Electic Fan on 63 Volvo Jeep

The mounting location of the spare tire doesn't allow for a lot of air flow on this vehicle. Have an electric fan mounted but I don't know how to wire it. I just want to wire it to a manual on/off switch in the cabin. Do I wire it to the fuse box? What kind of switch do I need? Do I need a relay? What is a relay? Please type any and all guidance slowly as I am not a fast reader.

I'd go ahead and add a temp switch to the mix, so you don't have to always be watching the gauge and turning the fan on manually. Something like this that you slip into the radiator fins, that way you're not adding anything into the coolant system:

https://www.amazon.com/JEGS-52125-A...ator+Fan+Sensor+Switch&qid=1659445173&sr=8-13

Then wire up the fan per the instructions with the switch. On my '63 PV, the thermo switch in the radiator fins is stout enough to carry the full current, so it's really 12V+ --> radiator temp switch --> rando junkyard fan* --> ground.

* - since it's a DC motor, which way you wire the + and - wires will determine which direction it turns, don't get that wrong.

On the PV, if I've driven it really hard and then shut it off, the unsealed cooling system would occasionally burp out a little coolant as it heatsoaked, so I wired it up to constant 12V so it can run with the ley off. That way it can do one or two cooling cycles as the motor cools and it prevents the little coolant burps.

I have a SAAB T and the OEM Volvo primary E-fan relay w/pig tail that seems pretty reliable?
Label the wires, crimp appropriately & it?s pretty straightforward?
A fuse or circuit breaker might be prudent?

SAAB T (if you don?t live somewhere with salt or corrosive coolant (cad plated mild) works well in the lower hose if you?re doing the e-fan with the most basic possible form of automated control sort of thing?

SAAB T can be another leak point and isn?t the prettiest thing ever to install, but at the lower hose, but the system can also lose a little coolant and have the fan still function/operate at all until you can check up on it?

What?s the capacity of the alt idling in the thing?
Can it actually power much of an electric fan?

Presumably a 140 coolant bottle can solve the burp / coolant loss riddle with a cycling e-fan that doesn?t always just run like the hard / non-clutched fan does wasting horsepower?

Those are pretty basic & compact?I?m sure Jfry has one, but I have a couple spares known good with toxic plastic that rarely fails with the little stamped vertical bracket?

Just stuck one on the neighbors ?64 MBZ that was struggling on a hot day with the soldered tube to the road (just clamped the hose to the copper tube right at the bottom?finger chopper hard-fan still installed like you?d expect on most cars from ?64).

Single alt/generator V-belt/?fan belt? same as any other garden variety B18/20/30 in a Volvo-car with the cooling fan driven off the water pump pulley?
Capacity of the radiator?
Does the 1800 size mech fan blade fit or some kind of t-static clutched fan with whatever size fan blade it takes?

It?s?a B20? Or B30?
Or whatever is Volvo military-speak for that?

I think it has a B18. On my PV, the stock radiator fan really doesn't do much at all at lower RPM's. It's just a small 4 blade thing, with 4 small blades, and no shroud. And it sits several inches away from the radiator. At low speeds or stopped it really just sort of gently wafts air around. On a warm day, I can start my PV from cold and let it sit and idle and it will boil over in about 10 minutes, which is why I put the pusher fan on.

Now I don't have to watch the gauge and turn the heater on sitting in traffic on hot days either. Just once in a blue moon the fan kicks on for a minute, the coolant temps plummet, and then it switches off again.It never runs in normal use, only when it's been going slowly/sitting still for a bit.

Ok, since you asked to keep it short and you already have a fan mounted:

Can a switch alone work?
Yes, if it has a high enough amp rating. A tip: switches rated for 20 amps and above will feel clunky, with a heavy loud action. There could be a higher voltage drop (slower motor) if the longer wiring is not heavy enough. The switch must be fused (20-30A).

What is a relay?
It is a heavy-duty remote switch that can be mounted closer between the power source (battery and generator) and load (fan motor). It allows a lightweight switch and wiring to remotely turn on the relay. A low-current magnetic coil pulls a heavier switch closed.
The switch should be fused (5A) and the relay should be fused (20-30A).

As previously mentioned, polarity matters. If it blows at the tire instead of the engine, reverse the wires at the motor.

JohnMc said:

I think it has a B18. On my PV, the stock radiator fan really doesn't do much at all at lower RPM's. It's just a small 4 blade thing, with 4 small blades, and no shroud. And it sits several inches away from the radiator. At low speeds or stopped it really just sort of gently wafts air around. On a warm day, I can start my PV from cold and let it sit and idle and it will boil over in about 10 minutes, which is why I put the pusher fan on.

Now I don't have to watch the gauge and turn the heater on sitting in traffic on hot days either. Just once in a blue moon the fan kicks on for a minute, the coolant temps plummet, and then it switches off again.It never runs in normal use, only when it's been going slowly/sitting still for a bit.

Click to expand...

Are B18 equipped PVs same fan as B18 122?
Iirc B18 models have a steeper pitch 4-blade?

The B16 4 blade is pretty shallow is all I remember?
Waft is a good description.
The 1969+ B20 top-bottom radiator in 1800/very late 1969+ 122 Amazon have larger water inlets in the rad that helps considerably.

B16 122s has a different nose than B18/B20 models?
Presumably your PV has B18 nose bits for the B20?

Sold my whole pile of hoarded late-style 6-blade steeper-pitch 122 w/optional A/C hard fans.

Seems to keep the 122-Amazon cool even on a Hot day if you want a bolt-in no-electrons no clutch to crap out solution that baaarely sneaks around the generator (if that?s what you?ve still got?).
Sporty-naaaat /Borat voice, but for a smooth running C (or other tractor?)- cammed &/or single spitter carb w/oil bath air cleaner B18 jeep-like-thing crawling along on warm summers w/the top off at low speeds, it might be a good bolt in no-electrons no clutch failure point solution?

Not sure what it does for water pump life long term? More blades/seems to run pretty smooth without excess vibes, but more belt load/coolant probably has to be nice & slimy & lube the water pump well without being corrosive & belt probably has to grip well without being over-tightened?

Not as elegant as the 1970 USA-market-only 1800/140/164 OEM flex-fan for the top-bottom radiator cars (don?t think it or the 1800 small blade clutched ?71+ fan fits around the generator nut?), tho Hiperfauto & his brother had one scatter on them?

I never ran more than a D-cam/bone stock D-jet, ported head and sport exhaust &/or >6kRPM / no issues or dented hoods yet but can believe that she?s not as good as new from years or fatigue etc., probably, & might let go at one or the rivets/crimps if you really really rev it?

Moves a LOT more air at idle than even the late 122 6-blade steep w/a/c fan. Good ?recombine of the OEM pushrod/OHV junk drawer? option If you?ve got an alternator for the push rod cars, idk what the 122 guys do for a short spacer to use it/cram it between the crank/alt pulley & radiator, but seen it in a B20 Amazon/looked like a clean install?

Makes sense that even a B28/B280 alt adapted to a B20 80A Bosch alt or similar can run an aux push fan no problem on a car that still has a hard fan for the puller fan? Not just a single puller primary e-fan which there probably isn?t much room for on the VALP, 122 &/or PV nor sufficient alt V-belt traction to really power a powerful e-fan (pusher?/what else would even fit?) only setup (tho no a/c condenser, or, much less, intercooler, on most pushrod cars of course)

I'm using the fan that was on the original B18 my '63 had. My PWV also has, due to some long-ago crash repair, a B16 nose with the narrower radiator that has the bottom inlet on the wrong side for a B18/20. I don't know if a B16 fan would have a flatter pitch, but it would be hard to flatten the pitch on mine and still have it move any air at all.

For a long while I ran it the pusher alone and no fan blade, but I noticed that the pusher fan would cycle occasionally at moderate speeds, so I stuck the fan back on. Now the pusher practically never runs. And since the mechanical fan is so flat, it really doesn't make much noise anyhow.

^Your 544 is late/ after 1961 (last year of B16 iirc?), right?

I don?t know 544s, 444s & 445s that well?they had no floors and basically no one was trying to drive those, even stubborn dorks here still driving bugs & wheels off 122s/before my time.

I wondered?I saw a picture and was confused / it looked strange & something registered as ?off? about the B18/20 & rad/nose?

Agreed, the stock 4-blade doesn?t make much noise (the whole 1940s-1960s car is noisy/primitive, right? )?I can hear it if the exhaust and motor is carefully freshly rebuilt with perfect rockers & rocker shafts, but still pretty quiet/not much power?
?not *really* audible it at speed even if the car has OD trans & good suspension bushings (such as 444/544 have any ?bushings? (as we commonly conceive of them in the vulcanized rubber form these days?) in the front? ) & runs real quiet, but memory is fading (as is auditory acuity w/age ?the old car gets quieter every year! )?

It's a '63, would have come with the later spring loaded nose and wider radiator.

Volvo was a small company, they didn't bother trying to keep different drivetrains going for different models. So they all tended to go in lockstep. They developed the B18 for the P1800, and it then replaced the B16 in 122 and 544 cars. They just used tuning (cams and carbs) to make sure the lightest and cheapest car (544) wasn't quicker than the heavier most expensive sports/touring car (P1800).