Spare Cable Next to the radiator?!

[JaseYpk]

Just found out that i've got a 'spare' on both sides of the radiator, next to the headlamp cluster.

heres a few pics:

the cable itself - (looks like a power cable for something?)

where the cable goes to - (into a bigger clump of cables next to the rad)

what are these for? and are they important? lol.
I'm guessing its a 'prepped' cable for HID that i dont have... but they dont have any dust covers or anything on them so a bit dubious about just ignoring them....

theres also another cable hanging below the headlights (one on each side) that i cant get a photo of coz its too deep down, but it looks like a normal kettle cable end, but its white..
___
| i i |
|_i_|

.. something like that (with slits, not pins)

any help would be hot! cheers!

 

[DeanS15]

mate i'm pretty sure thats not spare at all, it should be the power to the standard electric fans. that should plug into another plug clipped on to the side of the fan shroud down under the d/v pipework....... if thats not connected, then your fans shouldnt work which cant be good if it ever overheats.....

 

[LuPix_S15]

Yup deffo looks like the stock electric fan harness as Craig helped me to wire this up to relay etc for twin electric fan setup...

 

[JaseYpk]

uh oh. i'l check that out lol. only thing is i've driven around 1000 miles since its been back on the road, some in lumps of 300 miles, and had no overheating problems? but i'l check it anyways! isnt there just the one big mechanical fan? thats all i've seen, but i will check now

 

[andeep]

Thats the AC fan, doesn't really do much at all, but it does kick in at a certain temp or something.

Standard viscous + cowling is the secret to keeping good temps on an SR.

 

[JaseYpk]

ok, ive had a look, and the only fan in my engine bay is the one big one, attached to a belt, connected to the engine.
I DO NOT have twin electric fans, or any other type of fan, just the one big one. that is 100%.

Does this mean someone has robbed my fans? or could it be that my car just wasnt fitted with any? more to the point, do i NEED these fans?

 

[andeep]

There's normally a single black electric fan called the AC fan, you don't need this tbh.

 

[JaseYpk]

sound, cheers mate.

so bottom line is, ive got nothing to worry about, however i have the cables there to fit an electric fan in the future if i choose to replace the belt driven one?

 

[craig8585]

The single eleccy fan kicks in at 95C and off at 90C. It's there incase of viscous failure and/or to aid cooling if required. Also acts as a secondary fan for the AC condenser and kicks in when the AC compressor clutch engages. I wouldn't take it out for no reason, but wouldn't be too concerned if it wasn't there. Best bet would be to bin the viscous and get twin eleccy's anyway

 

[JaseYpk]

viscous being the big single mechanical one?

best place to get twin electric ones from?

 

[TurboAL]

Best electric fans are kenlowe or pacet however these can be expensive. apex performance or revotec do some better value fans but you will need a thermostat to control them which you can revotec do. I'm not sure what size is best. craig or james should be able to tell you.

 

[craig8585]

Don't bother with a Revotec, they are crap. See the link below for a more precise and reliable method of fan control. I've been looking at the kenlowe fans, they look really well made. Not impressed with the quality of the Apex ones but the shroud is good to mount them in.

http://forum.s15oc.com/showthread.php?6973-GUIDE-Installing-twin-electric-cooling-fans

 

[LuPix_S15]

^^^ +1

Craig helped me to wire my twin leccy fans using relay to the stock electric fan harness and it's still going strong with uber efficient cooling

 

[TurboAL]

japspeed do fans too. Pacet fans are over £140 each i think when cheaper fans are less than £80. I can't comment on how the quality differs and whether its worth paying for the more expensive ones.

 

[TurboAL]

just looked at the guide that craig posted. Maybe craig will be able to answer. You mention that if you have a apexi pfc the temperature at which the electric fan is reduced over the stock ecu. But (maybe i missed it) whether it is possible to lower the cutting in temperature of the fan with the stock ecu? as it would be too high cutting in at 95 degrees C surely?

 

[JaseYpk]

so am i right to assume if i got 2 electric fans i wouldnt need the big single viscous one? even though the electric ones wouldnt be running all the time?

 

[craig8585]

just looked at the guide that craig posted. Maybe craig will be able to answer. You mention that if you have a apexi pfc the temperature at which the electric fan is reduced over the stock ecu. But (maybe i missed it) whether it is possible to lower the cutting in temperature of the fan with the stock ecu? as it would be too high cutting in at 95 degrees C surely?

The cut in temp is controlled by the ECU and as far as I know there is no way of reducing. I don't think 90-95C is too high - at this temperature the needle stays in the same place as when on a motorway run where there is plenty of natural flow and the temp is in the low 80's. People will have differing opinions of this though.

so am i right to assume if i got 2 electric fans i wouldnt need the big single viscous one? even though the electric ones wouldnt be running all the time?

Correct. That is one of the reasons why the viscous is inefficient. It doesn't need to be running for most of the time that it is. They reckon your fans are only on for 5-10% of driving time.

 

[JaseYpk]

sound. thats cleared it up a lot. add these to my shopping list.
cheers!

 

[craig8585]

The viscous is alright though mate. It does a very good job of cooling but is just not that efficient.

 

[TriniGT]

Looks like the connector that snaps into the fan shroud to the driver side. On the new model S15s, think the 2000 and up they did not run the electric fan setup inside the fan shroud so the connector was just not connected to anything. I have an S15 front half here and when I did the swap it was the same case. You can look on the fan shroud and you will see the area where the connector snaps in.