Spal electric fan wiring DIY

[E36M3E]

great writeup. i just finish installing the spal fan.

i have a few questions. i have the fan delete kit with the lower temp switch. should i put back my stock temp switch?

is there another wire i can tap for the orange wire? i dont wanna tear apart my diagnostic port.

thanks a lot.

I used the stock temp switch because if you do the fan delete by installing a secondary electric fan you don't need to do all the other stuff like the lower temp switch, Tstat, and water wetter.

it's actually better for your car to run hotter rather than cooler, within limits of course, most of the time. helps with efficiency.

the only ignition key switched wire that I know of is the wire I used in the Diag port. you don't have to tear it apart...just pull the boot back and you can put a piggyback wire connector right on the wire. no big deal realy.

E

[hc1001]

Thanks. i think im just going to leave the fan delete stuff in there(i drained old coolant and put 50/50 coolant/water now) and wire the fan to the high side of the switch. yea ill tap into the diagnostic port pin 16 then.

I used the stock temp switch because if you do the fan delete by installing a secondary electric fan you don't need to do all the other stuff like the lower temp switch, Tstat, and water wetter.

it's actually better for your car to run hotter rather than cooler, within limits of course, most of the time. helps with efficiency.

the only ignition key switched wire that I know of is the wire I used in the Diag port. you don't have to tear it apart...just pull the boot back and you can put a piggyback wire connector right on the wire. no big deal realy.

E

[darthE36]

I'm definitely going with this method b/c my t-stat and etc. are fine but I need to replace my radiator so why not take out that evil fan too. When exactly does the fan come on?
Will it only come on when the aux fan does on low? And would it spin in a high mode like the aux fan when the A/C is turned on? And the black/white wire from the rad switch is just for the fan to come on at the right temp right? This method seems so more logical than the normal fdm method.

[LWRNCE]

JMARGO did my fan setup. I am running my fan delete kit with my electric fan. The only thing that I don't like is the nylon mounting kit keeps breaking.

[LWRNCE]

I'm definitely going with this method b/c my t-stat and etc. are fine but I need to replace my radiator so why not take out that evil fan too. When exactly does the fan come on?
Will it only come on when the aux fan does on low? And would it spin in a high mode like the aux fan when the A/C is turned on? And the black/white wire from the rad switch is just for the fan to come on at the right temp right? This method seems so more logical than the normal fdm method.

Mine is setup for two speeds.

[wheresmym3]

Mine is setup for two speeds.

I take it you mean you tapped into the low and high speeds? The fan only turns on at one speed though so that seems pointless if I am understanding right? That, or you are running a seperate fan controller. I wouldn't mind having my spal come on low speed at a lower temp.

[darthE36]

So the black/white striped wire is just for the low speed setting? So basically it would be two electric fans doing the job of the stock one, therefore quicker cooling down if the temp got over the set point, like in traffic or a long sit in a drive thru. What would happen if it stayed on all the time once the ignition was turned on?

[four2nothing]

I'm about to do the same thing to my car. 2 questions.

Is the curved blade with the deeper thickness too deep?

And what wiring kit should I get?

[Getconnectedav]

no. i had it running on an oem radiator for a while.

the 16" extreme puller curved blade...3000cfm. that one.

offset it. no problem. plenty of clearance, not an issue when your engine flexes.

get the wiring kit/relay from bimmerworld as previously suggested.

[kjprince]

old thread but i have a quick question.

i used these instructions to install my spal fan today and the fan doesnt kick on until i hit the A/C button and turn the a/c on in my car....which doesnt really work anyway.

i have it like the above guy mentioned and its connected to the blac/ and green wire comming out of the thermostat on the side of the radiator.

shouldnt it click on automatically....i have the FDM from understeer.com as well so that thermostat is set to activate the fan at a lower temp than the stock one.

[kjprince]

also the a/c button does not activate the fan until the car slightly overheats....just a little but to the right of center on the coolant gauge on the dash

[Richy Gonzalez]

I buddy of mine pick up a couple of electric fans from a junkyard for 8 dollars each. If you look at the old sho ford taurus body, they came with a very nice 2 speed slim fan. I'm going to be doing this something in future. Will post pics then.

[E36M3E]

old thread but i have a quick question.

i used these instructions to install my spal fan today and the fan doesnt kick on until i hit the A/C button and turn the a/c on in my car....which doesnt really work anyway.

i have it like the above guy mentioned and its connected to the blac/ and green wire comming out of the thermostat on the side of the radiator.

shouldnt it click on automatically....i have the FDM from understeer.com as well so that thermostat is set to activate the fan at a lower temp than the stock one.

the thermostat does not activate the fan. the coolant temp switch on the side of the radiator does that. the temp switch has two threshold settings...one higher than the other. the lower temp threshold was originally meant to turn the OE aux fan on low speed, and the upper temp threshold is meant to turn the OE aux fan on high speed. the OE aux fan also turns on low speed anytime the AC is switched on.

so if your fan comes on when you have the AC on you have tapped the wrong wire somewhere. you want your spal fan to come on only when the temp trips that upper threshold of the temp switch. you don't want the spal running all the time. you want the temp on your car to come up to what it was designed to. your ECU will not give you full timing advance untill the temp gets up 95 degrees C or so IIRC.

I don't have any of the FDM stuff and my spal fan works perfectly. temp never goes past straight up. heck my Spal almost never comes on even here in sunny southern california.

E

[kjprince]

by thermostat i did not mean the actual thermostat its a thermostat switch on the side of the radiator. and yes i connected the gray wire to the black/green wire on the switch but it did not activate the fan correctly. at normal temp the fan does not come on even with the a/c turned on. however as soon as it overheats the fan comes on with a/c on and goes off when it cools back down. however...no a/c on no fan on regardless of overheating

[E36M3E]

by thermostat i did not mean the actual thermostat its a thermostat switch on the side of the radiator. and yes i connected the gray wire to the black/green wire on the switch but it did not activate the fan correctly. at normal temp the fan does not come on even with the a/c turned on. however as soon as it overheats the fan comes on with a/c on and goes off when it cools back down. however...no a/c on no fan on regardless of overheating

you need to tap the black/white wire out of the radiator temp switch. this is the upper temp threshold switch that will turn your spal on and your OE aux fan on high regardless of AC operation or selection.

the black/green wire is the lower temp threshold switch but will also turn your spal on with the AC selected on regardless of temp. it should also work without the AC on if the temp trips it...not sure why yours isn't working this way though...mine does.

E

[belligerent]

SOoo, what exactly triggers the auxiliary fan to turn on when the A/C is on .....

I mean is it a signal from the a/c controls , or even the ecu ? where does that switch reside exactly ??

also are you sure that when the a/c is on , the aux fan is supposed to be running on low ???
I was certain mine only operated(or failed to operate) on the high speed with the a/c ....

[E36M3E]

SOoo, what exactly triggers the auxiliary fan to turn on when the A/C is on .....

I mean is it a signal from the a/c controls , or even the ecu ? where does that switch reside exactly ??

also are you sure that when the a/c is on , the aux fan is supposed to be running on low ???
I was certain mine only operated(or failed to operate) on the high speed with the a/c ....

it's a signal from the AC controls. the ICV also receives a signal to allow for the added engine load at idle.

the temp switch on the radiator is a simple grounding switch. there are 3 wires into it...a brown wire (ground) a black/green wire (low temp or low speed) and a black/white wire (high temp or high speed).

when the temperature in the switch reaches the lower temp threshold the switch connects the brown and black/green wires to turn the OE aux fan on low. when the temp hits the upper threshold the switch connects the brown and black/white wires to turn the OE aux fan on high.

the spal is either on or off, one speed only, so either wire - black/white or black/green - will turn it on full speed. it just depends which temp you want it to come on at. the higher temp is the proper temp IMHO. your car will run better, more efficiently, and stronger if it is running in the meat of the temperature band it was designed to run in. that's why I don't like the FDM stuff with lower temp thermos and lower set points for fan switches...you really do want your motor to get up to temp quickly and stay there.

Eric

[pment]

I think I would like my SPAL to come on when my A/C turns on so that my A/C will cool the interior of my car even better.

If I understand correctly, to get the SPAL to come on that way, I have to connect to the lower temp post (black/green wire) of the temperature switch that is mounted on the radiator?

I looked at the wiring diagram in my Bentley, and it looks like the fan should be at high speed when the A/C is on. But I could be wrong. Does anyone know for sure what speed the fan comes on when the A/C is on?

[wheresmym3]

Mine's wired to my low switch. It's gets over a 100F too often here.

[328iJunkie]

FDM with stock aux Efan and 82C switch in PWR 57mm rad with 75C Thermo. Never breaks 190F even in hot traffic w/ AC or at an autoX. I dont think another Efan is necessary. For me atleast.
Massive radiator FTW.

[pment]

I just checked my aux fan connector with it unplugged from the radiator switch. There is over 14v at both the high & low speed wire without A/C. When I turn on the A/C, the voltage drops to about 1.5V on the low speed wire. So if I connect my SPAL fan relays ground wire to the low speed wire at the connector, I not only have the SPAL coming on at 91°C, but it should also come on with the A/C. That should help my A/C cool the interior even better.

[V8EATR]

seems like you did alot more work than you really needed to..? :

[99MPower]

i'm going to be installing the 3 normal gauges when I get back from Iraq to check my water temps, but for now....

zionsville full kit with spal electric fan set to trip at 80C
stewart water pump
80/88 fan switch
80C thermo
40/60 mix distilled h20/coolant with 1 bottle of water wetter

never had a problem in 90+ heat during 8 different HPDE's in May in Northern IL and normal driving

once I install the gauges and can better understand where the water temp is at, I might switch to trip the spal at 88C or maybe re-install a stock temp switch and trip it at 92C... we'll see

[NASA144]

Can you tell me what the temp degree in F ("95-C") is for both low and high?
I have the BW spal (str8 blade) with my grey wired to the grn/blk. I also have a toggle switch that I've been triggering at 200, seems to me over that would be too hot and the rad switch is not kicking it on.
Thanks!
95-M3 S52

[pment]

Low is 91°C & high is 99°C.

Can you tell me what the temp degree in F ("95-C") is for both low and high?
I have the BW spal (str8 blade) with my grey wired to the grn/blk. I also have a toggle switch that I've been triggering at 200, seems to me over that would be too hot and the rad switch is not kicking it on.
Thanks!
95-M3 S52