 AM.
The auxiliary fan is part of the a/c system.
Thank you for clarification. It is hard to find a 40 year old information, only a few folks know what these cars used to have before dealers added the options. So no fan on non AC car then.
Ascot: Not true. As said, my non-a/c car has the factory fan
Last edited by DavidF; 08-06-2022 at 09:18 PM.
Thank you everyone- I was looking at the wiring diagrams, parts catalog and A/C retrofit instructions from BEHR and it seems like the aux fan was installed on all U.S. spec cars regardless and was not optional (where things like fog lights were).
It would be interesting to see how the aux fans are attached on the non A/C fitted cars. Based on what I have seen, the fans are attached to the serpentine condensers.
I was just looking at the attachment points and and the fan is attached to the sides of radiator support (vertical) using L shaped brackets. It goes in the front of the cooling radiator. I believe if there is a condenser for A/C, condenser is attached to the radiator support by itself, it goes between the radiator and the electric fan. Not sure how exactly the condenser is normally mounted.
Last edited by mxl556; 08-07-2022 at 10:22 PM.
Here is a photo of the aux fan and brackets for a non-a/c car...
E21 aux fan.jpg
Here is what I did when adding a/c...
IMG_5883[1].jpg
I removed my original dead fan years ago and modified the mounting brackets and made a few custom pieces to install a high volume Spal fan. Less power draw and I believe it moves much more air.
waltb
'82 320i
Thanks for the information. I am trying to keep it original and the car has no A/C and missing the fan (it was removed in the past), so that extra fan does not need to be that efficient. I got the original fan from DavidF, so I will just put it in. Wiring is all there, all e21's must have come prewired for it. At least U.S. models.
Does this fan do anything if you don't have A/C? Mine has it, but the rest of the A/C hardware was removed years ago. I was thinking about pulling this out too. Unless it is actually for the radiator.
My Car Blog:
http://motoluvr.blogspot.com
My current cars:
'16 Fiat 500e (electric)
'92 Honda accord
'05 Scion xB
'81 BMW 320i
'12 Toyota Prius
USA cars got the fan regardless of a/c. It is controlled by a temp sensor in the radiator and will turn on if the coolant gets too hot…think 100+ days. I would keep it.
With a/c cars, the fan is controlled either by coolant temperature or when a/c is turned on. There is a diode in the circuit of a/c cars the prevents the coolant temp circuit from engaging the a/c compressor. The replaceable diode is located behind the left headlight. If no a/c car, there is just an unused connector behind the headlight.
Last edited by DavidF; 08-13-2022 at 06:56 PM.
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