When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I finished my 600 watt brushless Corvette fan swap today. I went for a nice drive around town. Once the fan starts, the coolant temperature doesn't move. This is a huge difference compared with my old 14" PTuning fan. It would overheat when driving around Atlanta. I suspect this was a combination of elevation + heat + air conditioner use + giant Full Race intercooler. I loved the fit and finish of that kit, but it lacked the flow that these brushless fans have.
PWM fan speed control - the fan only runs as quickly as necessary to cool the car.
Soft start - traditional fans have large inrush current. You see/hear the impact when your car stumbles and tries to stall when the fan starts. With a brushless fan, there is absolutely no change in idle speed.
GM factory parts = increased durability/reliability
This fan was designed for track use with the Z06 Corvette. A turbocharged F22C is no big deal.
It's possible to buy the SPAL fans alone, but the OEM GM ones seem to be less expensive and have higher power motors (600 W vs. 500 W). These flow a lot more than the equivalent brushed fans. The SPAL 14" 500 watt fan flows 30-272% more than the 14" fan P-Tuning uses while taking up roughly the same space and continuing to provide significant flow at 2x higher pressure than the P-Tuning SPAL is capable of. They're also significantly thinner than the extreme performance SPAL brushed fans.
AC Delco 15-81914 is a 14" fan with a radiator size and fan shroud very similar to the S2000 (designed for the Corvette and was sold as an upgrade by GMPP before being made standard equipment). It's ~$200 online. It comes with a 600 watt motor. I believe this may be the most powerful, highest flowing single 14" fan that's available.
To mount it, trim the shroud by ~1/2" all around until it's flush with the flat piece on either side. Cut the large mounting piece at the top so that it fits around the factory mounting points. A simple strap of steel can retain the top. At the bottom, I used a 3/8" sheet of plastic with nutserts. This makes up the required height difference from the factory mounting points to the bottom of the shroud. I also cut off a mounting point near the bottom radiator hose, but this was not necessary. I would not cut this again.
To power it, I ordered the following SPL-SBL-TS-HARN Spal SBL-TS-HARN Plus or Nuova Series Brushless Fan Harness Connects To SBL-YAZ-PT10 And Your Sensor SPL-SBL-TS02 SPAL 3/8" NPT Thread Temperature Sensor For Old Style Nuova Brushless Fans 165F Off - 185F On SPL-SBL-YAZ-PT10 Spal SBL-YAZ-PT10 Plus Or Nuova Series Brushless Fan Pigtail Harness Kit Connects To SBL-TS-HARNT
2-pin weatherpack to connect the override trigger and temp sensor ground to the PTuning harness.
The Mishimoto adapter needs to be drilled and tapped for 3/8" NPT and you need to replace hose clamps with ones that fit. The Mishimoto ones are too small.
For the harness, I tapped into my boost control solenoid +12v keyed for powering the temperature sensor and the PTuning wiring harness for the override. This override control bypasses the SPAL temperature sensor's PWM control and commands 100% fan. I use this when the AC is on or when the factory temperature switch is triggered as a safety.
How much plastic to remove from shroud. With 38" plastic spacer. Mounted to factory mounting points. Mishomoto adapter with SPAL temperature controller. In-process. Final install
Looks like a great solution but I'm curious what Atlanta's 1100' ASL altitude has to do with overheating.
-- Chuck
You're right. I was thinking 1000 meters, not feet. Too used to specifying electrical motors and working in SI units. Not nearly enough elevation here to make more than a couple percent difference from sea level.
Hey tim, nice job. What kind of temps are you seeing with the a/c on while driving? I too am running a C6 part to help with cooling...its the air dam though lol. I tried a lot of different solutions, even going to a dual pass radiator but it seemed the only thing that kept my temps low with the a/c on was running was a C6 air dam right below the radiator. I cut out the plastic between the IC and rad so it forces the air up. Works well, but it scraped on EVERYTHING. Pretty annoying.
Are you apart of S2KGA on facebook? I'm in the atlanta area as well. The silver turbo s2k.
I'm on S2KGA on Facebook. Unfortunately, I've been in the Atlanta area 2 years and haven't been to a meet in my S2000. I've been out to a handful of meets in my CTS-V and 9-7X though. They were easier because I could take my son (4 years old = car seat). For the first year and a half, I had my S2000 at a storage unit because I didn't have a large enough garage for it, so any trips were a multi-step affair. That has now been fixed. I'm just guessing, but it looks like your S2000 may be a little bit faster than mine... Giant turbo + NO2. Would certainly be nice to meet some other S2000 owners once all of this Covid crap dies down.
Previously, I was just fine once I was on the highway, but in town driving killed me. During my first long in-town trip with the new fan when it was mid 90s outside, my Modifry ECT driver never got above the 180-205 segment. The fan controller is at 100% by 185 F radiator temp. I was hoping that this would give me a bit more thermal margin than factory set points. I'm going to have to try another long in-town, stop and go trip if we break 100 this summer.
I also picked up some R -Theory hood vents to help with cooling. Not sure when/if I'll install them. I'm a bit hesitant to cut into the hood... I shouldn't be since I've cut the underside of my hood and the frame to mount my fusebox, but it's a pretty big visual change. https://www.rtheorymotorsports.com/s...000-hood-vents
I'm on S2KGA on Facebook. Unfortunately, I've been in the Atlanta area 2 years and haven't been to a meet in my S2000. I've been out to a handful of meets in my CTS-V and 9-7X though. They were easier because I could take my son (4 years old = car seat). For the first year and a half, I had my S2000 at a storage unit because I didn't have a large enough garage for it, so any trips were a multi-step affair. That has now been fixed. I'm just guessing, but it looks like your S2000 may be a little bit faster than mine... Giant turbo + NO2. Would certainly be nice to meet some other S2000 owners once all of this Covid crap dies down.
Previously, I was just fine once I was on the highway, but in town driving killed me. During my first long in-town trip with the new fan when it was mid 90s outside, my Modifry ECT driver never got above the 180-205 segment. The fan controller is at 100% by 185 F radiator temp. I was hoping that this would give me a bit more thermal margin than factory set points. I'm going to have to try another long in-town, stop and go trip if we break 100 this summer.
I also picked up some R -Theory hood vents to help with cooling. Not sure when/if I'll install them. I'm a bit hesitant to cut into the hood... I shouldn't be since I've cut the underside of my hood and the frame to mount my fusebox, but it's a pretty big visual change. https://www.rtheorymotorsports.com/s...000-hood-vents
Tim
Wow, so it's working well. I recently figured out controlling the oil temp has quite an effect on my coolant temps. I originally though it was the other way around. I put a fan on my oil cooler and it helped quite a bit with my ECTs. Still not as good as yours though! Those hood vents actually look really good! I'm sure that would make a HUGE difference, but I can't bring myself to cut the hood either lol. My car looks almost 100% stock from the outside
Awesome thread and good to hear you've had success with this setup. Do you know what steps would need to be taken or if it would even be possible to install this to an S2000 still running the stock fan setup with upgraded radiator? I had temps creep up once a few years ago while running Kraftwerks kit, and I am planning out a turbo build now and would like to do this before while still NA for SoCal weather.
Took a nice long drive today. This cooling fan kept me 1-2 bars below the middle of the range on my AP2 coolant gauge the entire time. This was in spite of 90 degree weather, AC use, and a combination of low speed city driving + idling interspersed with multiple WOT blasts. I think this may sort out my cooling issues completely. The next step is hood vents because after I parked, even my fenders were too hot to touch, much less everything in the engine bay... I ordered these a while ago, but haven't installed them yet.
07-20-2020, 11:23 AM
Success - 600 W Corvette Brushless Fan
Giant turbo + NO2. Would certainly be nice to meet some other S2000 owners once all of this Covid crap dies down.
