Slideshow for Full cooling system upgrade using Davies, Craig equipment

Introduction Date: 08/06/06 This workguide is a basic walkthrough of a full cooling system upgrade using Davies, Craig products from stock on my wifes HR.
The products used are:
- Generation 3 Electric Water Pump
- Digital Pump Controller
- 2x 12" Thermatic Fans
- 1x 14" Thermatic Fan
- 1x Thermatic Switch

The Electric Water Pump will be used (as with my car) to completely replace the standard water pump in the system. The 2x 12" Thermatic Fans will go behind the radiator and the 14" Thermatic Fan infront of it (behind the grill). I am only demonstrating these fans will fit however and would recommend either the use of 2x12" or 1x14" fan infront of the radiator OR 2x12" fans infront and 2x12" fans behind simply for ease of installation.

Packaging Date: 08/06/06 Everything was delivered straight from Davies, Craig without a problem and no damage was visible on any of the products or even to their boxes. Davies, Craig products are well packaged to protect the product and it would take a fair bit of force to damage anything.

The items for the upgrade Date: 09/06/06 Here I am displaying the items which will be used in this upgrade. On the back row we have the three thermatic fans (2x12" and 1x14") and on the front from the left we have the Digital Pump Controller (used to control the pump), Electric Water Pump and Thermatic Switch (used for fan switching).

Electric Water Pump kit contents Date: 09/06/06 When the Electric Water Pump kit is first opened you will see the pump itself in the center with various sized seals, 2x o-rings and adaptors. A full list of parts in the kit is displayed in the next image.

Electric Water Pump kit contents (all) Date: 09/06/06 The Electric Water Pump kit will contain the following items (list taken directly from installation instruction booklet supplied in kit):
2x Hose Clamps
1x Straight Adaptor
1x Angled Adaptor
2x O-rings
1x EWP Assembly
2x Thin Rubber Sleeve
2x Thick Rubber Sleeve
1x Hardware Bag containing the following:
1x Wiring Harness
1x Relay
1x Scotch Block
1x Ring Terminal
1x 10A Blade Fuse
1x Self Tapper
6x Short Bolts
6x Long Bolts
6x Nuts
18x Washers

EWP Controller Kit contents and write-up Date: 09/06/06 The new digital EWP Controller kit is fairly impressive in its own right. If you want to compare this controller to the previous generation controller then have a look inside my previous EWP installation guide. The old controller used a small screw to adjust the target temperature for the system whereas this one uses a very informative LED display to not only show you what temperature your system is aiming to maintain but also what temperature your fluid is currently at.

Setting of the controller is done through the use of a single "Set" button. The display contains five LEDs for a temperature range of 75 to 90 degrees as well as 3 more LEDs displaying controller power state, pump state and a warning light.

This controller also has an in-built "running on" feature, allowing the pump to run for an extra 2 minutes after the car is shut down to remove heat soak from your engine.

EWP Controller kit contents (all) Date: 09/06/06 The EWP Controller kit will contain the following items (list taken directly from installation instruction booklet supplied in kit):
1x EWP Digital Controller Assembly
1x Wiring Harness
1x Seal - Sensor Wire
1x Compression Fitting
4x Self Tapper Screw
1x Ring Terminal
1x Copper Wire
1x Installation Instructions
1x Sensor Installation Instructions

Thermatic Switch kit contents (all) Date: 09/06/06 The Thermatic Switch kit will contain the following items:
1x Installation Instructions
1x Thermatic Switch assembly
1x Wire
1x Seal - Sensor Wire
2x Self Tapper Screw
2x Small Screw
1x Scotch Block
1x Push Terminal

Thermatic Fan kit contents (all) Date: 09/06/06 Thermatic fans will all have similar kits, the contents are as follows:
1x Thermatic Fan
4x Push on plastic mounts
4x Bolts
4x Fiber Washers
4x Steel Washers
1x Wiring Harness
1x Relay
1x Blade Fuse
4x Nyloc Nuts

Preparation Date: 10/06/06 Since we are looking at a pretty big alteration to the cooling system it is best to have a decent think about what needs to be done.
1) Adding an electrical water pump – This will go into the bottom radiator hose, so we’ll need to drain the cooling system and remove that hose.
2) Adding thermatic fans – These will go in front and behind the radiator, so we’ll need to remove the fan, water pump pulley, radiator and the bonnet latch panel over the grill.
3) Adding thermatic switch – This will have a temperature probe into the top radiator hose, so we’ll need to remove that hose.
4) Adding EWP Controller – The controller will go inside the car, so we need space for running wiring (and a route), it also has a probe which goes down into the engine block so we’ll need to remove the thermostat housing.

Preparation (continued) Date: 10/06/06 5) We will also need to remove the thermostat (it will be replaced by the functionality of the EWP with its controller).
6) The fan belt will no longer need to drive the water pump so we’ll need to replace it with a shorter belt.

This first image shows the bottom radiator hose where the Electric Water Pump (EWP) will be mounted.

Draining Coolant Date: 10/06/06 To drain the entire cooling system we need to remove the lowest point, remember to put a bucket below to catch the escaping coolant. The bottom radiator hose can be removed by loosing the clamp that is holding it and pulling it back away from the radiator. Due to the way rubber forms when clamped you may not be able to simply pull it away from the radiator by hand.

Draining Coolant #2 Date: 10/06/06 If you can’t remove the bottom radiator hose by hand you may need to push it back using a large screwdriver or similar, be careful not to damage the hose or radiator. Simply put the edge of the screwdriver in front of the lip of the hose and push it back, you may need to do it at a few points around the hose before it starts to pull back.

Draining Coolant #3 Date: 10/06/06 Be sure to use a bucket to catch the coolant, you don’t want to be working in a wet mess under your car, plus if it is new coolant you can re-use it as long as you run it through a filter or stocking to remove any chunks of rust or debris that may be contaminating it.

Removing the bottom radiator hose Date: 10/06/06 While the coolant is draining you can start removing the rest of the bottom radiator hose. It will be held by a clamp at the engine end of the hose the same as it was at the radiator. You may need to use the same techniques to remove this end of the hose as the other.

Removing the bottom radiator hose #2 Date: 10/06/06 This image shows the bottom radiator hose removed. If you look at this image the EWP will replace the center of the hose roughly where my hand is holding it.

Removing the top radiator hose Date: 10/06/06 The top radiator hose goes from the thermostat housing to the upper tank of the radiator. It can be removed the same as the bottom hose. We need to remove this hose completely as both ends will have a probe for heat entering there, one for the EWP Controller and one for the Thermatic Switch which will control the Thermatic Fans.

Removing the top radiator hose #2 Date: 10/06/06 This image shows the removal of the radiator side of the top radiator hose. This end will be where the Thermatic Switch probe will enter the system.

Removing the thermostat housing Date: 10/06/06 The thermostat housing is at the top front of the radiator, as its name suggests it holds (houses) the thermostat. We will not need a thermostat once this job is complete as we will be using the EWP Controller to guide the EWP in its function of pumping the coolant through the system. The EWP Controller will tell the pump when to pulse, and when it finally gets up to the temperature you want it will make the pump push coolant through the system at whatever pace is required to keep the system at the temperature you wish.

Removing the thermostat housing #2 Date: 10/06/06 When removing the housing first loosen one bolt a bit so that it is no longer tight and then the other, once the pressure is off both bolts you can then remove it completely. As with any mating surface it is best to try and lessen any pressure on that item without leaving one point taking all the weight, this lessens the chance of twisting or cracking.

The thermostat housing Date: 10/06/06 Once the upper part of the housing is removed you will see the thermostat sitting inside the lower part of the housing. The thermostat should be very easy to remove now as it was only held by the two housing halves being bolted together. You will not need the thermostat (if you will be using the EWP Controller) as the EWP will replace its functionality.

The thermostat housing #2 Date: 10/06/06 With the thermostat removed you can now see down into the housing, it looks pretty rusty and sludgy down there but that is just how it will look in these old blocks, there is no actual sludge.

The thermostat housing #3 Date: 10/06/06 You will need to purchase a new thermostat gasket for when you put the housing back together to make sure you get no coolant leaks. Also, you’ll need to remove the old gasket from the housing as it will no longer be any good (unless it is already fairly new). You can scrape the old gasket off with a scraper, knife or even flat screwdriver, just be careful not to gouge the housing or yourself while doing it. These gaskets can be bought from stores like Supercheap Auto or similar.

Removing the transmission cooling lines Date: 10/06/06 As a last step to removing pipes and lines from the radiator we need to remove the transmission cooling lines from the bottom of the radiator. These lines are only used for the automatic gearboxes and will not appear on the manual. The first line is at the bottom of the radiator on the drivers side of the car. It will be below and just to the side of the fan. These lines screw into a brass nut that locks into the radiator, you’ll need two spanners to remove it, one to hold the nut and the other to remove the line.

Removing the transmission cooling system #2 Date: 10/06/06 The other transmission cooling line is at the other end of the radiator, still in the engine bay and just below the fan on the passengers side. You can remove it the same as the previous side by using two spanners.

Removing the overflow pipe Date: 10/06/06 Depending how you’ve set up your overflow you can either remove the pipe (blue in the image) from the radiator cap end or from the overflow bottle and let it hang with the radiator. The stock setup has no overflow tank in which case you can just leave it.

Removing the radiator Date: 10/06/06 With all the pipes and lines removed we can now finally remove the radiator. There are four bolts holding the radiator in, two go through to also hold the bonnet latch plate down and the bottom two go through into the front bumper support. The one shown in this image is at the top on the drivers side. To remove these bolts you’ll find it easiest to just use a socket and ratchet handle.

Removing the radiator #2 Date: 10/06/06 The bolt at the bottom of the radiator (drivers side) is a little tight for space but with some patience you should still be able to remove it with your ratchet handle and socket.

Removing the radiator #3 Date: 10/06/06 On the passenger side at the top is the third bolt holding the radiator, this bolt usually also holds the small earth lead from the battery terminal.

Removing the radiator #4 Date: 10/06/06 The last bolt supporting the radiator is quite an awkward one, you should be able to still remove it with a socket and ratchet handle though. With the four bolts you might find it easier to loosen them all before you start removing them. Also, you may find it is possible to remove them by hand once they are loosened a fair bit, you may need to lift the radiator with one hand to do this though so that its weight isn’t resting on the bolt.

Removing the radiator #5 Date: 10/06/06 Once the radiator is out of the car lean it somewhere that it will not get knocked over or damaged. We’ll get back to it later when we decide to attach the thermatic fans.

Removing the radiator #6 Date: 10/06/06 With the radiator removed you can look behind the grill to see the free space available. With the HR I found that a 16” fan is way too big for the standard radiator, on my other car (as you will see in the previous work guide) I had to modify the fan extensively to get it to fit and work correctly. It was of course still highly effective but this time I am throwing a 14” fan in front to show that it is more easily done.

I am also going to throw the two 12” fans behind the radiator, they will need minor modification to fit on the HR but with the standard water pump no longer being used I have more space available for fitting them.

P1040587_2.JPG Date: 10/06/06 My recommendation with your choice of fans for a HR is to either go for two 12” fans or one 14” fan in front; if you want to put two 12” fans behind the radiator as well then I’d go for four 12” fans and use the bolts from each to support the one on the other side. This is far more efficient than having to modify a large fan in front to pass over the support bolts from the rear fans (like I did with both cars). A large fan will NOT fit on the rear if the water pump is still there, on the later model Holdens this may still be possible though, I know with a HK I had that it had a lot more space between the water pump and the radiator then the HR and earlier.

One thing worth considering though is that a 16” fan will push far more air than two 12” fans.

Preparing for front fan installation Date: 10/06/06 To get the radiator back in after installing the front fan (since the rear fans will also be attached to the radiator) we need to remove the whole plate that runs along the top of the grill. The plate has a few bolts that run through to support the grill so removing the correct ones is necessary. In the image above I am removing the bolts that hold the bonnet lock assembly, to remove this plate however you will only have to remove the front two bolts as they bolt into two legs of the grill.

Preparing for front fan installation #2 Date: 10/06/06 When down the bonnet sits against two adjustable screws with rubber caps on either side at the front. These rubber caps can be easily levered off and the screw can then be removed. The screw has a lock nut which stops it from turning and losing its height adjustment so you may need to take that off a few turns before you use a large screwdriver to take the whole screw out. Take note of how high the top of the screws are if you wish to them to the same position, I found that mine sat at about the height of the bottom of the guard lip. When returning the screws to the car I found that the nuts had left a clearly distinguishable mark on the screws that enabled me to get them back into roughly the same position as before.

Preparing for front fan installation #3 Date: 10/06/06 Another bolt supports the plate just below the screws on either side and will also need to be removed.

Preparing for front fan installation #4 Date: 10/06/06 In the middle at either side there is also another bolt that holds the plate down against a grill support bar, once this was removed on mine I was able to remove the whole plate, you may need to check inside behind the headlights for further bolts if it doesn’t come free then.

I did not remove the bonnet catch from the plate and when doing this job merely put a rag over the guard of the car and leaned the whole plate against that out of the way.

Preparing for front fan installation #5 Date: 10/06/06 This image shows the plate removed from the front, you can now see the grill bars that were holding it. With this free we’ll be able to slide the radiator in and slide the 14” fan down the front to confirm and test mounting positions.

Installing the new fan belt Date: 10/06/06 The standard water pump will no longer be needed once this upgrade is complete and will no longer be driven from the fan belt. It wouldn’t harm the car to leave the old fan still attached but to mount the rear fans to the radiator I will need to remove the standard fan and the pulley hub from the water pump.

The fan and pulley hub are both held with the four bolts accessible at the front of the fan. If you remove these four bolts the fan will literally fall off into your hand and you can remove the hub along with it once you have released the fan belt.

Installing the new fan belt #2 Date: 10/06/06 With the fan removed there is now holding the water pump hub in place other than the pressure from the fan belt itself, rather than try and force it off we need to loosen the pressure off the belt by releasing the alternator and pushing it closer to the motor.

Installing the new fan belt #3 Date: 10/06/06 Excuse the amount of grease/oil/dirt on this motor; it is literally a daily driven car doing at least 200 miles per week, it is also starting to get clapped out and needs a recondition. Moving on…

To lessen the pressure on the fan belt we need to push the alternator closer to the motor. To do this we need to firstly loosen the bolt that supports the alternator to the bracket at the top.

Installing the new fan belt #4 Date: 10/06/06 There is another bolt at the bottom of the alternator you’ll need to loosen also, this bolt has a nut on the other side you may need to hold with a spanner to undo.

Installing the new fan belt #5 Date: 10/06/06 Once the alternator is free you can push it towards the motor and remove the pressure from the fan belt. If it is still fairly tight you can lever it with a large screwdriver or similar but by all rights you should loosen it enough to just do it by hand and not take the risk of damaging anything.

Installing the new fan belt #6 Date: 10/06/06 Once the pressure is off the belt you’ll be able to remove it easily.

Installing the new fan belt #7 Date: 10/06/06 The new fan belt will be far shorter than the old; it will only need to go from the balancer to the alternator. I found the 735mm belt to be of perfect length, allowing adjustment available both ways.

Installing the new fan belt #8 Date: 10/06/06 Don’t forget to remove the hub from the water pump shaft, it is after all not being held on by anything after you remove the fan belt.

Installing the new fan belt #9 Date: 10/06/06 I gave this a quick clean so that it is easier to see what I am doing. The new fan belt will run from the harmonic balancer to the alternator, the lug with timing marks however will stop us from putting the belt straight on in this angle. You can therefore either remove the grill of your car and remove the balancer with a proper pulley or take the easy way out like I did and modify the lug to allow the belt on and off. I figured this was probably smarter anyway as if I somehow break a fan belt I can just get a new one and throw it straight on without making a big job out of it.

Installing the new fan belt #10 Date: 10/06/06 To modify the lug I simply used a hacksaw and cut it at an angle back towards the block, making sure to leave a decent amount of timing marks incase I should ever want to time the motor using them.

Installing the new fan belt #11 Date: 10/06/06 This image shows the lug modified so that I can slide the new belt in and out easily, as you can see I’ve left a decent amount of marks there to be used if need be.

Installing the new fan belt #12 Date: 10/06/06 Finally the new fan belt is installed. You’ll need to slide it over the harmonic balancer and the alternator pulley and then tighten the alternator. To tighten the alternator put a large screwdriver between it and the motor and pull outwards towards the passenger side of the vehicle. This will push the alternator away from the motor and put pressure on the fan belt. A fan belt is tight when it can only be pushed downwards about a fingers width by your hand. Once the belt is tight you can tighten both the bottom and then top bolts on the alternator to lock it into position.

Installing the front thermatic fan Date: 10/06/06 The Davies, Craig thermatic fans are surprisingly easy to install onto any radiator. What you need to do however is make sure the fan is facing the right way and turning in the right direction.

The instructions from Davies, Craig say that the fans are designed to go in front of the radiator facing the rear. If you look on the face of the fans it will say “Face Rear of Vehicle”. If you want to put your fan on the rear of the radiator though you’ll need to take the fan blade out of its housing, flip it over and put it back in, this is mentioned later.

Installing the front thermatic fan #2 Date: 10/06/06 The first thing to do with your fans is sit your radiator back in the car and then place the fan in position on it. This will show you what you need to do to get the fan to sit in a position that will not conflict with anything on the car.

I found with the 14” fan that it could sit against the bottom of the radiator and would then clear the top by about 10mm. I had to modify slightly though on the face as when everything went back into the car and was tightened the grill put pressure on the face of the fan and the blades clicked as they past this point. If you are doing this job on the HR you could:
1) Do what I did and add two washers between the radiator and its mounting brackets
2) Grind a bit of plastic away from the fan grill.
3) Grind a bit of metal away from the grill mounts.
4) Mount the fan higher on the radiator.

Installing the front thermatic fan #3 Date: 10/06/06 This image shows the 14” fan on the standard HR radiator, as you can see a 16” fan will NOT fit without extensive modification, if someone tells you they fit easily then they are likely talking about the older Davies, Craig fans or some other companies fans. These new fans have a differently shaped shroud and I believe longer blades than the old fans.

Installing the back thermatic fans Date: 10/06/06 With the positioning of the 14” front fan decided it is time to organize positioning of the two 12” fans. Before that however we need to flip the fan blades over due to the fan being mounted behind the radiator instead of in front.

Installing the back thermatic fans #2 Date: 10/06/06 As with the front fan these fans are marked “Face Rear of Vehicle” on the face of the fan blades. As I mentioned previously this is because all fans leave the factory designed to go in front of the radiator by default. We want these fans behind the radiator so we’ll need to flip the blades over so that they will be facing with the correct orientation to flow air efficiently.

Installing the back thermatic fans #3 Date: 10/06/06 With these smaller fans the blades are held on simply with a nut, the larger fans use a circlip. Both however are easily removed and replaced.

Installing the back thermatic fans #4 Date: 10/06/06 When you flip the blades over you will see it is marked “Face Front of Vehicle”, for our back fans this is the face we’ll want to face into the radiator. Now we only have to place it back onto the fan housing and replace the nut that locks it into position.

Installing the back thermatic fans #5 Date: 10/06/06 This image shows one fan flipped and one fan not, the curvature of the blades is designed to force air more efficiently in one direction than the other so as well as flipping the blades you must make sure that when wired the fan blades spin in the correct direction. To help with this the fan blades also have a small arrow marked on them.

Installing the back thermatic fans #6 Date: 10/06/06 I am now checking what configuration of the fans will allow them to cover the greatest area of the radiator. One thing to remember with my installation however is that I have the 14” fan on the other side, so I intend to put the 12” fans side by side to make modifications to the 14” fan more easy to make.

Installing the back thermatic fans #7 Date: 10/06/06 I decided to go with the fans in this position, one reason was because I get more of the blades over the radiator. If I wasn’t mounting the 14” fan on the front I was considering staggering the fans, one at the top and one at the bottom to get even more fan coverage on the radiator.

Installing the back thermatic fans #8 Date: 10/06/06 Before mounting the fans naturally you need to confirm their positioning and check they will not conflict with anything else in the engine bay. Upon doing this I can see that the old water pump pulley will be pressed against the fan. I considered that there could be slight movement of the engine in any direction under load or on the road so decided to modify the fan housing and remove a bit of plastic around the area where this pump pulley is. Another option is to simply remove the pulley by cutting it away from the old water pump, if you do this however be sure to not build up too much temperature in the shaft as you cut it as it may damage the pump seals.

Installing the back thermatic fans #9 Date: 10/06/06 I decided to mount my 12” fans as close to the top as possible. The main reason behind this is that I can then have free space to mount the 14” fan on the front at the bottom and not have its supporting bolts conflict with these fans. The modifications I later perform will all be done to the 14” fan alone to just clear the grill and the bolts/nuts of these 12” fans. I decided to not use the upper mounting bolts of the 14” fan as I would then need to modify these 12” fans to clear those bolts, instead I decided to use some wire through the radiator to support the top and hold it against the radiator and the bolts supplied to properly support the bottom, this is shown later.
The second reason for mounting the fans high is that I then didn’t need to modify their housings much to clear the water pump shaft. Remember however that I am only doing this because the HR is so tight between the motor and the radiator, a later model vehicle may not have this issue.

Installing the back thermatic fans #10 Date: 10/06/06 In the fan kits you will find four of these legs that will be used to support the fan. The legs simply push into the fan housing at available slots and you can place them where they will best suit your positioning of the fan.

Installing the back thermatic fans #11 Date: 10/06/06 When mounting the thermatic fans the supporting bolts will push through the radiator between the fins. I’ve found the best way to do this is to use varying sizes of lat bladed screwdrivers. First I push a small screwdriver like the one shown through, then a slightly larger one and finally the bolt itself.

Installing the back thermatic fans #12 Date: 10/06/06 I have decided to push three bolts through each fan, the unsupported corner will be held at one side by the clamp that used to hold the overflow pipe and at the other side by some strong wire.

Installing the back thermatic fans #13 Date: 10/06/06 This is the front face of the radiator, as you can see the bolts are quite long to allow you to fit them to virtually any radiator, once you have placed the nuts and washers onto them and tightened them up you can cut the extra length off of the bolt.

Installing the back thermatic fans #14 Date: 10/06/06 Here is the back side of the radiator assembled, as you can see the fans slightly overlap the edge of the radiator, this isn’t a concern but you may have to modify the shroud of the fans slightly to allow the fan to sit flat against the radiator face.

Installing the front thermatic fan #4 Date: 10/06/06 This is the front face of the radiator with the 14” fan mounted. Naturally if I didn’t have the two 12” fans mounted on the rear I would have used two more of the supports to mount the top of the fan. To mount this fan with the two 12” fans I had to take a small piece out of the fan shroud to allow it to sit over the central supporting bolts from the 12” fans and a small portion out of the blades of the fan to allow them to flow over the bottom bolts of the 12” fans.

I wouldn’t recommend doing it the way I have done it, my main aim of using the 14” fan on the front is to show that it will fit there without a problem. On the HR and probably earlier I would recommend using either a 14” fan on the front or two offset 10” fans. In both cases you won’t need to modify the fan if mounted properly.

Installing the front thermatic fan #4 (continued) Date: 10/06/06 If you are crazy for cooling like me but still don’t want to modify anything I’d recommend two 10” fans on the front and another two on the rear, mounted using the bolts from its mate on the other side. The main point is that a large fan will flow more air than two small fans but you can also get decent coverage from two small fans whereas with a large you are limited by space and the height of the radiator.

In my experience I have found the front fan to do most of the cooling for the system, naturally however rear fans will help air flow through and also allow air to flow over the motor itself.
Test mounting the radiator
With the radiator sitting back in position in the car we can see the space we are dealing with on the front. It all fits nice and snugly and with the modifications I did to allow the water pump shaft freedom there is no danger of anything contacting with the fans on the road.

Test mounting the radiator Date: 10/06/06 With the radiator sitting back in position in the car we can see the space we are dealing with on the front. It all fits nice and snugly and with the modifications I did to allow the water pump shaft freedom there is no danger of anything contacting with the fans on the road.

Test mounting the radiator #2 Date: 10/06/06 At the front the 14” fan also fits nice and snugly behind the grill. Here you can more easily see how I have just used some wire to hold the top of the fan in. This was just to make sure the fan stayed flat against the radiator as the fans design and shroud is meant to push air through the radiator, if the fan is allowed to lean away from the radiator the air will follow the route of least resistance and may skip along the face of the radiator and out through any gap.

Test mounting the radiator #3 Date: 10/06/06 As you can see in this close up shot I have modified the rear fans to allow the water pump shaft to sit inside where their shroud would normally be. If you decide to cut the shaft however you’ll see that there is plenty of space there to have the fans without modifying their shroud at all. Note again though that this is a HR modification, later model cars may not even have a problem fitting dual 10 or 12” fans there, you may also be able to fit even larger fans as long as there is space between the water pump pulley shaft and the fan motor.

Test mounting the radiator #4 Date: 10/06/06 I have now sat the plate that goes along the top of the grill on to check the mounting of the front fan is clear. On my other car with the modified 16” fan I had to modify the lip of this plate, cutting away some free space for the fan, with the 14” fan though (mounted low) this was not an issue at all.

Mounting the thermatic switch Date: 10/06/06 Now that the fans are mounted we can mount the switch that will control them. The main components at the moment are the angled bracket and the switch itself. You can mount this switch anywhere as long as it is within the distance of the probe from a mounting point in the cooling system. I will be putting the probe in the top radiator hose at the radiator and decided to put the switch at the front of the car inside the engine bay. I could have hidden it behind the grill, down near the stone tray or even possibly under the battery but in truth I wanted to be able to easily access the switch for calibration purposes. Plus these switches can be hard to turn with just your fingertips so you may need enough space to be able to grasp the adjustment shaft with pliers.

Mounting the thermatic switch #2 Date: 10/06/06 For ease I have decided to just mount the bracket to an existing fitting rather than drill a new hole. To this end I’m mounting it to one of the three screws that holds the indicator assembly in.

Mounting the thermatic switch #3 Date: 10/06/06 This close up view shows the adjustment knob on the switch, when you have your system setup you will warm the car up until it reaches the temperature you want the fans to come on. Then turn this knob slowly until the fans engage and from that point on whenever your cooling system reaches that temperature the fans will engage. They will then only disengage once the system goes a few degrees below that point.

With this new EWP setup I am going to have the EWP try and maintain a system temperature of 85 celcius. The fans I will therefore have engage at 90 celcius, if the system then reaches 90c the fans will engage and return it to 85c before shutting off. In this way the fans aren’t fighting with the EWP to maintain a temperature in the cooling system.

Mounting the thermatic switch #4 Date: 10/06/06 The thermatic switch can then be mounted to the bracket through the use of the two small screws provided in the kit. I have made sure my switch is on a good angle to allow me to easily reach and adjust it if need be, while being in a place that it and its wiring will not be very visible.

Removing the headlight (concealing the wiring) Date: 10/06/06 For the front fan I have decided to run the wiring in behind my headlight to conceal it all inside the guard, this way the cable from the thermatic switch will go through the hole that the headlight wiring goes and so will the power cable that goes to the relay.

To remove the headlight you first need to remove the chrome headlight surround, this is held on by a screw top and bottom.

Removing the headlight (concealing the wiring) #2 Date: 10/06/06 The second screw for the chrome headlight surround is at the bottom center. Once you have removed both screws the headlight surround can be pulled straight off the car. The headlight will then be held by two adjustment points and a spring, you actually don’t need to remove anything else to remove the headlight, simply pull it to the bottom right to clear the adjustment screws and it will then be held only by the spring, this doesn’t need to be removed however as you will have enough space to work behind the headlight now. To see more detail on removing the headlight assembly check my Halogen Headlight Upgrade work guide.

Wiring the front fan Date: 10/06/06 This is the wiring bundle I will be concealing behind the guard. It contain a relay and fuse, the relay has an earth which will need to be mounted to metal somewhere and it will need an engagement voltage (from the switch) and a 12 volt source (from the battery) two cables then go to the fan to power it.

Wiring the front fan #2 Date: 10/06/06 To begin wiring you’ll need to strip some of the insulation from the end of the wire to expose clean wire, to this you can then attach a mating wire or terminal as needed.

Wiring the front fan #3 Date: 10/06/06 You will need a good earth for the relay/fan, make sure to give the metal a good rub back with some sand paper to get some nice clean metal exposed before bolting the earth lead down. A bad earth can effect how well (fast) the fan runs and hence your cooling.

Wiring the front fan #4 Date: 10/06/06 Shown in the image is a relay. Relays are very simple items which can take a 12 volt connection from the battery and transfer it directly to where you need it. This is done through a switching wire (for example an ignition wire) which will tell the relay when to allow the 12 volts through. Relays are good for points on the car where you may not be getting a full voltage supply, for instance to headlights, thermatic fans, radios, in fact virtually anything electrical on a car can benefit from a relay. Instead of wiring going all the way to the ignition and then back to the thermatic switch then to the fan, it now in effect goes straight from the battery to the fan, guaranteeing a decent voltage with minimal loss.

Wiring the front fan #5 Date: 10/06/06 The wiring harness provided in the fan kits has a block to take the relay, the block is designed so that the relay will only fit into it one way, this will lessen the chance of any confusion.

Wiring the front fan #6 Date: 10/06/06 Once the wiring is assembled and concealed you can start reassembling the headlight. As you can see in the image with the headlight back in you can see any of the wiring from the fan all the way to the thermatic switch. The wiring is all concealed behind the grill and headlight assembly. Make sure before putting the headlight assembly on that you have the red (+12V) and green (Ignition) wires running from the guard into the engine bay where the switch is.

Wiring the front fan #7 Date: 10/06/06 To wrap up the wiring on the front fan you just have to throw the chrome headlight surround back on and the job is almost done.

Wiring the front fan #8 Date: 10/06/06 The green wire will go from the fan wiring bundle to the thermatic switch, it is what will turn the relay on and allow the 12 volts through. There is a terminal provided in the kit that you can crimp onto the wire as shown in this image.

Wiring the front fan #9 Date: 10/06/06 Here is the green wire now attached to the thermatic switch, there are two terminals provided on the switch for fans and one that will take a wire straight from the cars ignition. You can also see here how I have concealed most of the front fans wiring bundle by running it into and through the guard.

You have a few options with the ignition wiring of the thermatic switch.
1) Wire it directly to the ignition, this means whenever the car is on the fans may come on depending on the motors temperature.

Wiring the front fan #9 (continued) Date: 10/06/06 2) Wire it directly to the battery, the thermatic fans will then have a “run-on” ability because they will run whenever the temperature of the motor is up, whether the car is on or off. I don’t like doing this however as (especially without the EWP) if the motors temperature is high the fans may come on and off for the next 20 minutes or so, also without an EWP the fans really aren’t doing much, most of their functionality is cooling the water in the radiator, if that water isn’t flowing properly then what is the use of cooling it?

Wiring the front fan #10 Date: 10/06/06 Finally you need to attach the blue and black wires for the fan. I’ve found that even though the fan is set up to run in front if the radiator I still need to swap the blue and black wires to get it to spin in the right direction. The ones behind the radiator however can be wired up blue to blue and black to black with their harness. Whatever you do make sure to check the direction of spinning of the fan with the arrow marked on the blades, if it is going the wrong way swap the two wires over.

Wiring Date: 10/06/06 Not quite finished with the wiring yet, the harnesses all have an amount of wires that will far exceed what you should need (better to have more than not enough) so once you are happy with how it is all running you can trim up the excess wires as required to make it look neat.

Thermostat Gasket Date: 10/06/06 Next we’ll be working on the Electric Water Pump and its Controller. The Controller has a sensor probe which pushes into the cooling system through the upper radiator hose and thermostat housing down into the block itself.

The image though shows the gasket that will go between the upper and lower thermostat housing parts to seal them. Firstly though you’ll need to scrape the old gasket from the faces of both halves.

The Electric Water Pump Date: 10/06/06 Pictured is the electric water pump, this pump is what will replace my stock belt driven water pump. These pumps really are the way to go, they make your cooling system far more efficient with the correct flow going through your motor no matter what revs the car is doing. They are robust, reliable and long living and can take the rigors of daily driving or the racetrack. Also if you buy from Davies, Craig you are buying a product from an Australian company and what could be better than that, don’t just let loyalty to the country persuade you though, these pumps are well recognized the world over as an excellent product.

The Electric Water Pump (continued) Date: 10/06/06 The use of these pumps has given my cars the feeling of increased power and torque, it hasn’t made them into race cars of course but there is definitely an improvement, not only that but I have gained an excellent increase in both highway and city economy. The cars idle and run more smoothly and with the running on capabilities both cars have I am confident my motors are getting far better care than ever before where heat is concerned.

Electric Water Pump – Setting Up Date: 10/06/06 The Electric Water Pump (EWP) comes supplied with an angle and straight adapter pipe fitting to allow you to place it where your bottom radiator hose originally was. Also, if you need another of either fitting simply contact Davies, Craig and discuss it with them. These adaptors are both attached to the pump with 6 small bolts each, the bolts are equally spaced so for your angled adapter this allows you to place it at various angles to suit your purposes. An O-ring is also supplied for each adaptor to make it seal properly against the EWP.

Electric Water Pump – Setting Up #2 Date: 10/06/06 In the EWP you will find the 12 bolts used to attach the adaptors, 6 of the bolts are shorter than the other bolts however and these bolts screw the inlet adaptor on, the other 6 long bolts are used in conjunction with the nuts supplied to lock the outlet adaptor in place.

Electric Water Pump – Setting Up #3 Date: 10/06/06 This surface of the adaptor mates with the electric water pump, here I am showing the O-ring and the groove machined in the pump where the O-ring will sit. The only thing to watch when assembling these adaptors is that the O-ring doesn’t fall between the two faces as you are tightening the bolts. Generally I keep the adaptor face horizontal so that the O-ring can’t slide out until I have at least two opposite bolts hand tight.

Electric Water Pump – Setting Up #4 Date: 10/06/06 Here I am showing how I have set up the adaptor on the inlet port of the EWP (on the HR). When putting bolts into any circular pattern it is best to do it in a star formation, i.e. start with one then go opposite then come back to adjacent to the first then opposite that one etc Do them hand tight like this, then make them firm, then make them tight. This is so that you get an even pressure on the two surfaces, it is easy for an item to twist if you have one bolt tight and then try to do others.

Electric Water Pump – Setting Up #5 Date: 10/06/06 As you can see on the inlet pipe (the one with the adaptor currently fitted the bolts go into the pump itself, whereas on the outlet port the bolts go through and nuts are used to tighten against the flange.

Electric Water Pump – Setting Up #6 Date: 10/06/06 You’ll need an allan key to tighten the bolts and a spanner to hold the nuts as you attach the adaptor to the outlet port flange.

Electric Water Pump – Setting Up #7 Date: 10/06/06 The wiring for the EWP enters the pump at the bottom, make sure this is pointing downwards so that if the pump somehow gets wet moisture will not travel up the wiring and into the electrical side of the pump.

Electric Water Pump – Setting Up #8 Date: 10/06/06 The EWP kit comes with two different sized of rubber sleeve (four sleeves total) that can be put over the adaptors on the pump to match the size of your radiator hoses. On my other car I used no adaptors at all and it has never had a problem with leaking using the clamps supplied by Davies, Craig in the EWP kit, this time however I used the thinner of the two sleeves. It was a hard job to get the old rubber hose over the sleeve on the adaptor but once it was done and clamped I could see that it was very nicely sealed. There will be no danger of leaks at either end of the EWP.

Electric Water Pump – Installing the Rubber Sleeves Date: 10/06/06 As you can see the rubber sleeve slides onto the adaptor and inside the sleeve a groove slides over the ridge on the adaptor, locking the sleeve in place and giving a good seal.

Electric Water Pump – Fitting the radiator hose Date: 10/06/06 Fitting the radiator hose over the sleeve on the adaptor was quite difficult. I used an old radiator hose for the segments from the EWP to the radiator and motor and it was molded very well into a set shape. In the end though with persistence I got it on and clamped, with a new hose however you shouldn't have much problem at all.

Electric Water Pump – Fitting the radiator hose #2 Date: 10/06/06 Here is the water pump with the bottom radiator hose fitted. You may need to hold the pump in the engine bay and the hose next to the pump to see how much you want to cut out of the hose for the end pieces or even trim them up more once cut.

Electric Water Pump – Fitting the radiator hose #3 Date: 10/06/06 This image shows the water pump with both modified hoses attached. As you can see the outlet hose is far shorter and straighter. You will need to modify your pipes to suit whatever car you are putting it on and may find that you don’t use the adaptors like I have. This guide is after all only a…guide…

Electric Water Pump – Installation Date: 10/06/06 Once you are happy with your radiator hoses on the pump you can finally install it into the car. I found with the new fan shape I had to kick the pump more to towards the drivers side of the car compared to my other car. This then meant I had to add a longer and slightly curved hose to the top part of the pump, this wasn’t a concern though as it is part of getting the pump installed properly that you may have to make a few changes. At the end of this guide is a scan of the EWP instruction manual, this will show you how you need to bleed the EWP before use etc

Electric Water Pump – Installation #2 Date: 10/06/06 This is a view of the EWP from the top on the drivers side. It is pretty obvious the angle I have put it on but it still works fine and is in no danger of getting hit by anything in the engine bay. The pump is meant to sit free, held only by the radiator hoses, if you try to bracket it you may find you’ll put more strain on the pump and hoses due to the way an engine moves in the engine bay when a car is driven, if you leave it free the hoses will be able to flex properly and the pump will be fine.

EWP Controller – Wiring Date: 10/06/06 Pictured is the wiring harness for the EWP Controller, later in this guide is a scan of the Controller Installation guide and also a wiring diagram of my whole installation. At the moment though here is a list of the wires and their purpose:
1) Red – Battery positive
2) Brown – Earth
3) Black & Blue – To Electric Water Pump
4) Green – Ignition source
5) Large Black – To Probe, into motor.
6) Short Red and Black – To test light.

EWP Controller – Wiring #2 Date: 10/06/06 The controller may look like it has a lot of wiring but in general it is fairly easy to set up. Quite simply the only wires that run into the engine bay are the blue and black to the EWP and the probe, you should be able to pick up an ignition wire, earth and maybe even 12 volt source from under the dash. All of these wires flow back into one block which pushes straight into the EWP Controller.

What I am doing here is pushing the block with attached wires back from the engine bay into the car. Even though only two or three of the wires will need to go into the engine bay it’s easier to get under the dash and pull this block through and whatever wires are required then get under the dash and try to push the needed wires back through into the engine bay.

EWP Controller - Wiring #3 Date: 10/06/06 This image just shows how I’ve looped the wires around existing wires to support them through the engine bay. The wires that go to the EWP are going up the drivers side, the probe is following the temperature gauge probe wiring and I’ve run the 12V into the engine bay rather than into the wire that runs to my isolation switch.

EWP Controller – Probe Date: 10/06/06 The probe from the EWP Controller can run into the cooling system at the thermostat housing, and then it can be pushed easily down into the engine block itself to get proper engine temperature. While the thermostat housing is separated run the probe through the upper half and down into the bottom half, then run it into the block. Before running it into the block however wrap the supplied copper wire around the probe so that it won’t pull back out with coolant flow (shown in next image).

Controller – Probe (continued) Date: 10/06/06 Otherwise, the EWP Controller also comes with a fitting that if you drill and tap the thermostat housing will allow you to run the probe straight into the housing more easily. Some people may like to do this as then you don’t have to worry so much about the sealing of the upper radiator hose. I however have found both times that if you are careful and use good clamps you won’t have a problem getting it sealed at the EWP Controller end of the pipe. The thermatic switch probe usually causes me more problems but as shown later I just use two clamps if necessary and it will seal well.

EWP Controller – Probe #2 Date: 10/06/06 Using the copper wire provided wrap it around the probe wire from he probe back up the wire itself. This will make it more firm and stop the coolant flow from forcing your probe back. You can see also here how I have forced the probe down into the block.

EWP Controller – Probe #3 Date: 10/06/06 Getting a good seal on the controller probe wires can cause some people problems. Here though I am showing the tried and true method as recommended by Davies, Craig in the instructions where electric tape can help hold the wires in position on the rubber seal. You can also put electric tape right around it to hold it in place as you push the hose on.

When putting the seal on put it completely onto the thermostat housing outlet, starting behind the front lip. Then the wires from the probe are to go into the two grooves on the seal. After that the upper radiator hose can go over the top and be clamped. With the probe wires you must keep the black silicon portion of the wire as the only part that will get immersed in coolant.

EWP Controller – Probe #4 Date: 10/06/06 Here is the probe wires sealed onto the thermostat housing by the upper radiator hose and clamp. As you can see you should have no worries getting a good seal. You’ll notice too that I’ve kept a small portion of the silicone portion of the wire free of the hose to guarantee that only properly sealed wires are inside the coolant.

Once you’ve done this you can put the seal on the thermostat housing and reinstall it if you haven’t already. Be sure however to tighten the bolts in steps, not one completely then the other. Also, make sure the old thermostat gasket is completely remove and the housing surfaces are clean; somehow I managed to crack my old housing when reinstalling it and had to find a replacement.

Thermatic Switch – Probe Date: 10/06/06 Once the thermostat housing is assembled you can move to the other end of the upper radiator hose. Here we will be putting the thermatic switch into the cooling system. What I usually do is put the probe and wire roughly into position and then careful straighten the wire where it will go over the radiator inlet port as much as possible.

Once you have done that you can then seal it like the EWP Controller probe, putting the rubber seal in place and securing the probe to it with some electric tape. Once you lock the seal down with a hose clamp you can check the cooling system for bad leaks by filling it with water.

Thermatic Switch - Probe (continued) Date: 10/06/06 If you see any leaks this early then you can try and tighten the clamps further, find better clamps or use two clamps. A very slight coolant leak will seal over time if you give the car a drive to heat it up then try the clamp a few more turns. Also coolant will dry and make its own seal, but this is only for very slight leaks. Anything major in the way of leaks you will have to remedy. Once happy with your system you can drain the water and add some good quality coolant or if you’ve already used coolant top it up.

I actually had a leak at the radiator end of the upper radiator hose (where the thermatic switch probe was) and couldn’t get one clamp to seal it, I added a second clamp and it fixed the problem. Remember though that it will be easier to seal and install if you put the probe wires for both the switch and controller at the top of their respective sides so that you can see what is going on as you push the radiator hose on.

Upper Radiator Hose Date: 10/06/06 Here is an image of the upper radiator hose with probes installed.

Coolant Date: 10/06/06 Coolant choice is a pretty major factor in getting the most out of your cooling system, you can go for the premixed el-cheapo stuff if you like or for a more expensive concentrated mix. I have gone for the Valvoline G-05 because it’s a known brand and also because this coolant has never failed me before. You can get different maximum boiling temperatures depending on the percentage mix you use also. Valvoline…know what I mean?

Bleeding the cooling system Date: 10/06/06 Once you have everything installed it’s time to bleed the cooling system. Later in this guide is a copy of the installation instruction for the Electric Water Pump which shows the angle to keep the pump on to make sure it is free of air as you fill the cooling system. With the HR it is too tight to do this but you can do everything else in your power to make sure the cooling system is free of air.

Bleeding the cooling system (continued) Date: 10/06/06 What I do first is slowly fill the system with air until it reaches radiator inlet and overflow port. Then normally you would run the engine for 5 or 10 minutes and keep topping up the coolant as air gets bled out of the system. It is similar with the EWP but we don’t need the engine running to bleed the system, only the EWP. It is actually better than the engine running method too because when you force wire the EWP to the battery the EWP will run at full speed. I’d hate to be running my engine at full speed for 5 to 10 minutes just trying to bleed the cooling system…

Bleeding the cooling system #2 Date: 10/06/06 The EWP has a blue and black wire leading out of the pump. With the blue wire run a wire from its terminal directly to the battery positive, then with the black wire run it to battery negative or a decent earth. The pump will then immediately start running at full throttle. Here I am showing how I just taped the positive end down onto the battery terminal.

Bleeding the cooling system #3 Date: 10/06/06 The photo really doesn’t do the flow rate justice of the EWP, at full throttle it really does hammer coolant through the system. As you can see here though air has started to be bled from the system as the coolant level has dropped. When bleeding let it run for 5 to 10 minutes and keep a bottle of coolant ready to top the radiator out. Check your manual though for your motor to make sure there are no “special tricks” you need to perform to get your cooling system to bleed properly. For instance if I remember correctly the RB30 has to be bled with a special method or there is a chance the head can crack (my brother-in-law cracked the head of an RB30 many years ago and I suspect this is the reason).

Check for leaks Date: 10/06/06 While the EWP is running at full throttle check the system again for leaks. The best thing to do is have your car up on cement so that it is easy to see if something is leaking. Here under my car we can see that there is definitely a coolant leak, I traced its path back up the block to the radiator end of the upper radiator hose.

Fix any leaks Date: 11/06/06 I wasn’t able to fix this leak with the one clamp so I simply threw another one on and clamped them both up, this fixed the leak completely.

EWP Controller – Final Setup Date: 11/06/06 We are now ready to complete the installation of the EWP controller and its wiring. As you’ll remember we pushed the wiring block through the firewall so this photo is now taken from under the dash.

EWP Controller – Final Setup #2 Date: 11/06/06 The wiring block simply pushes straight into the controller and that is all that needs to be done at the controller end.

EWP Controller – Final Setup #3 Date: 11/06/06 The new digital controller comes with a test/warning light. If your temperature goes 10 degrees celcius over your specified temperature (you can specify a target temperature of between 75 and 95 degrees celcius) the test/warning light will start to flash, this is very useful as it is an early warning of a possible fault.

EWP Controller – Mounting Date: 11/06/06 Find a good mounting point for the controller, you may wish to hide it up under the dash or make it more visible. I liked the look of the new controller and so made it more visible by screwing it to the heater/demister unit in the center of the car. You will need to see the lights on the controller but by all rights if you want to hide it completely then the test/warning light will tell you of a problem and you can then look under the dash (or wherever you have hidden it) to check the light sequence and see what the problem is. The diagnostic chart for the electric water pump controller is shown later in this guide.

EWP Controller – Earth Da