Auxiliary Fan Replacement

My original bosch auxillary fan on my 88 XJS V12 is toast. Bench tested, it’s dead Jim.

I read Kirby’s book, and there are a lot of possibilities listed, but not much information on actual parts to buy and how to fit. Since that was written a while ago, has anybody found a perfect electric fan to use these days without too many fitting issues?

thanks

Many years ago I replaced mine with one from V12s.com, now defunct. It wore out about 4 years ago, and I replaced it with a Spal 10" pull fan, VA11-AP7/C-57A, from A1 Electric in Torrance, CA. www.A1electric.com. Also a Spal fan mounting bracket, (0.75"). I had a shop install it. They charges me for 2 hours labor, so it couldn’t be very difficult.

Thanks, Ed. I’ll look into that one.

Anybody else? Good aftermarket brand to stick with?

Here’s a good selection of universal 10" fans with user reviews…

That raises a question …our fans are an odd ball size of 11". Will a 10" fan in the 11" cowl be effective?

And do I want a fan that pulls or pushes?

You need a fan that pulls. 10" works fine for me.

I guess I’m confused, how do I adapt these fans to fit the specific three bolt holes for the OEM fan frame?

Greg, I what I said before was a bit misleading. The recent installation was easy because I modified the OE shroud when I installed the V12s.com fan years earlier. Since that fan was also a Spal, or close to it, the hole pattern was the same.

You will have to remove the shroud and drill some new holes. Fortunately, it detaches from the mechanical fan shroud. While you have it out, you will likely want to replace the rubber flaps.

I ended up buying the Spal fan, looks good. Will have it in a week.

So, I’ve removed the three prong fan attachment brace with the three holes that bolted up to the shroud. Do I not use this again? Do I adapt the new fan to the shroud, not the three prong brace?

Greg,
In a old site post I show mine, 94 V12, Spal 11" pull #30102800HO from A1electric.com it pulls 36amps and really works well. I used a 45amp relay mounted on the shroud with a 12 gauge power wire to the front right battery connector on the firewall. Used the three prong spider and drilled the holes to mount the motor. Use the stock wiring to trip the relay, make sure to replace the flaps with silicon flaps and seal the center separator between the two fans so air must be pulled through the radiator.
Dan


The spider with silver drill holes marked, make sure to try to center the motor as best you can.
The shroud ready to install, the red wire is the one I ran back to the battery post, wrapped here during the install.

Thanks for the info. But I wasn’t planning on taking off the entire cowl. Can I still attach it?

Also, the fan I got only pulls 9.5 amps. I assume I can use stock relay.

Greg, yes, but it would be MUCH easier to remove the cowl. I have been making a write up for my procedure. I will send to you when I’m finished.

You can give it a try, but if new holes are required it’ll be difficult to get to where they have to be.

I was able to get the three prong motor brace out without removing the shroud. Just had to get my wrench and fingers back there on the nuts between shroud and radiator. Here it is. Shroud is still in car. I assume i drill new holes in this (aka Mr. Bill…oh noooooo)

You’ll have to pitch that, pull the shroud, and drill some

new holes.

I see what you did…But i was thinking more along the lines of removing the new fan’s safety enclosure, and using the existing screws on the new fan to attach to my three pronged thingie.

On my '83, I actually fabbed a little adapter plate to go between the “spider” and the fan motor. That way I reused the spider and incorporated the rubber mounts for absorbing vibration.

I really don’t recommend those finger-proof grilles. It’s been my impression that they block 90% of the airflow. They may be good for deterring lawsuits, but I think there’s a reason that OEM cars with electric fans don’t have such grilles, they just have a decal warning you to keep your fingers outta there.

This is exactly what I want to do. Attaching the grille to the shroud does seem like a bit of work, I really don’t want to keep it, and I really like that three legged spider (or Mr. Bill as I call it).

And I cannot believe the attachment hardware for these universal fans. Four zip-ties through the radiator? Are you kidding me?

There’s probably a car club in your area that has a monthly meet-up at a local drive-in where they all park their gorgeous cars with the hoods up for a few hours. Show up to one, see how many aftermarket fans you see zip-wrapped to the rads. It’s virtually all of them.

Greg,

Well the good thing about taking out the shroud is replacing all the foam to make sure no hot air is being pulled in from the sides, also both “chambers” for each fan need to be separated so you do not pull air across the back and not through the radiator. The foam is between the two fans from top to bottom and stops any “short circuit” of air between the two sides.
Dan