! Two stage cooling fan controller for Gen 2 Coyote (will work for any engine) $115

[GTBradley]

​This is mainly for those guys out there that have a Coyote computer controlled radiator fan and don't like the noise it makes or the fact that it's always on. I hear lots of other engines use this very thing, so sorry if this is common knowledge, but I didn't find much help on the subject, especially for the Coyote setup. Though, you can use this on any build.

I have a real problem with the decibel level of my Factory Five supplied radiator fan, actually it comes from Maradyne. It appears to be a very good and capable cooling fan, but controlled by the Gen 2 Coyote computer (apparently not the case for other generations) it ends up running all the time at full fan speed. At 225 watts it amounts to some significant energy wasted too, especially considering this thing runs even at highway speeds - what is the sense in that? Even belt driven fans have clutches. Once it's on it won't shut off even if the engine gets below its on temp. Mine would typically turn on no later than 80 degrees C, and sometimes as low as 75. It's silly because the thermostat hasn't even opened at those temps.

This is an unfortunate design and reportedly it is this way because Ford was concerned that they didn't know what conditions these crate engines would be operating under, so they decided to err on the side of caution, as in, turn the fan on when the engine is on, run it at full speed and make it stay on. It is an inferred temperature that the computer determines based on sensors in the engine, but that fan has only an indirect relationship to the engine temp. What the fan affects directly is the radiator and keeping the radiator cool obviously keeps the engine cool. So I said, why not control the fan based on radiator temperature? Or better yet the coolant temp just before it re-enters the engine.

What I did to address this was to install a coolant sensor in the lower radiator return hose and fed that information to a Pulse Width Modulated fan controller. BTW, Maradyne makes the only one I could find that operates at half-speed and kicks into high when needed.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117885&d=1574393092 https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130357&d=1592843940

Controller part number MFA136 from Summit Racing $105 (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mar-mfa136?seid=srese2&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Brands+%7C+M&utm_term=4581939832695932&utm_content=GSAPI+5ba2887e89302) it includes the temp probe. Sensor adapter size is 38mm from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018FY12CW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_wDm8Eb455GSR0) $10.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134868&d=1599708386 https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138230&d=1606240089

https://youtu.be/CNsz9IMQhdk https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138229&d=1606240061

The controller mounted nicely to the right side inner wheel panel (elephant ear) and the sensor wires were routed along the back of the fan.

The fan will run for an additional minute after the ignition is shut off at low fan speed, but only if it is connected directly to the battery. Remember, the controller controls the ground, not the power wire. So, you can either run the existing Coyote ECU fan wire to the positive fan terminal or a dedicated power wire of your own coming from a hot source (battery). In the latter case you'll need to dead end the Coyote wire.

In the video you'll see LEDs on the controller. At first the red LED is the only one lit and that means that ignition power has been turned on. After a few seconds the green LED lights up and you can hear the fan blowing at half speed. The center LED is yellow and it will light up when the fan is running at full speed, but that didn't happen in the video.

The fan runs significantly less than it used to and at low fan speed when it does. I set the on temp at 90ish degrees C, which means the fan doesn't come on at all at low driving speeds when in 50 to 60 degree F weather. It will come on when idling for extended periods, but it is quiet and very acceptable to me now. I love hearing the the pipes at idle rather than an industrial sounding fan.

Wiring details:

- Coyote ECU, ORANGE wire to fan positive terminal. (This doesn’t allow for 1 minute runtime after engine shutdown.)
- Controller LARGE gauge WHITE wire to fan negative terminal.
- Controller LARGE gauge BLACK wire to chassis or negative terminal on battery. (I used the existing wiring harness ground wire that the fan had been using.)
- Controller SMALL gauge BLACK wire to ground. (I used the panel the controller is mounted on, as this is a small electrical load.)
- Controller GREY wire to switched 12v power (I used the radio power wire, but I could have connected to the ECU wire.)
- Controller ORANGE wire to battery power. (I used the radio memory wire, as I don’t have a radio, but I could have omitted this connection.)
- Controller BLUE wire to temperature sensor.
- Temperature sensor housing screw to ground. It is a screw on the port housing that the ground wire will connect to. (I used the fan shroud near the sensor as this is a very small electrical load.)

The reason for the small orange wire going to my radio memory wire is so the controller could be used in the normal way (one minute run time) if I so desired in the future. The reason my fan doesn’t run the extra minute is because the coyote ECU fan power wire shuts down with the engine. If I switched to battery power instead of the ECU it would run for the extra minute. If you are not interested in doing it this way all you really need is power to the controller and the fan and they can come from the same place as long as it’s switched. In this configuration I would suggest using heavier gauge wire to the fan for power and grounding.

I hope this helps someone else.

[Bob Brandle]

This seems like a good idea to quiet the fan down a bit. Thanks

[GTBradley]

This seems like a good idea to quiet the fan down a bit. Thanks
Sure thing. It works really well at quieting this down, but it makes things more efficient and will make the fan last longer too. I should say, it’s not just for the Coyote, it’ll work for any car using an electric cooling fan.

[davekp]

I think the key here is sensing the coolant temperature where it exits the radiator.

[D02G]

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing.

[toadster]

great idea!

I believe the FF part is the Maradyne M166K (https://amzn.to/3acLzlB) ~160W and 1800CFM @ 12.3A

for those who have A/C with extra condenser, is this fan strong enough to adequately pull enough air? or maybe switch to the M162K (https://amzn.to/30ndpqG) for 225W and 2170CFM @ 18A?

[Railroad]

Nicely done! I will be considering this after I get some seat time. Thanks,

[Alan_C]

I was looking for a vendor for the PWM fan controller from Maradyne. When I checked Summit, they had a alternate Summit branded model that appears to be the same unit, but cheaper.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-890125/overview/

I am running a Coyote in a restomod Mustang. My C&R radiator has dual Spal fans, so I believe that I will want a solution like this too.

[Logan]

great idea!

I believe the FF part is the Maradyne M166K (https://amzn.to/3acLzlB) ~160W and 1800CFM @ 12.3A

for those who have A/C with extra condenser, is this fan strong enough to adequately pull enough air? or maybe switch to the M162K (https://amzn.to/30ndpqG) for 225W and 2170CFM @ 18A?


I ordered my Coupe-R last summer with the A/C option. I don’t know if checking the box for air conditioning made them change my fan, but my documentation shows my kit shipped with the 2170 CFM fan.

[toadster]

I ordered my Coupe-R last summer with the A/C option. I don’t know if checking the box for air conditioning made them change my fan, but my documentation shows my kit shipped with the 2170 CFM fan.

good to know! who can confirm if it's the 160W or 225W fan? or is there a difference when ordering A/C ?

[Logan]

This morning before work I pulled my fan out of the box to inspect it.

Sticker shows the following:
Date: 10/19 (must be the 10th week of 2019....because I received the fan well before October)
Model: M162K-F

Stamped in the motor housing:
FAZ
a DIVO/DCM
Made in Turkey
IP68

Quick google search shows FAZ Electrik is probably the company who makes the motor, and Maradyne purchases them and builds their fans around them.

[GTBradley]

Sure thing. I can't weigh in on how well this fan cools as I haven't really driven in anything but cool weather. I can say that on high the fan is very loud, so much so that a neighbor told me he could hear it over the engine when driving by his house. The low mode is so much more pleasant to hear when the engine first tops 92 degrees C. I would hope that the AC unit would utilize the low mode automatically when it turns on. And unless I do something crazy, like move from Denver back to KC, I won't be installing AC:cool:

[toadster]

This morning before work I pulled my fan out of the box to inspect it.

Sticker shows the following:
Date: 10/19 (must be the 10th week of 2019....because I received the fan well before October)
Model: M162K-F

Stamped in the motor housing:
FAZ
a DIVO/DCM
Made in Turkey
IP68

Quick google search shows FAZ Electrik is probably the company who makes the motor, and Maradyne purchases them and builds their fans around them.

ok so it should be the 225W motor - thanks!

this may be the one!
http://www.faz.com.tr/images/fazkatalog2014/p81.pdf

[edwardb]

Just want to resurrect this thread and say thanks to GTBradley for the idea and original post. I know I was one of the guys that said the fan running basically full time on the Gen 2 Coyote was no big deal. But had a little time available and decided this was a pretty clean way to change how it worked. Agree it is kind of a waste for the fan to be running all the time. Especially in cooler weather and running down the highway, as I've observed it doing multiple times. So ordered a Maradyne MFA136 controller from Summit and a Mishimoto MMWHS-38-BK 38mm adapter from Amazon. Spent more time than I probably should have digging around in the existing wiring to make it like it was installed during the build. One small glitch though. The instructions are marginal at best (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it...) and show two grounds. One large ground wire that it shows going to the battery. I bolted it to a cleaned spot on the chassis. Then a small ground wire that I assumed was for the sensor and wired it that way to a ground screw on the adapter. But with the adapter in the rubber lower radiator hose, there's no ground path and without that second smaller wire to ground, the controller didn't work. Turns out the large ground wire isn't the only one it needs. Figured it out by testing and confirmed via PM's with GTBradley. It's working now and does exactly what I expected it to. When the Coyote calls for the fan, nothing happens because the controller keeps the cooling fan ground open. When the sensor gets to the prescribed set point, the ground closes and the fan starts a low speed. When the temp drops, the fan actually shuts back off again. What a concept. I'll keep an eye on it once driving season starts, and tweak the set point further if needed. But happy with how it turned out. So thanks again.

Brief PS: Although my Gen 3 Coyote in the just completed Coupe isn't on the road yet, I've run it enough to observe different engineers at Ford must have programmed this engine. It doesn't turn on the cooling fan nearly so early, and does switch it back off when the coolant temp drops. All about where it seems it should. I'll know more when I have some real experience. But it doesn't look like a mod of this sort should be necessary for the Gen 3 Coyote.

[GTBradley]

Glad it worked Paul. It’s actually one of the more satisfying mods I’ve done.

I just realized that I forgot to say that I routed the 14 gauge black wire to the chassis too. Actually, I believe I connected it to the ground wire in the wire harness that the fan had been using.

Bradley

[GTBradley]

Update: It was pointed out to me that the Amazon Link for the temperature sensor hose adapter was no longer valid, but I found another 38mm on Amazon that looks like it works
Dewhel Aluminum Black Water Temp Meter Temperature Gauge Joint Pipe Radiator Sensor Adaptor (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018FY12CW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_wDm8Eb455GSR0)

[More Than You Think]

edwardb
Thanks for your the note on this subject. I have my Gen 3 about ready to start up in the next month or so and will let you know. I plan to have the Coyote PCM control the radiator fan. From what I can tell the Gen 3 PCM senses engine cylinder head temperature for radiator fan control from the CHT probe in the block located on the rear passenger side of the block. If AC is installed per the manual the fan runs anytime the AC system is turned on.

[edwardb]

edwardb
Thanks for your the note on this subject. I have my Gen 3 about ready to start up in the next month or so and will let you know. I plan to have the Coyote PCM control the radiator fan. From what I can tell the Gen 3 PCM senses engine cylinder head temperature for radiator fan control from the CHT probe in the block located on the rear passenger side of the block. If AC is installed per the manual the fan runs anytime the AC system is turned on.

All Coyote versions infer the water/engine temp based on CHT. Gen 3 isn't new in that regard. It's obvious though that the guys at Ford reconsidered how much to have the fan run on the Gen 3 compared to the Gen 2. 400 miles on my Gen 3 powered Coupe and can confirm the cooling fan switches on and off right where you'd expect it to. No constant running like the Gen 2.

Regarding the A/C, with the Factory Five Gen 3 Coupe A/C setup, the cooling fan is switched on/off by the trinary switch. But it's not switched on all the time. Just (apparently...) when at certain pressures it will cycle the compressor and the cooling fan. About half the miles in my Coupe have been with the A/C on, and can confirm that's how it's working. Have found it does an decent job keeping the cockpit comfortable. Glad we went for it.

[GTBradley]

Maradyne fan controller link - part number MFA136 (http://store.maradynehp.com/harnesskitwithadjustablethermostat-1.aspx)

Bumping this thread because I've been asked about it a few times recently.

[Paul2STL]

Thanks GTBradley I will be doing this upgrade. I have Gas N Pipes and you can hear my fan over the pipes.

[Cruzzz]

I have a brand new complete set of what you need for this mod for sale in the ‘Factory Five Parts For Sale’ section.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?37129-New-Roadster-Parts-Maradyne-Fan-Contr-Heat-Insul-Herb-s-Door-Panels-and-more

[nuhale]

highly recommend this mod. I'm extremely happy with the outcome. I only.. and just barely... hear the fan at a stoplight. It only runs at low speed when it does and engine never goes above 90C.

[Brian76]

Can engine tuners raise the setpoints for the fan control in the ford ECM? Just curious. My father and I just started go carting our MkIV coyote a few months ago and this is a fantastic solution to the obnoxious fan noise. We will be ordering the parts soon!

[edwardb]

Can engine tuners raise the setpoints for the fan control in the ford ECM? Just curious. My father and I just started go carting our MkIV coyote a few months ago and this is a fantastic solution to the obnoxious fan noise. We will be ordering the parts soon!

While I don't have personal experience, it's been reported on various forum posts that (1) some tuners aren't interested or excited about altering settings related to this, (2) at least two reports that I recall of tuners who did tried to make changes but it didn't affect how the fan works. Not scientific conclusions -- but enough anecdotal evidence that I installed the controller (post #14) and it works.

[GTBradley]

While I don't have personal experience, it's been reported on various forum posts that (1) some tuners aren't interested or excited about altering settings related to this, (2) at least two reports that I recall of tuners who did tried to make changes but it didn't affect how the fan works. Not scientific conclusions -- but enough anecdotal evidence that I installed the controller (post #14) and it works.
This brings up a good point with tuning, Paul. I asked my tuner to, first lower the start up RPMs and second to lower the idle. They got the start up rpm and length of time at high idle down, but my warm idle is still 850-900 rpm. So maybe there are changes that cant be made? What RPM is your Coyote idling at?

[edwardb]

This brings up a good point with tuning, Paul. I asked my tuner to, first lower the start up RPMs and second to lower the idle. They got the start up rpm and length of time at high idle down, but my warm idle is still 850-900 rpm. So maybe there are changes that cant be made? What RPM is your Coyote idling at?

My warm idle on both the Gen 2 and Gen 3 is a little lower than that. In the 750 range. At start-up in the 1,100 range. But then pretty quickly settles down. But they were that way before the custom tune, and unchanged after.

[Brian76]

I purchased the fan controller and hardware. Now I'm looking for a 12v source that will provide power to the grey wire on the Maradyne control module when the ignition is on. Currently, I'm using the Ford PDB to power and control the fan. This means the Ron francis wires are not used. I checked voltage with ignition on and the Dark Green Fan Thermo Switch is powered. The Dark Blue Cooling Fan wire is not.

Can I hook up the RF wire to the grey fan controller module for 12v switch circuit? I'm trying to find a 12v switched source on the front harness to avoid tearing up the wiring behind the dash. The dark green fan thermo switch does go to a relay in the RF fuse box. Not sure if this could cause issues?

[nuhale]

Not sure this helps but I ended up using the fan and choke wiring for my setup as these were redundant circuits on on my build (fan is constant 12v and choke was ignition. You don't need the constant but I waned to use the feature where the fan will run for a min after you shut the car off. I did mine with the body off before final assembly and mounted the controller at the top of the outside DS footbox. For the fan you will have to bypass the relay and it's a 12v constant feed from the RF fuse box. Don't recall the wire color.

Also don't forget to ground the aluminum coupler installed in the lower radiator hose. I just ran a short ground into my radiator shroud. I made the mistake thinking it didn't need it as the system was grounded at the controller and spent much unneeded time trying to figure out why my controller didn't' work. Homer moment.

[Bob Brandle]

Since I hadn't installed my radiator nor Boig Cool Tubes until just this past week in my Gen 3 Coupe, months ago I decided to go ahead and buy this Maradyne MFA 136 Controller ahead of time. I was liking what I read. I also had planned on some light aluminum welding on some custom mods to the Moroso degas tank around this time and threw in a mod for the MFA 136 Controller install.

I bought an aluminum Weld-In Bung 1/8 NPT, Summit Racing SUM-220070, and a few weeks ago had it welded into the Lower Radiator Boig Quiet Pipe. I thought that this would be a cleaner and more robust install than cutting the Boig Quiet Pipe and installing the UPGR8 sensor mount coupling and necessary hose clamps.

This is what I have. Note that the parts in the photo are just loosely installed, including the visible Gates Hose Clamp.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134826&d=1599533188

Bob

[Brian76]

Not sure this helps but I ended up using the fan and choke wiring for my setup as these were redundant circuits on on my build (fan is constant 12v and choke was ignition. You don't need the constant but I waned to use the feature where the fan will run for a min after you shut the car off. I did mine with the body off before final assembly and mounted the controller at the top of the outside DS footbox. For the fan you will have to bypass the relay and it's a 12v constant feed from the RF fuse box. Don't recall the wire color.

Also don't forget to ground the aluminum coupler installed in the lower radiator hose. I just ran a short ground into my radiator shroud. I made the mistake thinking it didn't need it as the system was grounded at the controller and spent much unneeded time trying to figure out why my controller didn't' work. Homer moment.

I've already trimmed back my sending unit wires like electric choke and fan thermo switch. :-( Trying to avoid re-wiring all that. How do I go about bypassing the fan relay in the RF fuse box?

[rich grsc]

Since I hadn't installed my radiator nor Boig Cool Tubes until just this past week in my Gen 3 Coupe, months ago I decided to go ahead and buy this Maradyne MFA 136 Controller ahead of time. I was liking what I read. I also had planned on some light aluminum welding on some custom mods to the Moroso degas tank around this time and threw in a mod for the MFA 136 Controller install.

I bought an aluminum Weld-In Bung 1/8 NPT, Summit Racing SUM-220070, and a few weeks ago had it welded into the Lower Radiator Boig Quiet Pipe. I thought that this would be a cleaner and more robust install than cutting the Boig Quiet Pipe and installing the UPGR8 sensor mount coupling and necessary hose clamps.

This is what I have. Note that the parts in the photo are just loosely installed, including the visible Gates Hose Clamp.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134826&d=1599533188

Bob

How are you providing a ground?

[nuhale]

The relay jumps a constant from an intended dash switch. Find the relay directly in front of the fuse. Its detailed in the RF schematics. Locate the 12V constant going into relay, clip and join to line going into fuse. The wire that then goes thru the front of the car will then be 12V constant and is protected by the fuse.

[phileas_fogg]

...I checked voltage with ignition on and the Dark Green Fan Thermo Switch is powered. The Dark Blue Cooling Fan wire is not...

Are you sure you don't have these backwards? Take a look at the picture of the back of your fuse panel in your Ron Francis manual (on page 36 of the Rev T version). You can see the relay at the lower left side of the picture. At 12 o'clock, you can see the two dark green fan thermo switch wires; those are the ground side of the relay (pin 85). At 9 o'clock, you can see main power coming into the relay (pin 87) and a jumper to the relay trigger (pin 86 at 6 o'clock). Between the red & dark green wires you can barely see the dark blue cooling wire coming off pin 30 that goes to the fan fuse.

If you made your measurements on a cold engine, the ground side of the trigger is "floating", plus the relay is open. Depending on what ground you use for your meter, you can be misled by the measured voltages.


John

[Bob Brandle]

GT Bradley,
Good question on your part pointing out the missing Ground in my installation (photo). Actually it wasn't until very recently that I discovered or realized that Ground need, though it was right there in your Nov-22-2019 instruction post, the last list item. And then in the close up image of the UPGR8 housing that you posted Nov-22nd wire, the grounding screw. In that installation image, the ground wire is on the far side and barely visible.

Getting back to my installation, I don't want to tap into the Boig Quiet Pipe for a grounding screw, so, I'm thinking about a simple stainless steel hose clamp around the aluminum Boig Quiet Pipe, secured down low and out of sight. I'd rough up the aluminum tube under the hose clamp to improve continuity. Then I'd have ground wire attached to that mechanically and hat wire would be routed to and attached via screw into the chassis near that hose clamp. With the low voltage requirements, I think this should do.
Bob

[Brian76]

Are you sure you don't have these backwards? Take a look at the picture of the back of your fuse panel in your Ron Francis manual (on page 13 of the Rev T version). You can see the relay at the lower left side of the picture. At 12 o'clock, you can see the two dark green fan thermo switch wires; those are the ground side of the relay (pin 85). At 9 o'clock, you can see main power coming into the relay (pin 87) and a jumper to the relay trigger (pin 86 at 6 o'clock). Between the red & dark green wires you can barely see the dark blue cooling wire coming off pin 30 that goes to the fan fuse.

If you made your measurements on a cold engine, the ground side of the trigger is "floating", plus the relay is open. Depending on what ground you use for your meter, you can be misled by the measured voltages.


John

My RF manual Rev T, june '17 pg 13 has a picture of the fuse panel front. From your description it seems that you might be referring to this picture on pg 22. Regardless, I didn't quite follow your instructions. I'm electrically challenged so please be patient. :-)

Based on the picture attached which wires need to be cut and soldered together to bypass the relay?

Thanks for your help
134851

[phileas_fogg]

I added an excerpt from Rev T to my post below; hopefully that will help get you oriented. However, I don't know anything about the fan controller or the Coyote.

In your picture, wire 2 and 3 are the ground side of the relay trigger, wire 4 is the power output of the relay that goes to the fan fuse (the other side of that fuse powers your fan), the big red wire to the left of wire 4 is battery power, and the small short red wire connects battery power to the power side of the relay trigger.

Wire 1 provides power to your horn fuse (the other side of that fuse powers your horn).


John

[Brian76]

I added an excerpt from Rev T to my post below; hopefully that will help get you oriented. However, I don't know anything about the fan controller or the Coyote.

In your picture, wire 2 and 3 are the ground side of the relay trigger, wire 4 is the power output of the relay that goes to the fan fuse (the other side of that fuse powers your fan), the big red wire to the left of wire 4 is battery power, and the small short red wire connects battery power to the power side of the relay trigger.

Wire 1 provides power to your horn fuse (the other side of that fuse powers your horn).


John

Thanks for the explanation John. So if I wanted to bypass the relay, I would cut the small short red wire (power into the relay) and connect it to the #4 blue wire (power out from relay)? The fuse would still be part of the circuit.

[phileas_fogg]

Based on post #27, I think you're looking for a Ron Francis circuit you can repurpose to provide power to the grey wire of your fan controller?

If I'm right, then based on GTBradley's original post, I recommend you NOT use the RF fan circuit. Reason being, this circuit is powered at all times - even at key off - just like your headlights & horn.


John

[GTBradley]

Based on post #27, I think you're looking for a Ron Francis circuit you can repurpose to provide power to the grey wire of your fan controller?

If I'm right, then based on GTBradley's original post, I recommend you NOT use the RF fan circuit. Reason being, this circuit is powered at all times - even at key off - just like your headlights & horn.


John
Correct, leaving the grey wire on the controller powered after key off would allow the fan controller to be powered all the time.

[Brian76]

Based on post #27, I think you're looking for a Ron Francis circuit you can repurpose to provide power to the grey wire of your fan controller?

If I'm right, then based on GTBradley's original post, I recommend you NOT use the RF fan circuit. Reason being, this circuit is powered at all times - even at key off - just like your headlights & horn.


John

Good Point John. If the power coming out of the relay is HAAT I definitely don't want that. Yes, I'm looking for a 12v source tied to ignition to power the grey controller wire. I was hoping to splice into a wire from the front harness because I'm lazy and don't want to tear up my dash harness and try to stuff more wires in the conduit! I'll try to locate the electric choke wire.

[phileas_fogg]

I think that's your best bet.


John

[nuhale]

It's really not that tough IMO. The only benefit of a 12v constant (HAAT) + 12v ignition is that the unit will run for 1 min after ignition is off to further cool the radiator. It really doesn't do anything of value but I liked the feature so went with it... I'll see if I can snap a picture of how I did mine and post later.

[Brian76]

What happens if the controller or temp sensor fails in the future? I assume the unit will prohibit the fan from turning on?

[GTBradley]

Yes, this would stop any electric fan controlled by a sensor. Some have installed a bypass on-switch for this reason.

[Brian76]

Yes, this would stop any electric fan controlled by a sensor. Some have installed a bypass on-switch for this reason.

I will want to have access to the wiring so I can switch back to the original Coyote computer to fan wiring (orange wire) just in case

[Brian76]

This is my proposed wiring diagram (see attached). Again, I'm no expert so I'd like feedback if this is the right direction. Basically, I want to combine the Ford ECU orange 12v wire and the Maradyne orange 12v (battery) wire together and place it in a connector. Those two wires would connect to the 12v wire to the fan. I would combine the two grounds the same way.

135027

[GTBradley]

This is my proposed wiring diagram (see attached). Again, I'm no expert so I'd like feedback if this is the right direction. Basically, I want to combine the Ford ECU orange 12v wire and the Maradyne orange 12v (battery) wire together and place it in a connector. Those two wires would connect to the 12v wire to the fan. I would combine the two grounds the same way.

135027
Combining the power wires is okay, but don’t ground the fan directly (the black wire in your diagram). The white wire from the controller is where the fan will get it’s path to ground. In fact, that’s how the controller turns the fan off and on, by breaking the ground connection. The way you have it the fan won’t shut off.

135028

[Brian76]

Combining the power wires is okay, but don’t ground the fan directly (the black wire in your diagram). The white wire from the controller is where the fan will get it’s path to ground. In fact, that’s how the controller turns the fan off and on, by breaking the ground connection. The way you have it the fan won’t shut off.

135028

Thanks for the feedback. I think I understand how the controller works now (I'm a little slow around the track sometimes). The black ground was my original fan wiring. I need to remove that "constant" ground so that the maradyne can interrupt the signals.

Do my other grounds look ok? I was going to find a common location

[GTBradley]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I understand how the controller works now (I'm a little slow around the track sometimes). The black ground was my original fan wiring. I need to remove that "constant" ground so that the maradyne can interrupt the signals.

Do my other grounds look ok? I was going to find a common location
Not to worry, electrical can be intimidating, but is typically simpler than people think.

Yes, technically all grounds on the car are sharing a common electrical point no matter where they are. You can prove this by using the continuity setting on your multimeter. Try connecting one lead to a metal source anywhere on the car and the other lead to a different metal source. It will likely show a connection between the two and electrically speaking your car battery's negative terminal is also connected to that same electrical point. The difference is with the potential load, if you have a bigger electrical load you will need a better contact to metal (and therefore a better path to the negative terminal of the battery). So, where I connected my controller to the relatively lightweight metal splash guard this would not be appropriate for the fan itself as it has a higher potential load. I separated these two simply for convenience of location and to keep wire lengths short, but I could have connected the controller to the fan grounding location or combined it with any other existing ground location that could handle the electrical load.

[Ducky2009]

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130357&d=1592843940[/IMG]



I'm thinking I want to add this to mine.
Question: If the adapter is in the bottom rad hose, wouldn't the water already be cooling off, after running through the rad? Was thinking it needs to be installed in the top hose where the highest water temp is.

[GTBradley]

That would give the fan a head start I suppose, but would also make it run more than it needs. The thing is, the radiator alone is good at keeping the temperature down. And the radiator and fan are very effective at bringing the temp down. I know this because my fan will come on for just 30 seconds or so and cycle off indicating that the temp at the sensor dropped quickly. Sensing temperature at the inlet won’t give the radiator a chance to do it’s job naturally. The objective here was to make the fan run as little as possible while controlling the engine temperature effectively.

[GTBradley]

Bobm488 gave me a nice wiring diagram for the controller that I was going to upload, but it also gave me the inspiration to go find my own tool for making electrical diagrams. I found the simple and free app called Draft Paper for the iPad. It's pretty handy and easy to use.


https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138034&d=1605918328

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138033&d=1605918312

[lewma]

All, I may be missing something here but why would you need the fan to run after the engine has shutdown ? All the fan is doing at that point is cooling whatever is in the radiator, not the engine ?

Am i missing something ?

mark

[rich grsc]

It will help cool the engine. It will thermo syphon the hot coolant.

[GTBradley]

What I read was that cooling the radiator helped prevent overflow in the reservoir tank. I thought the benefit would be negligible and decided I didn’t want my engine sounding like a modern car, hence the wiring diagram to avoid the extra run time.

[GWL]

There are other alternatives out there for lowering the speed of the radiator fan when it is not needed. What is good about this unit is that it controls the fan speed from 0 to 100%.

Auto Cool Guy
Home Site:
https://www.autocoolguy.com/


Measures the heat of the water as it comes from the bottom of the radiator going back to the engine.

Most important it regulates the fan from 0% to 100% speed as needed.

Soft low amp start, eliminating need for an extra high amp fuse

Set point to come on is adjustable

A/C can trip on the fan as well as a dash override switch

Made in the USA


I have this controller running a high amp Lincoln MkVIII fan that is a two speed fan. It is wired to the high speed fan wire and it will control the fan speed from 0 to 100% speed as needed.

George

[toadster]

Brief PS: Although my Gen 3 Coyote in the just completed Coupe isn't on the road yet, I've run it enough to observe different engineers at Ford must have programmed this engine. It doesn't turn on the cooling fan nearly so early, and does switch it back off when the coolant temp drops. All about where it seems it should. I'll know more when I have some real experience. But it doesn't look like a mod of this sort should be necessary for the Gen 3 Coyote.

now that the coupe is driving, have you noticed that the fan works as expected?

[Ed Mc]

I have added the controller and it works great, except for one minor issue. About one out of ten times when I turn the engine off the engine does not shut off and I have to pull the fuse from the controller to shut the engine off, which is somewhat embarrassing if it happens anywhere but home. I have the controller wired to shut off when the car shuts off using the electronic choke wire for the orange and grey wires.

I called Maradyne and stumped the band. He felt I is wired correctly but has never heard of this happening. Has this happened to anyone else?

[Railroad]

Sounds like the fan spin time after shutdown is energizing the engine computer, which is not seeing the power shut off. I think a properly placed diode will fix it.

[Ed Mc]

Thanks railroad. Not being experience in wiring where would you suggest I place the diode?

[GTBradley]

I have added the controller and it works great, except for one minor issue. About one out of ten times when I turn the engine off the engine does not shut off and I have to pull the fuse from the controller to shut the engine off, which is somewhat embarrassing if it happens anywhere but home. I have the controller wired to shut off when the car shuts off using the electronic choke wire for the orange and grey wires.

I called Maradyne and stumped the band. He felt I is wired correctly but has never heard of this happening. Has this happened to anyone else?
Try disconnecting the small gauge orange wire completely. It’s only used when you want the fan to run for a minute after shut down, otherwise it isn’t needed.

[Ed Mc]

Eliminating the small orange wire seems to have done the trick, thanks for the help

[JohnK]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but this seems like a great repository of information for this mod so I'd rather post my question here than start a new thread.

I'm getting ready to do my fan wiring, including the Maradyne controller, on a Gen2 coyote. My question is about the orange and grey wires on the Maradyne controller. I plan to power the fan with the large orange wire from the coyote harness. Can I also tie in the Maradyne grey wire (+12V keyed power) to the coyote orange wire, so when the coyote PCM provides the +12V to the fan it also energizes the Maradyne controller? If I understand correctly, the Maradyne orange wire is only needed if I want the fan to run for the extra minute, so I would leave the Maradyne orange wire disconnected? Any issue with wiring it this way?

Thanks,
John

[JohnK]

Bump - anyone have any thoughts on whether my proposed wiring is a good or bad idea? Thanks!

-John

[GTBradley]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but this seems like a great repository of information for this mod so I'd rather post my question here than start a new thread.

I'm getting ready to do my fan wiring, including the Maradyne controller, on a Gen2 coyote. My question is about the orange and grey wires on the Maradyne controller. I plan to power the fan with the large orange wire from the coyote harness. Can I also tie in the Maradyne grey wire (+12V keyed power) to the coyote orange wire, so when the coyote PCM provides the +12V to the fan it also energizes the Maradyne controller? If I understand correctly, the Maradyne orange wire is only needed if I want the fan to run for the extra minute, so I would leave the Maradyne orange wire disconnected? Any issue with wiring it this way?

Thanks,
John

Sorry, John, I was out having fun all weekend driving the roadster here and there.

The reason I did not use the the orange ECU wire for power to the fan controller is that it doesn’t power up until three or so minutes after start and I wanted the controller to have power from start up.

You are correct, the orange wire from the controller only needs a full-time 12v supply if it is going to be running the fan after shut down and in that case you would need a full-time 12v supply for the fan too. The only reason I tied it into the keyed power was to terminate the wire cleanly, but it doesn’t affect the operation. Same with the fan power, I could have used battery for it, but I wanted to terminate the orange ECU wire cleanly and seeing as how it’s on all the time after three minutes anyway…

[JohnK]

Thanks! No worries at all - I was out sailing all day Saturday. :D

If I could pick your brain for another moment - you said you wanted the Maradyne controller to have power from start up. In re-reading your first post, it sounds like you approached the wiring with an eye toward the possibility of re-wiring later to allow the fan to run for an extra minute. Is this why you wanted the controller to have power at start-up? If I'm OK with "locking myself in" to the option of having the coyote ECU power the fan, then it seems to me that as long as the Maradyne controller has power any time the fan has power (i.e., fan and Maradyne grey wires get power from coyote orange wire), then the system should work as intended. Just wanting to make sure I'm not missing some obvious problem with this scheme, such as the Maradyne controller needing some time after power up to be able to initiate and do it's thing? It's not the end of the world for me to run another dedicated 12V wire back to the dash, as I haven't yet wrapped my front harness, but no reason to add wires if they're not needed.

[GTBradley]

I think it will work fine. Give it a try and see what it does, no big effort to change it, though it does sound easier to go with one power wire already available. Post your results, if you don’t mind.

[lee82]

This brings up a good point with tuning, Paul. I asked my tuner to, first lower the start up RPMs and second to lower the idle. They got the start up rpm and length of time at high idle down, but my warm idle is still 850-900 rpm. So maybe there are changes that cant be made? What RPM is your Coyote idling at?

There are a bunch of tables in the pcm that control idle depending on IAT, ECT, Drive / Neutral, etc. Your tuner needs to adjust all of them.

Also, the pcm has a table for fan speed control based on ECT. It’s as easy to change by rescaling the temperature axis to the temperatures you want and setting fan speeds from 0-100%, and anything in between. Of course, you need $400 worth of HP Tuners hardware and credits to edit the pcm yourself… $115 for a controller is definitely cheaper if that’s all you want to do.

Mine idles @ 700 and I don’t go full blast with the cooling fan until 205 degrees. I have 50% fan @ 180. It took 5 minutes to change.

[GTBradley]

Good to hear 700 is good idle speed. I’m sure many gen 2 owners would love a writeup of your process for doing this at home. The expense would definitely keep me going to a tuner with a dyno, though.

[JohnK]

Getting ready for the first start tomorrow. For first start, I'm thinking of turning the potentiometer on the Maradyne fully clockwise so that it will essentially turn on whenever the coyote calls for the fan. Once I've gotten past all the excitement of the first start then I'll dial in the best start temp. I have the sensor for the maradyne mounted in the radiator itself, right at the outlet (like this).

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153004&d=1630725009

As far as setting the start temperature goes, what is a good target temperature to shoot for? Do you go by what the Speedhut gauge is showing? I have an infrared laser thermometer, but I'm not sure it will register an accurate reading off the shiny aluminum on the side tank of the radiator. Perhaps trying to take a reading on the fins on the front of the radiator, which are a bit more of a matte finish?

[GTBradley]

Nice idea to mount the sensor there. I did use the temp gauge and 93C is a pretty common on-temp set point. I think once the system is heated up you can get a reading on the fins or even the the black rubber hoses too.

[JohnK]

Thanks again. I got the system set up to turn the fan on at ~93C. I'm pretty impressed with how granular it is (at least sitting idling in the garage). The temp gauge will hit 93C and the fan will kick on at half speed for maybe 15 seconds and then off again, and the gauge will drop a couple of degrees. pretty impressive. I also wanted to report back the the way I wired it seems to be working fine, with the coyote fan power feed supplying power to both the fan and the controller grey wire. When the coyote PCM calls for the fan to turn on, you can see the lights turn on on the controller (but the fan doesn't turn on). Then the controller does its thing from there.

[GTBradley]

That's good to hear, thanks for reporting back.

I suppose it could be argued that you double the complexity by using the coyote fan wire, but if it did ever fail to send a turn on signal you would know this immediately by the lack of lights on the controller. In that case and in a pinch, power could be jumped directly from the battery.

[JohnK]

I picked up a few extra 40A maxi fuses to have on hand just in case, but on further consideration I'm wondering if there's any reason to not run a 40A self-resetting circuit breaker instead of the fuse? Something like this:

https://www.delcity.net/store/MAXI®-Fuse-Breakers/p_152.h_187702

[GTBradley]

I picked up a few extra 40A maxi fuses to have on hand just in case, but on further consideration I'm wondering if there's any reason to not run a 40A self-resetting circuit breaker instead of the fuse? Something like this:

https://www.delcity.net/store/MAXI®-Fuse-Breakers/p_152.h_187702
Ah! Excellent point, I hadn't even considered what I would do if the fuse in the controller opened. I'll pick one up too. As far as the auto-reseting type, I've never really been a fan because they mask a problem you need to deal with. Likely any short serious enough to trip it will not allow it to reset successfully anyway.

[JohnK]

You're right in that it won't reset if the problem that caused it to open isn't addressed. The main benefit, IMO, is that once you've identified and corrected the problem you're back up and running without having to carry around spare fuses. But self-resetting CB's are far more complicated than fuses, so are in inherently more prone to failure themselves. Six of one, half dozen of another I guess...

[GTBradley]

I was looking for a vendor for the PWM fan controller from Maradyne. When I checked Summit, they had a alternate Summit branded model that appears to be the same unit, but cheaper.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-890125/overview/

I am running a Coyote in a restomod Mustang. My C&R radiator has dual Spal fans, so I believe that I will want a solution like this too.

Thanks for this Alan. I had mine fail recently, sort of, I was able to turn the adjusting screw all the way and get it to turn the fan on full-speed full-time, so I could keep going. There is no in-between setting anymore however, so I'm going to replace it with the same unit and see how long this one lasts - mine made it about three years and 14,000 miles. I think I'll cover the potentiometer set screw opening with tape this time, just in case water intrusion was the culprit. BTW, It doesn't appear repairable by replacing the pot since the unit is sealed with resin.

Anyone else have their's fail?

[Ed Mc]

I had mine fail as well, purchased the controller from Summit and enclosed it in a water proof box. No issues in over a year, including the Friday all day rain in London this past Cobra show

[Lidodrip]

My Maradyne unit failed very early on. There was a popping sound and then smoke came out of the potentiometer. I ended up replacing it with an AutoCoolGuy NB50 - https://www.autocoolguy.com/new-items. My initial impression is that this is a much better built unit, automatically adjusts with several levels of fan speed (not just 1/2 and full), easier to adjust the fan speed (has an actual dial), and has wiring for a fan override switch. The AutoCoolGuy is wired very similar (ground circuit) to the Maradyne unit.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=166934&d=1652831218

James

[dbo_texas]

Resurrecting this thread because I need some help troubleshooting my setup. I've been posting about it in my build, but I figured since many on this thread have used the Maradyne unit you might be able to help. The wire colors on my unit are slightly different than the original post...but I think the only difference is the +12V IGN source wire is yellow instead of gray. Otherwise I think its identical. I have a Gen2 Coyote, and have the Coyote ECU orange fan wire supplying power to the fan directly, with the Maradyne unit controlling the fan ground. I originally had both the orange wire and yellow wire on the Maradyne unit hooked up to my COIL/EFI IGN circuit (per GT Bradley's original wiring diagram)....it was causing an issue where the engine wouldn't shut off which I also saw on another post. To rectify this, I disconnected the small orange wire from the Maradyne unit as I don't intend to have it run for the extra minute after shut down. I also added a diode to the yellow wire (going to my COIL/EFI IGN wire) to prevent any backfeeding. This seems to have solved the engine shut down issue, but the radiator fan still isn't coming on. The Maradyne instructions, along with how I have it wired, are down below.

Couple of thoughts:

One difference in my setup is I added a fan indicator lamp on the dash. It's powered by the speedo/clock memory wire behind the dash which is a battery feed circuit (so always has +12V). The ground for my indicator lamp is a wire running all the way back to the fan connector, and i have it tied into the pin with the white 14g wire which is the ground control for the fan (from the Maradyne unit). So when the Maradyne unit closes the ground, the LED should come on (not when the Coyote ECU sends power to the fan). The strange behavior I'm seeing is when I first turn the key to ON, the fan indicator on the dash comes on immediately. After a while, it eventually turns OFF. That shouldn't happen...it shouldn't come on until the controller senses the temp hit the trip point and closes the ground. So that is telling me the Maradyne unit possibly has the ground circuit to the fan closed from the start? That makes no sense to me....can anyone explain why this might be happening?
The LED on the Maradyne controller never changes from red to yellow or green....even up past 100 degrees, even with the dial all the way clockwise. Does this possibly mean the sensor isn't reading properly, so the unit is never getting the signal to close the ground circuit? I did test adding a secondary ground from the body of the sensor to chassis ground (vs. going through the metal adapter), but it didn't change anything.....I'm confident the sensor is properly grounded).
I originally didn't have my temp sensor grounded, but I fixed that (in my build thread, Post #301 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?40632-ATX-MKIV-9644-Coyote-Build-Thread-(Index-Post-137)&p=584354&viewfull=1#post584354) so that shouldn't be the issue.
I thought maybe my fan was bad, but if I hook it up directly to the battery, it kicks on full speed. So that isn't the issue.
I'm wondering if Maradyne maybe changed the circuitry. I did email their tech support, and from their reply they seem to indicate the small orange wire is necessary (see below). I don't currently have it hooked up (although I did previously have it connected to my COIL/EFI IGN wire along with the yellow wire). I'm wondering if this could be the source of my issues. I guess an easy check would be to connect it to the Coyote orange wire. Or back to the COIL/EFI IGN wire (since i added the diode, the no shut down issue shouldn't be happening).



Response from Maradyne support:

The 12V ignition wire does not power the unit. It is used as a signal, so the unit knows if the ignition is on or not and can make decisions based on that.
The power for the unit’s brain is the orange wire.
The unit has an electronic switch that can connect or disconnect the fan ground from battery ground. The unit does not switch the 12V side of the fan; it switches the ground side. The fuse is on the ground side



Any glaring issues with how I have it wired (including my LED indicator on the dash)? I thought about tying the orange wire on the Maradyne unit to either the battery or the Coyote orange wire to see if that changes things. Notice how Maradyne's own instructions don't show anything about making sure the sensor body is grounded? That threw me off at first until I read this thread.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=215703&d=1751245756

[dbo_texas]

OK I tried one more thing tonight. Based on my response from Maradyne, the controller must have 12V constant power on the orange wire, or as they put it, "The power for the unit’s brain is the orange wire". This goes against the comments in this thread, but its possible they modified the design. So I hooked up the orange wire on the controller directly to battery power (with an in-line fuse just to be safe). Started the engine and the dash fan indicator light wasn't on...that was a good sign (and improvement). Let it come up to temp...NO JOY. When the dash coolant temp was reading about 90°C I wanted to at least see if the Coyote ECU was sending power to the orange ECU wire...so I unplugged the fan connector and probed the orange Coyote wire...sure enough it was reading 15.1 V so the Coyote was sending power to the fan. This means that 100% the Maradyne unit is NOT closing the ground circuit, otherwise the fan would be running. I double checked the fan is working by hooking it up directly to the battery and it kicks on so no issue with the fan itself.

I'm thinking either my Maradyne controller is bad, or the temp sensor is bad. I suppose I could get a new temp sensor and swap it out. If that doesn't work...maybe I'll see if Maradyne will swap out my unit. I don't know what else to try at this point.

[Ducky2009]

If you think you're temp sensor is bad, run the blue wire to ground, bypassing it. If the fan comes on, you know the sensor is bad.

[dbo_texas]

If you think you're temp sensor is bad, run the blue wire to ground, bypassing it. If the fan comes on, you know the sensor is bad.

Awesome - thanks I will try this. I think I did try this a while back, but this was when I had the controller wired up slightly differently (COIL/EFI IGN wire powered both the yellow and orange wire on the Maradyne controller), and the fan didn't kick on. At the time I attributed this to how I had the unit wired, but I'll try it again. Thanks for the tip!

[dbo_texas]

If you think you're temp sensor is bad, run the blue wire to ground, bypassing it. If the fan comes on, you know the sensor is bad.

OK I tried this tonight - I tied the blue wire going to the temp sensor directly to ground, then let it heat up. I verified I had 15V on the fan power wire. Fan never came on. I took it a step further and hooked up the DMM to the ground wire coming from the controller (which goes to the fan)...I was measuring a 22.3 ohm resistance across it (to chassis ground). I also checked for continuity (using DMM) and didn't get anything. It should have been pulsing (quickly) and showing a connection at least some of the time as the PWM closes the circuit. So at this point I'm convinced my controller isn't working. It would explain all the issues I'm seeing.

[Ducky2009]

Have you tried running a hot wire from the battery directly to the fan hot wire? Engine doesn't need to be running. Fan should come on. Check you second wire, ground wire on the fan, making sure it's not broken/disconnected.

[dbo_texas]

Have you tried running a hot wire from the battery directly to the fan hot wire? Engine doesn't need to be running. Fan should come on. Check you second wire, ground wire on the fan, making sure it's not broken/disconnected.

Yeah tried this and fan comes on, so not a fan issue. I saw your post in your thread about replacing the fan with the Flex-wave LoBoy 16" fan...I may go that route if it fits with the Breeze fan shroud.

[Ducky2009]

Yeah tried this and fan comes on, so not a fan issue. I saw your post in your thread about replacing the fan with the Flex-wave LoBoy 16" fan...I may go that route if it fits with the Breeze fan shroud.

The center hole in the Breeze shroud is 15", so the Flex-wave fan is only 1/2" larger on each side. The fan blades to not touch, so I ran it as is. The mounting holes are a larger bolt circle, so you'll have to drill new ones.