cobb

I did it. See photo in profile. Works up to 40mph in making the air cooler. I got temps from 41-43 degrees with the fan on. Its hooked to a fog light harness relay kit I currently am not using.

Reactor

Congrats on a original mod! So is it worth it? Did you wire it through resistor or straight to 12v? I saw the pics, looks tight.

cobb

Original? Ha, ha, thanks for the idea, althought Ive had the idea for a few months. No resistor or anything, straight connection to a generic advance auto fog light harness.

To tell you the truth, even with it off, it makes the ac feel cooler. I wonder if if has a funnel effect on moving the air through the grill vs letting it gather up or go else where? It makes a big differene at idle, plus you dont hear the fan kick in to high gear.

Reactor

I am sure many people have been thinking about it, but you are the first one who i know of actually making it work. I'll probably try to do this on my xB too. Was thinking about installing the closed throttle switch to have the fan activated at idle only. BTW, is the fan being ON affecting the idle speed at all?

cobb

Well, the 240d benz I use to own had an electric and mechanical fan. To my knowledge the electric one never turned on unless the car get up to 230 degrees as it was a diesel. I stuck a paper clip in the hot sensor so the fan stayed on with the key. I noticed the ac worked way better once the car got rolling and assumed air flow was the key as it can get very hot under the hood with the ac on.

I assumed the same worked here. Man, it does. Having ms, the heat sucks the energy out of me and sometimes after I walk to my car I sit a few seconds with the ac on and roll around the parking lot before I head off to freshen up. Now its from turn key its cold. Sometimes it takes a few blocks or miles for the ac to cool down, not anymore.

Well worth the 50+ bucks for the fan. Think the fog harness was 15 bucks. For short trips, I just leave the fan on when I run in a store.

It doesnt effect the idle, but in the past I know when I idiled with the ac on the idle would creep up to a grand.

I drive at low speeds 25 mph where I work and live. I work and live near a secure environment and those are two places I notice the ac wimps out. Like I said, after 40mph the fan makes no difference, but since electric motors require more to spin up than run, I just leave it on from start of trip to end.

Reactor

Well, great!
I hope people who want to improve their A/C's will consider this mod.

Winter

just an FYI, using that secondary fan for the condenser doesn't block as much of the radiator as most would think. our radiators are RIDICULOUSLY small... and where you've got your fan going is just barely covering the left side a bit and nowhere nearly enough to have any effect either. our radiator is only about 18 inches wide and starts from the driver side parallel to the driver side headlight and goes in 18 inches from there. after that it's just a huge plastic wall with a couple rubber flaps on some vents that don't do much for added cooling to begin with other then to push out hot air in the engine bay a little.

Reactor

I agree. Fans dont block the air flow when they are off.

cobb

The radiator is a bit bigger that what I have seen on other rice burners like the scion.

True the fan I installed only blocks a 3rd, but I didnt want to cause any problems at one end of performance vs the other as some mods can do.

Would I put in a hugh fan to cover the whole area or two smaller ones. Yeah, I would if moeny was no object and the time to do it, but I just wanted to help the ac at slow speeds and it works.

Infact the engine will idle down if the fan is turned on while at idle with the ac on max from the 3/4 to 1 grand to 1/2. Anyone notice at idle with ac on the engine idles up?