Engine Cooling Fan Controller
The stock engine fan controller on the MR2 Turbo is poorly matched to its application. It uses an air
temperature sensor mounted on the engine lid to sense when the engine bay temperature rises above
140 degrees and turn on the engine bay (intercooler) fan at that point. Usually, this means that you
have to do several boosted runs before the engine bay temperature rises enough to start running the
fan, by which time the intercooler is well on its way to heatsoak.
A common expedient is to unplug the air temperature sensor which has the effect of running the fan at
all times. This is also less than ideal because it slows down the rate at which the engine warms up.
Ideally, you want the engine to warm up as quickly as possible and have the fan them come on as soon
as you are ready to boost.
Another solution commonly implemented is to add a fan switch to the dashboard so that the driver can
turn on the fan when the engine is up to temperature. If you're like me, you often tend to forget little
details like this until it's too late. For us dummies, it's better to have an automatic system control the
fan.
This section describes a simple fan controller that you can build with some easily obtainable electronic
parts which uses the stock EFI temperature sensor to sense the engine coolant temperature and turn on
the engine cooling fan when the coolant temperature reaches whatever point you want. In fact, I was
able to walk into a local Radio Shack and pick up all the parts I needed to complete this project. Here
is the circuit:
Once the circuit is finished, put it in a suitable enclosure and wire it into the car. If you like little
touches, be sure to mount the variable resistor at the edge of your circuit board with the screw pointing
outward and then drill a little hole on the enclosure right where the screw faces. This will make it easy
for you to adjust the temperature set point without having to open the box. Also, I always like to use
connectors for little boxes like these which makes it easy to take them out of the car if anything should
ever go wrong with it and you need to remove it to fix it. An inexpensive molex connector from Radio
Shack will work since the trunk should never be exposed to the elements (be sure to use weather pack
connectors and a water resistant enclosure if you ever plan to cut out a big hole in your trunk to fit a
large trunk-mounted intercooler).
Adjusting the temperature sensor is easy. Once it is properly wired to the car, start the engine. If the
fans immediately come on, adjust the variable resistor until they go off. You need to experiment to
find out which way you have to turn for the fan to go off. Keep doing this if they keep coming on
before your desired temperature is reached. Once the desired coolant temperature is reached (I like the
point where the stock temperature gauge needle is about 1/3 of the way up), turn the resistor slowly to
the point where the fan just comes on and no farther. Your temperature sensor is now dialed in and
doing its job
