Cooling fan on a '06 TE450 with 4G IMS tank?

This weekend I cut a hole for the fan in the front right rad guard to situate it closer to the radiator fins for less air leakage. I used some 4.63mmID by 5mm length nylon spacers and where needed, 5/16" ID SS fendor washers to mount it from the underside of the guard.

I cut 1/3 of the washers off to fit near the fan mounting hole and spread the load out over weak areas. Used 1/4" #8 SS machine screws and SS stop nuts.

I purchased from Digi-Key for about $12 a 190F SPST-NO 5A thermo switch (Digi-Key # 723-1226-ND) and JB welded the mounting ears and outside casing to the top of the radiator just behind the rad cap.

It uses the mid size quick diconnects (terminals) .167 I think. Lower side of the switch I ran to a frame ground. Upper side to the fan minus (black or -), and the fused battery wire to the fan red (+) side.

Next step is ot test it out.

Pictures at http://cid-cb88ec2241568522.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/2006 TE450?view=thumbs






















-Mike

During the thermo switch installation I removed the manual fan switch up on the dash panel. Today I did a driveway test. Parked, no breeze. Idled long enough for the coolant temp to hit 200F even, the fan switch started the fan, ran until it cooled to 190F a few minutes later. So, not surprisingly, the radiator metal case is a bit cooler than the coolant temp exiting the water pump. For comparison, my '07 TE610 factory thermostat turns on at 209F radiator outlet temp (Parked) and off at 189F. I can feel the fan breeze flowing through more of the radiator now than before, and in general quite a bit of hot air flowing from under the IMS tank than before.

Next test is the trail but so far so good.

- Mike

Did a single track trail ride Saturday. Things worked perectly. The TTO temp meter records max and current temp. Never went above 200F, fan ran only when needed, no overshoot. Hit the 190-200 range several times. Design and implementation is now complete.

Thank you for such a detailed post Mike. I'm going to make good use of it!!!

A puller fan is more efficient. A pusher fan is generally only 80% as efficient as a puller fan as it blockes the cooling area as well.
http://www.fullsizechevy.com/showthread.php?204843-Electric-fan-direction-Push-or-Pull

With an oversize tank you cannot use a puller fan, tha tank blocks the rear of the radiators. There is an equivalent SPAL puller fan for about the same low price and is the same used on my '07 610 as far as I can see. Also I noticed recently the 7602 rad guards include a fan mount but won't work with the IMS 3.9G tank.

As a perormance followup, I have used the auto fan switch and my front mounted SPAL fan setup for some time now on trails and it has worked flawlessly. On at 200F every time, cools it down promptly and shuts off.

Still don't understand why your bikes are boiling in those ambient temps. As stated previously had my 06 450 for 4 years, ride in OZ where its ruddy hot. I ride tight ST and weight 245 stripped. Never had an issue. Always have a good radiator coolant. Kept the oem cap but the Kawasaki one fits and is rated 0.4 bar higher. That should do it.

The 3.9G IMS leaves only an inch of room down the back side of the radiator. Check out my last picture a few posts above. Just no room for the fan motor. The Clarke leaves the radiator back side open, and probably the smaller IMS tank does not cover the back of the radiator so much either. The newer aftermarket FI capable tanks leave room for the fan since a fan is stock on the 2008+ FI models of TE450/510. But the mounting also changed.

But did you have the IMS 3.9 gallon tank that descends over the cylinder head and half way down the radiators? My current rad guards also cover the front, no stock louvers. My son's 450 is stock tank, louvers and did not boil over while my rad fan kicked on. My flow is good, engine ice, uptite tee. It is just lack of clean airflow in this configuration.

I think if I had a rad guard on with the stock louvers with the IMS 3.9 gallon tank, it might fare much better. But I got what I got and the fan and temp switch is solution for under $50 USD.

First off thanks much K7MDL for the instructions. I just finished doing the exact same thing following instructions to the letter except I ran the negative off the temp switch back to the battery negative. Battery is a Turn Tech 2.5, Trail Tech Vector, Digi Key 190 switch, SPAL 4" puller fan, inline 5 amp glass fuse, and it all is on an 09 TXC250. Now...when the fan is 1 degree away from turning off (193 degrees) it will stop, blades on the fan will jump a little then start back up until 192 when it shuts down until 202 is reached again. It does this about 2 times each cycle. At the same time the fan is doing this the trail tech rpm meter will pegg out momentarily (actual bike rpms don't move and nothing changes except for the rpm display). What could be causing this? Fan test was done in the garage at idle until temps were reached. And could someone point me in the direction of a good frame ground please. I would like to use that and not have so many wires running to and from the battery.

I use the ignition coil mounting bolts as a frame ground for my Vector RPM wires and the ground side of the fan switch.

So the battery positive (+) -> fan motor -> fan switch -> frame ground (or battery negative)

As for the fan stoppage briefly at 193F and possibly related RPM spike. You did not mention how you had the RPM sensor connected. Ignition coil, wrapped around the spark plug wire, or the speedo cable harness. Your switch is possbly not opening smartly (not snapping open inside) and arcing, causing interference picked up by the nearby RPM sensor wire, likely you have it wrapped around the spark plug wire, or perhaps the ground side of the RPM wire pair is the same wire you have the fan return going back to the battery.

If you are front mounting the fan, a pusher fan is recommended, though when you really need the fan, you are probably going slow enough it won't matter.

RPM sensor is wrapped around the spark plug wire. I did a little volt meter testing yesterday and with bike at idle and no fan, battery charge shows 14.8. When the fan kicks on it draws the battery down to 13.6 then when the fan stops briefly the voltage goes all over the place. Anywhere from 13.6 down to 6.4 for just a fraction of a second. Then right back to 14.8. The 5amp fuse for the fan hasn't blown yet so I'm not to worried about blowing the fan motor up. I was testing at the battery.

That sucks if the switch is not working 100% because it's now a permanent part of the radiator. If it fails permanently I guess then I'll break out the dremel and sweat bullets as I try not to damage the radiator grinding it off. Right now I think I'll just relocate some wires and make sure I have extra fuses for everything in my trail pack.

I went with a puller fan and just bought the mounting plate for TE models. Just bolt up, wire up and go. The IMS 3 gallon tank leaves plenty of room for the fan behind the radiator. I'll take some pics when I move the wires around for anyone else looking to do this on a TXC with IMS 3 gallon tank.

Oh, and quick connects for the thermal switch are size .187. Just for future reference.

If your fan switch is on the ground side of the fan motor then it cannot be reponsible for shorting the power, it already has done that to turn the fan on. It sounds like your fan switch is on the positive side of the fan motor. The switch may be shorting out briefly to ground to draw your voltage down that low and stop the fan. Try rewiring the switch to the ground side of the motor where a short to ground would only result in the motor continnuing to run, no harm done or fuses blown, easier to track problems.

To remove teh switch you might be able to take a soldering iron to the JBWeld/glue and scrape most of it off, not sure, never tried it. If you did have to remove the switch with a Dremel you might cut off the flanges next to the body. Score them pretty deep and slip a small screw driver under the plastic body and snap it out. Then you can file or sand off the remaining bits, or leave them there and attach the new switch nearby. You might disconnect the fan switch and measure the terminal resistance to ground as it heats up and cools down looking for a short.