Hi all,
I'm looking for a wire that's a keyed power supply that will have enough voltage and amps to power the fans. My cooling fans went out, I've wired in a fuse, relay, and switch in the cab, but I need a power source that I can tap into to run the fans.

Thanks everyone,

 

Justice, because of the current draw of the fans, you would be best served by running the main power for the fans straight off of the battery (with an inline fuse) and use the switching portion of the relay off of a switchable source. The easiest one I can think of to access is the cigarette lighter. That will have enough room to do the relay (only the switching portion, the rest of the power comes straight off of the battery). This way, the relay is acting as a switch and will do what you need without the need of pushing the limits of any circuit from the factory.

 

Thanks Thermo,
So what you're saying is to hook the positive to the positive terminal of the battery, from there run it to the fuse, to the relay, then into the cab to my switch and switch the ground? Will this cause any problems as the fans can be turned on with the car off? It doesn't seem like it would, but I wanted to make sure.

Thanks again Thermo, you're the man in this forum...

 

Justice, if you look on the relay, you will see where the terminals have numbers next to them. You should see "30, 85, 86, and 87". When you wire up the relay, you should have a wire (12 guage) that runs from the battery, through a fuse, to terminal 30. Then you will have a second wire (12 gauge) that runs from terminal 87 to the fans. You will have a third wire (20 gauge) that runs from terminal 86 to ground (chassis). the fourth wire (20 gauge) will run from the power side of the cigarette lighter to terminal 85 (can add an inline switch here if desired). This will keep all the high current portions of the wiring in the engine bay (as long as you put the relay in the engine bay) and everything low current will be in the passenger compartment.

If you are looking to keep everything in the engine bay, then move the wire coming from the cigarette lighter over to one of the following fuses: 16-21 in the engine bay fuse box for 2004.25+ vehicles or 36-42 in the engine bay fuse box for the pre-2004.25 cars. This will make it so the fans only run when the engine is running.

 

Thermo,
I basically have it wired that way, Power going to 30 and 85, 86 I'm using for a switched ground (switch in the cab) and 87 runs to the fans; everything is 10 gauge. I'm having a problem though, how many amps do the fans draw? I wired the power with a 30 amp fuse but it keeps blowing, it also has a 30 amp relay. Where do you think I'm going wrong???

 

The original wiring circuit for the fans uses an 80A fuse. I don't recall the wire size, but its significantly heavier gauge than 'normal' accessories. I would suggest that with your present experience, you'd be better off/safer fitting a new/used fan control module that's designed for the job. The modules change over the years so make sure you get one the same as was originally fitted.

 

Justice, the factory fans are power mongers. They are probably pulling about 60 amps (80 amp fuse installed, but there is some wiggle room there) when they both run. So, that would answer why your relay is not cutting it. So, like Astro said, it will most likely be in your best interest to find a new fan module and install that. Otherwise, you are looking at doing a custom fan setup and you are going to be spending about $300 on that too (installed one in my truck, got a little bit of experience there).

 

I think you two are right, save up and get a fan control module. I was trying to do it cheap because the recent diagnosis of MS is draining me financially. Can one of you two recommend a good website to get a new one? Also, would you replace the whole fan shroud, or just the module?

Thanks guys,

 

Justice, normally only the control module is bad, so, if you are hurting financially, then only get what you need.

As for where to get it, check out Coming Soon. Some members have used it and gotten some good deals. You can look on e-bay, but right now there are none on there (just looked). You can also check with you local wrecking yard and see if they can order you in one (granted, this will be the more expensive route).

With all this being said, there is something that you need to be aware of. In mid 2004, Jaguar went to a different style fan controller (still fits in the stock location) due to a high failure rate. As a result, they switched over to a different plug on the module. So, if you get a newer module, you will also need to get the adapter plug. These are available from the dealership (I've had good luck with JPLV (dealership out of Las Vegas) and "Jaguar Parts" - Jaguar parts and accessories catalog (dealership out of Cleveland, OH)). So, when ordering, make sure you know which one you are getting. Also, if you are getting a used module, make sure that they have a garantee on the module as this is a high failure item on the car and there are people out there selling broken modules as if they are good modules.

 

Thanks man, great advice.