Anyone add an auxiliary fan to a e-clutch equipped Expedition?

[rwc265]

It's 100F this week in NJ, and at idle the AC has trouble keeping up. It doesn't get warm, but it's not ice cold either. It's a new system, compressor, seals, and drier element were replaced last year. Once you get moving and/or up the RPMs, it'll get back to ice cold. Anyone add an auxiliary fan to an 09 to help with this at all? Or maybe there's an easy way to tune it for more idle fan engagement?

 

[AWAR]

I have always thought an electric fan would be a nice addition. The later Crown Victoria Police cars I used to work on had them. They failed after 10,000 hrs, police cars run around the clock.

 

[Dustin Gebhardt]

I have added aux fans to my ‘01 and my ‘07. I used to work in Mexico and SoCal, so idling in the border crossing line for 2 hours while the air temperature is above 110’F brought my AC to its knees. For my ‘01 I bought a controller that used a radiator mounted thermometer and also connected to the wire that activates the AC compressor clutch. I blew through 3 controllers until I bought a nicer one from Summit. That worked great until I sold the car. For my ‘07, I bought a set of relays and an enclosure. I wired the relay on/off to the compressor clutch wire (runs right across the passenger valve cover). They work fine but I don’t need the extra capacity anymore.

 

[rwc265]

I have added aux fans to my ‘01 and my ‘07. I used to work in Mexico and SoCal, so idling in the border crossing line for 2 hours while the air temperature is above 110’F brought my AC to its knees. For my ‘01 I bought a controller that used a radiator mounted thermometer and also connected to the wire that activates the AC compressor clutch. I blew through 3 controllers until I bought a nicer one from Summit. That worked great until I sold the car. For my ‘07, I bought a set of relays and an enclosure. I wired the relay on/off to the compressor clutch wire (runs right across the passenger valve cover). They work fine but I don’t need the extra capacity anymore.

How'd you mount the fan, was it part of a kit? The wiring itself seems pretty straightforward to me, was planning to of course have it triggered off the AC clutch but also wanna add a manual trigger switch inside.

 

[Dustin Gebhardt]

Depending on which

How'd you mount the fan, was it part of a kit? The wiring itself seems pretty straightforward to me, was planning to of course have it triggered off the AC clutch but also wanna add a manual trigger switch inside.

Which year Expy are you asking about?

For my '01, I bought a kit (Troyer, I believe). The 2 fans came with radiator (AC condenser) mounts. They have a plastic zip tie like strip, a spring to keep tension without too much pressure, and some clips and such. Like this: Amazon link . The controller uses a thermometer that you wedge into the radiator, which works well. I also used a manual switch, but only because the first 2 controllers had no hysteresis (dead band), causing the relays to fail closed, which caused the fans to run even when the car was off (since the fan power was direct wired to the battery (w/ fuse). After 2 replacement controllers, the manufacturer eventually sent me their new controller version which fixed the issue, and I never needed the switch again.

For my current '07 Expy, I just purchased the mounting kit (link above) and skipped the controller. I also purchased some wire loom to protect the wires. This loom was cheap and disintegrated after a couple of years. I've since gone back with automotive grade loom.