Auxiliary Fan

[Greggd]

Have any other member's of this Forum had any problem's with the Auxiliary Fan cycling intermittently ? My 2007 has continued to have the fan come on at water temperature's from 95 degree's to 224 degree's regardless of engine load or outside ambient temperature's I purchased a scan gauge and have had the SportsMobile at six different dealership's including two of the preferred fleet variety and have had them basically disregard the issue by telling me that there are no code's for the fan , and it has become a major source of irritation as I have custom built an air scoop under the Aluminess Bumper and never once had the Dash Temperature indicate that there was an overheating problem . I have not been able to find out what the 6.0 water temperature's should be under normal driving condition's . Hopefully one of you may have an answer . Thank you
Greggde

[Greg In Austin]

Greggde,

I have not had that problem, but I do remember reading about someone having what sounds like an identical problem..... either here or Yahoo.

...and I seem to remember a resolution.
.

[Ford_6L_E350]

My 6.0 runs 190 normally. The fan comes on around 200 and is fully LOUD by 215. With enough throttle the fan will come on earlier, but never below 180.

Mike

[Greggd]

Greg and Ford_6L ,
Scatter was the one who first mentioned this and custom built an Air Scoop to accommodate his Aluminess / Warn Winch set up . I also have custom fabricated an Air Scoop that is a little larger than Scatter's and felt that this would solve my problem , but to no avail . I am even considering the custom fabrication of a larger Cooling System . After having owned many 4X4's and having many backcountry mile's here and abroad I have found that the one thing That I cannot tolerate or usually fix while off road is the cooling system (Always A Short Term Fix ) Thank you for your reply's and just maybe we can figure this dilemma out . Thanks again Guy's
Greggde

[Greggd]

Greg , the other person was probably Scatter as we have been in communication with one another re: this problem . In fact Scatter was kind enough to share his Air Scoop design with all of us which prompted me to fabricate my Scoop , but to no avail . The fan must have some kind of thermal switching device and I of course am unable to find any reliable information on where or how it is supposed to function . Ford_6L_E350 what is the loaded weight of your SportsMobile , I am trying to approach this problem from every angle and thought this might be one of the thing's for consideration .
I am even considering a custom radiator being built . After many 4X4 and many off road adventure's the one thing that I have found that cannot be remided

[Ford_6L_E350]

My van weighs 9700# and we pull a small (1500#) trailer.

The only time I had any overheating was when the Warn bumper was first installed - it blocked significant airflow. Pulling up mountain grades in 90-100 degree weather caused enough heat to shut down the engine. After that trip, I noticed the top half of the radiator was covered with dead bugs and the bottom half was clean of bugs. The conclusion was no airflow to the bottom of the radiator. I wound up putting 11 2" holes in the bumper for airflow and a baffle to direct air into the radiator and no more issues.

I believe there are two temp sensors, one in the engine and a 2nd one for the radiator temp. I have a factory wiring manual at home, and I will try to find more information this evening or tomorrow.

Another source of information is the dieselstop.com forum for E-Series vans. Have you tried it?

Mike

[Greggd]

Mike,
thank you for the quick reply . I posted this information several month's ago on the Diesel stop and never had any worthwhile reply's
and I pressure wash all part's of the cooling system with great regularity as well as my under carriage . Our SportsMobile weighs in at 10,590 with fuel , water , recovery equipment , and assorted item's
I gave my Whaler Outrage to my youngest son after taking delivery of this Van because of the lack of power in this Van and the GVW of this Boat and trailer and now have a 2400 Bay Ranger that I am reluctant
to pull anywhere that long gradient's are encountered with this going on . What is so perplexing is that the Temperature Gauge never move's in the Dash Gauge Cluster when the Fan begins it's noisy song and I have been unable to determine the prescribed operating temperature's recommended for our 6.0 L engine's . Thank you again for the additional Food For Thought Mike
Greggde

[Ford_6L_E350]

Greg,

Don't trust the factory gauge. It has a huge deadband, where the gauge will read dead in the middle over a wide range of temps. Probably from 160-230 degrees, it won't move, maybe even a wider range. And it is severely dampened by the Powertrain Control Module - meaning it will not move with rapid changes in temperature. You could have a loose connector at the temp sensor, or an intermittent wire between the temp sensor and the PCM. If the PCM interprets higher resistance as hotter (I don't know if it does) it could start the fan when it loses the temp sensor, but not change the temp reading for many, many readings.

I can only find one temp sensor, it is on the top right front of the engine (where it is surely hidden from view) probably near where the radiator hose connects. I now remember it is my wife's VW Vanagon that has two temp sensors, one for the gauge and one for the fan and ECU - you gotta love those Germans!

The connector for the temp sensor is a two pin connector, one wire is Grey/Red and the other is Yellow/White. Hopefully, it is just not snapped on completely. Or, tug on it and see if only the insulation is holding one of the wires together.

Good luck,

Mike

[Greggd]

Mike ,
Thank You , I am going out to look as soon as I finish this Post . You touched on some thing that I had considered regarding the Idiot Temperature Gauge's accuracy . Thank you again my friend I was running out of alternative's .
Greggde

[myriadmyriad]

Check out my gallery at gallery.me.com/myriadmyriad.

Ive put louvers in my hood,a giant scoop underneath the bumper and a 15 inch fan in the hood to suck air out of the engine compartment. The fan still comes on all the time. Its because the vans run hot with the diesel. The 2008s have addressed this problem.There is no room to change anything in the engine compartment. Iam going to put a giant fan driven oil cooler on mine.

The factory gauge goes to red at 270 degrees, so its useless. These vans run from 190 to 235 and thats considered normal.

Another problem is this heat is cooking the wiring harness.Make Ford change them at 25000 miles.

Cheers


Jeff