When my third OEM fan went bad, I had had enough. The ONLY problem is that the fan stinks. If I get a fourth, it will go bad too. So, I made my own.
The OEM fan has a high speed relay and a low speed relay. The Saabs have been doing this for over 10 years now. On the Saabs, there was simply a capacitor in-line on the low speed wire until they built it into the fan like on the SSR. So I purchased a 14" Zirgo fan with 2670 CFM and took it apart along with my broken OEM fan and played a little Dr. Frankenstein.
Here's what I did:
1. Remove the old fan motor from the shroud.
2. Take a drill bit or a Dremel and grind out the center hole a little bit to fit the new Zirgo fan motor. The bolt holes do not line-up, so you can line-up one and then just drill 2 new ones in the plastic shroud. I used zip ties to secure the new fan motor to the OEM shroud.
3. Hammer the metal cover off the OEM fan to reveal its circuit board. This is the 2 speed logic. You will see that there are 4 bars that spring on the copper center of the fan, these are the 4 wire contacts for the OEM 2 speed logic. When you remove the logic board you will have the entire round circuit board and the OEM wire harness plug.
4. The black ground wire changes to brown. Follow the brown wire through the contact points on the circuit board until you come to the end of 2 of the 4 wire contacts. These are your 2 ground contacts. The other 2 are your positive contacts. One of the positive contacts runs thru a ceramic capacitor. This is your low speed fan logic. The capacitor is ceramic because it gets very hot. You can carefully remove the square spring loaded contacts keeping only the gold wires to use as wire leads.
5. Jumper the 2 ground leads together. Then jumper the 2 positive contacts together. Connect the ground to the ground line of the new Zirgo fan motor and connect the positive to the positive of the fan motor.
6. Now you have your new Zirgo fan hooked-up to the OEM 2 speed logic. Put electrical tape on your contacts, but do not put tape on the ceramic capacitor - as it will melt the tape and may cause the capacitor to overheat. Zip tie the logic to the shroud.
7. Reinstall your fan and plug the OEM harness back together.
Done.
Mine has worked great all weekend. I let it idle for an hour in the 90 degree Florida sun. The low speed fan was keeping it so cool that I couldn't get the high speed fan to come on. So I took her out and really drove hard. I finally got the high speed to kick in but it only ran for about 30 seconds before it was cool enough to go back to low speed.
It took some time to really customize it. But it's working great now.
This took me awhile to figure out. The 3 wires actually go to 2 grounds and 2 positives on the 2 speed "logic" board. The fan itself is whisper quiet. But if you put your ear to the grill you can actually hear it sucking air thru the radiator. When I let it idle for only 30 minutes, it never went above 205.
But I would not recommend my "surgery" for people that are not mechanically or electrically inclined. You have to sacrifice an old OEM fan and a new aftermarket fan to do it. If you don't know what you’re doing, you may sacrifice more than that.
Matjow,
I bought my wife a 2005 SSR last fall and it overheats. I bought a secondary market replacement fan to put in the front of the radiator (as the seller said it would) but it doesn't! How can a second fan be put in front of the radiator?
Can I ask for some help on same issue? 2004 SSR. 92,000. Overheats & Speedometer does not work Accurately. Get's worse when I press any of the Buttons on Steering Wheel. Such as when oil change is done to reset %. or when I reset trip milage. I have professionaly flushed cooling system twice. New Radiator cap, Thermostat, Water Pump & all fan relays. Have installed Dexco Orange Anti freeze & a bottle of Lucas cooling temperature reducer. Does fine on open Highway at normal speeds. But when in town city of Traffic, Such as cruising Car shows. My SSR goes all the way up to 250 degrees. I have to refrain from sitting & Idling with out A/C on because fan does not come on. I have watched it. I turn on the A/C which causes fans to come on but does not cool off. I have turned on Heater Defroster that helps but not Passengers because that over heats us. I have talked to many SSR owners & Mechanics. They all say the same thing. SSR over heats. Speedometers do not work correctly. Chevrolet Dealer is only place to get repair done at $92 per hour. Please Help. Todd
Can I ask for some help on same issue? 2004 SSR. 92,000. Overheats & Speedometer does not work Accurately. Get's worse when I press any of the Buttons on Steering Wheel. Such as when oil change is done to reset %. or when I reset trip milage. I have professionaly flushed cooling system twice. New Radiator cap, Thermostat, Water Pump & all fan relays. Have installed Dexco Orange Anti freeze & a bottle of Lucas cooling temperature reducer. Does fine on open Highway at normal speeds. But when in town city of Traffic, Such as cruising Car shows. My SSR goes all the way up to 250 degrees. I have to refrain from sitting & Idling with out A/C on because fan does not come on. I have watched it. I turn on the A/C which causes fans to come on but does not cool off. I have turned on Heater Defroster that helps but not Passengers because that over heats us. I have talked to many SSR owners & Mechanics. They all say the same thing. SSR over heats. Speedometers do not work correctly. Chevrolet Dealer is only place to get repair done at $92 per hour. Please Help. Todd
he will ask to confirm that your fan doesnt come ON when you cut the AC on.
if that is the case, you would probably need to replace the radiator fan. buying the one from MIKE is an excellent replacement. there isnt too many people on this site that wouldnt agree with it. the stock fan has failed on many ssr's and mike's replacement fan is perfect.
Can I ask for some help on same issue? 2004 SSR. 92,000. Overheats & Speedometer does not work Accurately. Get's worse when I press any of the Buttons on Steering Wheel. Such as when oil change is done to reset %. or when I reset trip milage. I have professionaly flushed cooling system twice. New Radiator cap, Thermostat, Water Pump & all fan relays. Have installed Dexco Orange Anti freeze & a bottle of Lucas cooling temperature reducer. Does fine on open Highway at normal speeds. But when in town city of Traffic, Such as cruising Car shows. My SSR goes all the way up to 250 degrees. I have to refrain from sitting & Idling with out A/C on because fan does not come on. I have watched it. I turn on the A/C which causes fans to come on but does not cool off. I have turned on Heater Defroster that helps but not Passengers because that over heats us. I have talked to many SSR owners & Mechanics. They all say the same thing. SSR over heats. Speedometers do not work correctly. Chevrolet Dealer is only place to get repair done at $92 per hour. Please Help. Todd
Todd,
To be clear about the parts replaced, there is less than a 0.5% probability of the relays being root cause on SSR overheating. In 5 years, I have only heard of one relay failing. Backflushing is not a bad thing, but I have seen only one radiator plugged internally (from a bit of manufacturing FOD internal to the cooling system).
I'm puzzled about the idea that the SSR does not cool down when the fans are running......... If it were not for that, I would tell you that it appears as if you have the typical SSR cooling fan failure scenario. You can call me on my cell at 480-225-2123. I can talk you through the troubleshooting steps to help identify the issue.
Regards,
Mike
__________________ Trust and Generosity are contagious.
My SSR: 05, Silver Auto, Line-X Bed, X-Member and Plate
Quote:
Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce
I'm wondering if they used the right thermostat, that's crucial with these motors.
Good call, the thermostat may have failed to open or the temp electrical circuit could be inaccurate. ie The temp guage could be wrong or the sensor failing.
There are specs for the thermostat opening and closing specs. If you are inclined you can take it out and place it in a pot of hot water and watch it open.
Good call, the thermostat may have failed to open or the temp electrical circuit could be inaccurate. ie The temp guage could be wrong or the sensor failing.
There are specs for the thermostat opening and closing specs. If you are inclined you can take it out and place it in a pot of hot water and watch it open.
Hope this helps.
If the shop did not put in the correct t-stat, it will definitely cause problems. Current t-stat number for the SSR is 12600171 or AC Delco equivalent.
Mike
__________________ Trust and Generosity are contagious.
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