My DIY efan project

matts04tbls

Original poster
Member
Oct 28, 2012
53
I have my parts on order and am anxiously awaiting them, in the meantime, my project is as follows.
I ordered a 16" mishimoto fan, making my own shroud, and I'll be using flex a lite 31147 which if a variable fan controller that requires no coolant taps, my fan will come on at 180.
 

TangoBravo

Member
Dec 5, 2011
208
With efans isn't the housing the fan is contained in, considered the shroud?
 

matts04tbls

Original poster
Member
Oct 28, 2012
53
Yes and no, they suffice but a formed shroud helps efficiency of an efan because its not always spinning.
 

n0kfb

Member
Dec 8, 2011
104
Why have the fans come on at 180 degrees? With a stock thermostat they will be running all of the time. I'd suggest having them come on at 200 - 205 degrees.

-- Dan Meyer
 

matts04tbls

Original poster
Member
Oct 28, 2012
53
I should clarify, when racing, 180°
Daily driving, 200°
And I'm not gonna use the mishimoto fan I've decided to run a flex a lite syclone 16" fan with 2500cfm its a no brainer and i got a steal on it.
Having my pcm flash done with a stg3 shift harshness until i go hptuners.
 

ScarabEpic22

Member
Nov 20, 2011
728
n0kfb said:
Why have the fans come on at 180 degrees? With a stock thermostat they will be running all of the time. I'd suggest having them come on at 200 - 205 degrees.

-- Dan Meyer

:iagree:

matts04tbls said:
I should clarify, when racing, 180°
Daily driving, 200°
And I'm not gonna use the mishimoto fan I've decided to run a flex a lite syclone 16" fan with 2500cfm its a no brainer and i got a steal on it.
Having my pcm flash done with a stg3 shift harshness until i go hptuners.

Dont bother adjusting it to 180F, the I6s dont like to run cooler like the V8s do. Your mileage will go to heck and all you'll end up doing is accelerating wear on your engine and cats.

You do know when you install a 180* tstat you need to change the tune as well...
 

matts04tbls

Original poster
Member
Oct 28, 2012
53
I'm not doing a 180° tstat, I'm using a variable fan controller
 

ScarabEpic22

Member
Nov 20, 2011
728
matts04tbls said:
I'm not doing a 180° tstat, I'm using a variable fan controller

Gotcha, I still dont see the point. Maybe if you're worried about overheating just have an override switch so you can force it on whenever you race.
 

matts04tbls

Original poster
Member
Oct 28, 2012
53
Next Saturday this is going down, just ordered my pcm4less battery cables and tune
 

matts04tbls

Original poster
Member
Oct 28, 2012
53
Wating anxiously for my parts and I'm gonna do a nice write up.
Parts I'm replacing while doing efan (needs done anyway)
1) Fuel filter and iridium Plugs
2) Pcmforless battery cables
3) Mann oil filter and Total (Elf) Quartz 9000 5w40 oil. Ran Redline last time and decided to rock total this time
4) Redline 75w90 f/r diff oil
 

matts04tbls

Original poster
Member
Oct 28, 2012
53
Tomorrow is the big day, and ordered my pcm4less tune tonight
 

limequat

Member
Dec 8, 2011
520
On a stock TB the fan doesn't come on until 217 deg.
That's 5 degrees over the boiling point of water. A warm engine will bake out any water that's made its way into the crankcase. If the engine never reaches 212 or more, the oil stays "dirty". This is part of the reason why it was necessary to change the oil every 3000 miles in the day of 180 deg thermostats.
Now we have 190 thermostats and 10k OCIs.
 

matts04tbls

Original poster
Member
Oct 28, 2012
53
I can't confirm or deny that because it seems to make sense, a big part of extended odi's are advancements in oil, filters and engine tolerances. BMW states that any oil carrying an ll01 rating is not to be changed until 15k, and are typically group 4 oils. The oil i have purchased meets this but I'm changing at 6500 because i drive aggressively and mostly in town
 

matts04tbls

Original poster
Member
Oct 28, 2012
53
Job done, pics will follow shortly.
Getting the fan clutch off was impossible, it wouldn't give. We broke the shroud intentionally, removed the radiator for room, pulled everything as a unit and used a torch to separate.
I used a new Bosch high flow water pump as i am anal about doing things right lol.

Refill with G12+ coolant and good.

Pcmforless battery cables are a seriously recommended upgrade by me dear God are they effective and handle the fan well.

We wired the efsn into the controller, used a 30a fusable breaker, made sure it was pulling not pushing and mounted the controller to the excess plastic on the washer bottle.

Use an ice pick to wallow holes through the radiator fins for the mounts and probe.

I noticed that our fan engages by setting the controller all the way to the left and slightly right from there, it kicks on during excessive idling but not highway, no overheating, brings temps down within 20 secs.

Excellent mod, Definite power increase and easier revving, not hard to do just be intelligent at wiring.
 

matts04tbls

Original poster
Member
Oct 28, 2012
53

matts04tbls

Original poster
Member
Oct 28, 2012
53
UPS says my tune shows up tomorrow, finally lol
 

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