Hi,

I'm upgrading my cooling system to use an electric fan instead of the viscous unit. I've also removed the front mounted AC fan to make space for an additional oil cooler.
Ideally I want to reuse the existing wiring, so does anybody know of a fan switch from another make/model that fits in the place of the existing with a lower temperature rating?

Thanks,
Ben.

I've removed the viscous fan clutch and fan from my '87 560SEL and replaced it with a dual-fan setup from DC Control (#33212). It works fabulously. I now get full use of the AC in a Las Vegas summer (around 110F) while sitting in traffic. I left the MB auxiliary fan in place because I wanted it to supplement the electric fan and that seems to have worked well also.

DC Control seems to have gone out of business but I'll get a Flex-A-Lite 295 for the 560SEC. It's 5/8" thicker (4.0" vs 3.4") but moves more air than the 33212.

Make sure your alternator and charging system is in good shape since the dual fans will draw up to an additional 28 amps.

http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/html/27inch-electric.html

__________________
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
FrankenBenz: '87 560SEC with an '02 cammed LS6 and custom 4L60E.
Bling: '87 560SEC, ported/polished, lowered
Lisa: '87 560SEL, lowered

That looks perfect. I'll have to try to source one similar over here in the UK.
I think I'll probably go with a variable speed fan controller too, to be a bit kinder on the alternator, and scrap my idea of using the stock wiring.

Thanks,
Ben.

You're welcome. I'd bet that Flex-a-lite either sells in the UK or can ship there.

I like my variable speed controller. It's both easier on the alternator as it generally doesn't slam the alternator with the big load plus if it isn't max hot outside, the fan is running slower, therefore quieter.

Good luck,
Mike R.

__________________
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
FrankenBenz: '87 560SEC with an '02 cammed LS6 and custom 4L60E.
Bling: '87 560SEC, ported/polished, lowered
Lisa: '87 560SEL, lowered

Ok, Well I couldn't find a nice dual fan in a shroud over here, and shipping from the US was too expensive.
I went with 2x12" Spal fans, to be mounted side by side, attatched to two lengths of aluminium angle running the width of the radiator. I'm still waiting on delivery of the Spal programmable fan controller, else i'd have taken a picture of it all installed.

I actually have an electric water pump and controller from Davies Craig that I want to try out on the Benz, which is why I want to lose the mechanical fan. I wont even have a belt going to the water pump eventually.

I have another pair of spal 12's on my hot Porsche 928, so I know they will keep up on the benz.

Sounds like a very interesting project!! Make very sure that your charging system is in good condition because a problem here could overheat and kill the engine pretty quick. My DC Control fans died last weekend because they put two wires in one crimped connector and one fell out. That killed one fan and made the other one marginal. The engine went to temperature red line pretty quick. A couple of new crimp lugs and I'm fully operational again. If my wife had been driving, the engine would have been toast.

That said, the LS6 I'm putting into the 560SEC has no engine fan and this one has an electric waterpump too. But.... I have a 200 amp GM alternator for this application, not an 84 amp MB unit.

Just be careful, but good luck!!

__________________
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
FrankenBenz: '87 560SEC with an '02 cammed LS6 and custom 4L60E.
Bling: '87 560SEC, ported/polished, lowered
Lisa: '87 560SEL, lowered

Here as promised some pictures of my fan upgrade.

The Spal fan controller was out of stock everywhere I tried until June, so I went with Flex-a-lite's variable speed controller instead. I didn't really want to use this controller, because the temp sensor was the type that needed to be pushed into the radiators fins.
I got around this problem by removing the old fan switch, drilling out the guts, and used 'liquid steel' to glue the new sensor into the old housing. Worked out quite well .
The fans are a pair of Spal VA10/AP70-25A, they flow about 1850m3/minute each. These were some I had kicking around, but i've ordered their bigger brothers, which are 12" but flow 2270m3/min each to replace them in due course.

The fan controller is great otherwise, has input for AC, and manual overrides if needed. Starts the fans at 60% at the set temperature, and increases as needed.

The last pic shows my front mounted oil cooler, taking the place of the original front mounted electric fan.

I know my engine bay isnt as pristine as most of yours, but this is my every day car!

Cheers,
Ben

Out of curiosity, I emailed the contact that I found listed on the DCC website, after I looked in the Internet Archive website history.

Surprisingly, I got a reply a couple of days later saying that they were still in business, and a link pointing me to http://www.dccontrol.com/catalog2008.htm for the current site and catalog.

Having heard so much good of them from Mike, and from other forums as well, once I went searching, I'll likely be ordering one for my project shortly. (I just want to see that it runs, before sinking another $300 into "extras"!)

__________________
-Josh
Testing the cheap Mercedes axiom, one bolt at a time...

Good to hear they're still around. If you buy a 33212, take the power lead apart on the mounting stud. They put two wires into one yellow lug and that one came apart on me earlier this year - one wire fell out and the other one was barely there. It *almost* cooked the engine before I could get off the road (Las Vegas Strip in heavy traffic). I drove it home later that evening with no problems and put a lug onto each wire, then back on the stud.

I love the fans, but this is a failure mode that easy to get rid of.

Quaid - where are you in the UK?

__________________
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
FrankenBenz: '87 560SEC with an '02 cammed LS6 and custom 4L60E.
Bling: '87 560SEC, ported/polished, lowered
Lisa: '87 560SEL, lowered

I have to ask, how does the 33212 do about clearing the engine accessories? Or is this in a car that has a non MB power plant?

I ask due to looking at my machine and seeing that the AC compressor is fairly close to the radiator in the stock setup.

__________________
-Josh
Testing the cheap Mercedes axiom, one bolt at a time...

The air pump is the only piece that gets in the way and just barely. If you don't have a visual smog check, then take it off. I had to whittle on the fan housing just a little bit to be able to leave the air pump on the M117 engine.

__________________
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
FrankenBenz: '87 560SEC with an '02 cammed LS6 and custom 4L60E.
Bling: '87 560SEC, ported/polished, lowered
Lisa: '87 560SEL, lowered