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Lincoln Mark VIII fan long term update, testing, replacement motor info....
I have been using a 1993 Lincoln Mark VIII fan on my 650+HP, iron head 496 with AC for about 10 years, 27k miles. It has always cooled great, been really reliable and never had an issue. I always recommend these fans to forum members/friends etc. Recently this summer, I noticed my temps slightly climbing above where they have normally ran forever at 185-188* with AC on and fan cycling on and off with the AC. Recently in our heat wave in Houston, 97-100* it had been creeping up to 200* ish, but I didn't think too much about it, until yesterday.
Yesterday I was on a 2 hr non stop city run, freeway, bumper to bumper type driving with the AC on, the car was struggling to stay under 205*….then all of the sudden the AC got warm, and the temps started climbing slowly. I pulled over, checked the fan and it was running. By the time it hit 215* I turned the AC off and headed for the freeway to cool it off, I was at 220* before I got to the freeway, when it eventually cooled down to 210* and stayed there..(which is VERY hot for my combo).
So I get home, and start troubleshooting. Measured a solid 14.0v at the fan plug, so I pulled the fan out and started testing the motor. Mine is a 2 speed motor, but I only run the high speed circuit. Both speeds worked but the high speed seemed a little weak to me, but I had no way to verify that. I called around and tried to find a replacement motor, it is offered in several brand, model/part numbers etc and different pricing. I rolled the dice on VDO PM9032 from O Reilys, it was $91 with tax and I had it in two hours. I tested it before install and it definitely sounded different then the ford motor but I couldn't verify it was any faster. I went ahead and installed it, fired it up and I could instantly hear the difference with the fan blade on it.
Out on the street, it was back to its old self. I ran it about 40 mins in street light traffic and mixed speeds, with AC on, and the temps stayed in the 178-182* range the entire drive, with the fan cycling on and off. Once I manually ran the fan to keep it running and the temps got down to 172*. Granted it was only about 90* outside at this point but....clearly, I had about a 40* temp drop with the new fan motor. This goes to show you that even though your fan is working, it may not be doing all it can do if your motor is old. My fan motor was 27 years old and had no telling how many hundreds of thousands of miles on it, a testament to their reliability.
Original 1993 Ford/Siemans fan motor High speed on the + (left), Low speed (center), Ground - (Right) New VDO motor, looks just a LITTLE different. All back together and ready to test. This was 40 mins into a city drive of stop lights and mixed speeds up to 50 mph...AC on, 90* outside and humid. Fan cycling on and off with the AC compressor.
SO if you are running a Lincoln MKVIII fan, or you buy a used one and question how well it runs, the VDO PM9032 seems to be a suitable replacement motor to keep things cool and happy. Now I can go back to no longer worrying about temps or even looking at the temp gauge. LOL One note though, the VDO PM9032 is only a single speed motor, so if you are trying to vary the speeds, you'll need a PWM controller to run it at different speeds, versus using a dual relay/dual temp switch setup for the older 2 spd models...
Thanks. Mine acted the same. I cleaned the connections and put it back together and then several months later it did the same thing again. I have cleaned the connections again, but I'm thinking it's toast and I don't want to overheat again. I've had a good 12 years. I was pondering getting this motor (mine is already a 98 single speed with a Lincoln part number)--- I'm considering going to the ~2000 Camaro/Corvette dual fan assembly just for redundancy, but it's good to know this motor is available.
Originally Posted by ajrothm
I have been using a 1993 Lincoln Mark VIII fan on my 650+HP, iron head 496 with AC for about 10 years, 27k miles. It has always cooled great, been really reliable and never had an issue. I always recommend these fans to forum members/friends etc. Recently this summer, I noticed my temps slightly climbing above where they have normally ran forever at 185-188* with AC on and fan cycling on and off with the AC. Recently in our heat wave in Houston, 97-100* it had been creeping up to 200* ish, but I didn't think too much about it, until yesterday.
Yesterday I was on a 2 hr non stop city run, freeway, bumper to bumper type driving with the AC on, the car was struggling to stay under 205*….then all of the sudden the AC got warm, and the temps started climbing slowly. I pulled over, checked the fan and it was running. By the time it hit 215* I turned the AC off and headed for the freeway to cool it off, I was at 220* before I got to the freeway, when it eventually cooled down to 210* and stayed there..(which is VERY hot for my combo).
So I get home, and start troubleshooting. Measured a solid 14.0v at the fan plug, so I pulled the fan out and started testing the motor. Mine is a 2 speed motor, but I only run the high speed circuit. Both speeds worked but the high speed seemed a little weak to me, but I had no way to verify that. I called around and tried to find a replacement motor, it is offered in several brand, model/part numbers etc and different pricing. I rolled the dice on VDO PM9032 from O Reilys, it was $91 with tax and I had it in two hours. I tested it before install and it definitely sounded different then the ford motor but I couldn't verify it was any faster. I went ahead and installed it, fired it up and I could instantly hear the difference with the fan blade on it.
Out on the street, it was back to its old self. I ran it about 40 mins in street light traffic and mixed speeds, with AC on, and the temps stayed in the 178-182* range the entire drive, with the fan cycling on and off. Once I manually ran the fan to keep it running and the temps got down to 172*. Granted it was only about 90* outside at this point but....clearly, I had about a 40* temp drop with the new fan motor. This goes to show you that even though your fan is working, it may not be doing all it can do if your motor is old. My fan motor was 27 years old and had no telling how many hundreds of thousands of miles on it, a testament to their reliability.
Original 1993 Ford/Siemans fan motor
High speed on the + (left), Low speed (center), Ground - (Right)
New VDO motor, looks just a LITTLE different.
All back together and ready to test.
This was 40 mins into a city drive of stop lights and mixed speeds up to 50 mph...AC on, 90* outside and humid. Fan cycling on and off with the AC compressor.
SO if you are running a Lincoln MKVIII fan, or you buy a used one and question how well it runs, the VDO PM9032 seems to be a suitable replacement motor to keep things cool and happy. Now I can go back to no longer worrying about temps or even looking at the temp gauge. LOL One note though, the VDO PM9032 is only a single speed motor, so if you are trying to vary the speeds, you'll need a PWM controller to run it at different speeds, versus using a dual relay/dual temp switch setup for the older 2 spd models...
Last edited by carriljc; 08-25-2019 at 10:59 PM.
Reason: it was 12 years ago, not 15 years ago
Thanks. Mine acted the same. I cleaned the connections and put it back together and then several months later it did the same thing again. I have cleaned the connections again, but I'm thinking it's toast and I don't want to overheat again. I've had a good 15 years. I was pondering getting this motor (mine is already a 98 single speed with a Lincoln part number)--- I'm considering going to the ~2000 Camaro/Corvette dual fan assembly just for redundancy, but it's good to know this motor is available.
One thing I noticed when I pulled it apart was the amount of black dust in the fan blade on the motor side, it was obviously brush material from inside of the motor. The motor still spun free and sounded good, but high speed was just barely faster then the slow speed by the eye so.... I figured it couldn’t hurt to change the motor regardless.....and immediate improvement....this fan will easily keep temps in the 170*s with AC on a 90*+ day if I ran it 100% all of the time. It’s PLENTY of cooling.
As for C5 fans, they will pale in comparison to a Mark VIII fan. On the C5s , first thing we did was pull the factory fans off and switch to dual 12” Spals, which are noticeably better. For a mild small block car with AC, LS1/LT1 fans will be ok, but they won’t cool like a Lincoln fan.
If I were you, I’d replace the motor on the MKVIII fan, make sure your pig tail is healthy and drive on without worry. I’d say 27 years of use is pretty reliable.
Granted the repro motors are made in China and may not last like the original motors, I’m not worried about it.
I am so paranoid about fan failure and that is why I was looking at dual fans. This thing has been wonderful but when it failed I had no backup....... My ramjet 350 runs quite cool and I have drilled 180° thermostat ... so it likes to run about 170° and runs that just fine in just about all normal temps with the Mark VIII fan. Decisions, decisions.....
Originally Posted by ajrothm
One thing I noticed when I pulled it apart was the amount of black dust in the fan blade on the motor side, it was obviously brush material from inside of the motor. The motor still spun free and sounded good, but high speed was just barely faster then the slow speed by the eye so.... I figured it couldn’t hurt to change the motor regardless.....and immediate improvement....this fan will easily keep temps in the 170*s with AC on a 90*+ day if I ran it 100% all of the time. It’s PLENTY of cooling.
As for C5 fans, they will pale in comparison to a Mark VIII fan. On the C5s , first thing we did was pull the factory fans off and switch to dual 12” Spals, which are noticeably better. For a mild small block car with AC, LS1/LT1 fans will be ok, but they won’t cool like a Lincoln fan.
If I were you, I’d replace the motor on the MKVIII fan, make sure your pig tail is healthy and drive on without worry. I’d say 27 years of use is pretty reliable.
Granted the repro motors are made in China and may not last like the original motors, I’m not worried about it.
I am so paranoid about fan failure and that is why I was looking at dual fans. This thing has been wonderful but when it failed I had no backup....... My ramjet 350 runs quite cool and I have drilled 180° thermostat ... so it likes to run about 170° and runs that just fine in just about all normal temps with the Mark VIII fan. Decisions, decisions.....
LOL! 15 years is a good run with an old used fan man.... I'd say they are very reliable, as are most OEM fans. Most of the time, people have problems with their E-fans due to wiring/relays/switch issues etc... Rarely do the motors go bad unless they are really old/lots of miles, but it is real easy to have problems with relays, fuses, temp switches etc, so always install the best stuff you can on there, including a toggle switch for emergencies...
Slap a fresh motor on it and forget about.
When I did the HR Power Tour in 17', I did worry a little about my then 24 year old fan, knowing I would be idling for hours at a time at the different stops (literally hours), so I bought a spare MKVIII fan off ebay just for the motor to carry along with me, 3500 miles later that week, my old one was still working fine...and this was in 95* heat running the AC every day, 4-5 hrs of run time per day and usually at least an hour worth of idle time trying to get in and out of the venues... Now that I have a NEW motor on the fan, I won't even carry a spare on trips anymore...Especially since every autopart store can get these motors within a couple of hours.
hmmm interesting, had mine out(same fan) running the a/c climbing a hill, temps going way up, never does this. a ride before had the alternator light come on out of the blue and it is a upgraded 130 amp alternator. great post!! I will bet that fan motor is taking a dive.
LOL! 15 years is a good run with an old used fan man.... I'd say they are very reliable, as are most OEM fans. Most of the time, people have problems with their E-fans due to wiring/relays/switch issues etc... Rarely do the motors go bad unless they are really old/lots of miles, but it is real easy to have problems with relays, fuses, temp switches etc, so always install the best stuff you can on there, including a toggle switch for emergencies...
Slap a fresh motor on it and forget about.
When I did the HR Power Tour in 17', I did worry a little about my then 24 year old fan, knowing I would be idling for hours at a time at the different stops (literally hours), so I bought a spare MKVIII fan off ebay just for the motor to carry along with me, 3500 miles later that week, my old one was still working fine...and this was in 95* heat running the AC every day, 4-5 hrs of run time per day and usually at least an hour worth of idle time trying to get in and out of the venues... Now that I have a NEW motor on the fan, I won't even carry a spare on trips anymore...Especially since every autopart store can get these motors within a couple of hours.
I used to have a 96 LSC MARK VIII. absolutely beautiful car I put 300k plus miles on it. Changed 2 radiators and some sensors but never had a problem with the fan. If I go to an electric fan it will be to a Mark VIII unit. Proof sometimes ford gets something right. Then there is my 2018 expidition with a 3.5 eco boost that now has 500 horsepower.
this rock auto Closeout is VDO PM9027 ... says it has three terminals (also as pictured) ... but also says single speed ... but says it replaces F4SH-8K621-AA
No. I tested it. It does have 3 prongs but the center prong must be a dead leg. It only ran on high speed.
I drove the car a couple more times over the weekend and the fan is noticeably louder when standing away from the car now. Certainly pulling more air. It never went over 182* all weekend with the AC on, and that’s with the fan cycling on/off. 94* all weekend. This fan is a monster.
this rock auto Closeout is VDO PM9027 ... says it has three terminals (also as pictured) ... but also says single speed ... but says it replaces F4SH-8K621-AA
It also says rotation is conter clockwise (not my typo its on their page.) and the rotation for AJs is Clockwise, make sure you get the right motor or it may make your fan useless.
It also says rotation is conter clockwise (not my typo its on their page.) and the rotation for AJs is Clockwise, make sure you get the right motor or it may make your fan useless.
Yes ... I'd seen that CW v. CCW ... was hoping someone else would notice that as well ... and could shed more light on it ... I cannot tell if RA's info is reliable.
Yes ... I'd seen that CW v. CCW ... was hoping someone else would notice that as well ... and could shed more light on it ... I cannot tell if RA's info is reliable.
How about fan ASSEMBLY for 98-2000 TOWN CAR ? VDO pn FA70162 ... brand spankin' new at Rockauto $79 ... yes new Assembly $79
FWIW I have 3 TC's a 98 and two 99 ... panther chassis RWD 4.6L V8 same as Crown Vic & Grand Marquis ... VERY Good electric fans. Never ever had overheating and I've driven in every kind of weather from South Carolina across to Northwestern tip of Washington State. The VDO site says their piece draws 32 amps! & +2200 cfm ... It has Three terminals but is Single speed. It is a puller and mounts behind rad.
I just measured fan on car ... Radiator TUBES are 27 1/2" across ... and shroud just fits in between headers.
It also says rotation is conter clockwise (not my typo its on their page.) and the rotation for AJs is Clockwise, make sure you get the right motor or it may make your fan useless.
VDO website says same thing with same spelling ... a German typo on conter
What a bummer to see now even VDO is 'Made in China"- years ago I toured the VDO gauge facility in Frankfurt- you could have eaten off the floor it was that clean....
08-17-2019, 11:51 AM
Lincoln Mark VIII fan long term update, testing, replacement motor info....
Thanks to both ajrothm & carriljc for the above
) and the rotation for AJs is Clockwise, make sure you get the right motor or it may make your fan useless.
