Electric Fan Control using the LX fans

[dartslantsix]

I’m starting to dig into which swap harness I’m going to purchase. That has taken me down the rabbit hole of electric fan control. I’ve got a 2010 5.7L from a Police Charger and I’m planning to use the radiator and dual fans from the Charger.

It appears that 2014+ PCMs can control the fans and the swap harness is set up to do this. Can I update my engine to use the newer PCM? I’ve heard there was a reluctor ring change in 2014 that may prevent me from updating to the newer PCM. Can anyone confirm?

If I can’t go that route, there are a number of electric fan controllers and/or relay systems to run the fans. Are there any recommendations? I’d love to go pulse width modulation (PWM) if there is an affordable controller that is reliable. I’m seeing mixed reviews about some brands that die randomly.

Lastly, is there a way to figure out how many amps these fans pull?

Thanks.

 

[goldduster318]

Don't know too much about the PCMs, but for fans. The Dakota Digital fan controller has a lot of features. I wouldn't worry that much about having PWM honestly. It's reliable because it just opens and closes a relay or two depending on if you have dual speed. Honestly I think you could use the resistor/diode block from a Ford Contour Fan on virtually any fan to make it dual speed if you wanted.

As far as testing, you just need a multimeter with the amp clamp like this and put it around the power or ground during testing. This is with peak hold for a contour fan -> so the inrush was 65.2 A.

https://www.amazon.com/KAIWEETS-Mul...ture-Capacitance/dp/B07Z398YWF/?tag=fabo03-20

Generally it seems like a good general use multimeter.

 

[DionR]

I'm not absolutely certain, but pretty sure the earlier VVT motors will run on the 2015+ PCM's as long as the crank (and cam) sensor that matches the PCM is used. I know the number of teeth didn't change, only the width of the space or the ring (can't remember which).

I will see if I can find info to back that up.

At one point I started to lean towards using a GPEC2 controller just because the PCM has control of the fans. But in the end I decided to stick with the NGC controller so I didn't have to get a Crate Motor tune or deal with the SSR stuff. Which is kind of funny now that I think about it, because now that I am going down the path of running a TIPM to simplify my wiring and control my fans, I have to have a SSR module of some type or run the factory WIN module. And that rabbit hole lead me down another whole path of "what-ifs" that has my head spinning right now.