C5 Tech Corvette Tech/Performance: LS1 Corvette Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine, Tech Topics, Basic Tech, Maintenance, How to Remove & Replace
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:

Adjustable fan controller switch - how does this work?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Aug 7, 2021 | 09:45 AM
  #1  
herwawan's Avatar
herwawan
Thread Starter
Pro
Photogenic
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 576
Likes: 173
From: In transit
Default Adjustable fan controller switch - how does this work?

I purchased this kit from ZIP: https://www.zip-corvette.com/97-04-adjustable-fan-controller-switch.html

The goal is to optimize my cooling along with a new 160-degree thermostat. Now that I’ve received the kit, I simply don’t understand how that works. I’ve never used one of these before but as much as I understand how to install it (see the only document provided along with it, which doesn’t mention the probe but that I assume goes to the radiator) I don’t get how I’m supposed to dial-in my own on/off points.

Any pointers would be appreciated! 🤘




Last edited by herwawan; Aug 7, 2021 at 09:47 AM.
Reply
Old Aug 9, 2021 | 12:59 AM
  #2  
herwawan's Avatar
herwawan
Thread Starter
Pro
Photogenic
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 576
Likes: 173
From: In transit
Default

Up! I hope someone can provide some experience :3
Reply
Old Aug 9, 2021 | 07:48 AM
  #3  
feeder82's Avatar
feeder82
Safety Car
20 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Top Answer: 1
 
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,759
Likes: 1,217
From: Wisconsin
Default

There are a bunch of YouTube videos on C5 Corvette cooling fans. Look thru them one should help
Reply
Old Aug 9, 2021 | 10:00 AM
  #4  
herwawan's Avatar
herwawan
Thread Starter
Pro
Photogenic
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 576
Likes: 173
From: In transit
Default

Originally Posted by feeder82
There are a bunch of YouTube videos on C5 Corvette cooling fans. Look thru them one should help
I did start there yes, but most videos are about systems with remote controllers (saccity’s) or tuning the ECM directly which is different than that I have here.

The system I purchased is supposed to be adjustable but I hardly see how haha
Reply
Old Aug 9, 2021 | 10:43 AM
  #5  
oharal's Avatar
oharal
Drifting
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
Top Answer: 1
 
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 1,421
Likes: 302
From: CSRA, SC
Default

170 bucks for a mystery box with one photo of a pile of spaghetti, no documentation other than an MS Paint block diagram....just send it back and clean all the road junk out of your radiator. There is no need for all this add on jibberjabber.
Reply
Old Aug 9, 2021 | 10:45 AM
  #6  
herwawan's Avatar
herwawan
Thread Starter
Pro
Photogenic
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 576
Likes: 173
From: In transit
Default

Originally Posted by oharal
170 bucks for a mystery box with one photo of a pile of spaghetti, no documentation other than an MS Paint block diagram....just send it back and clean all the road junk out of your radiator. There is no need for all this add on jibberjabber.
Haha that is EXACTLY how I felt when I received it. The thing is, I also got a 160-degree thermostat so without modifying the fan curve, it won't do much. It's hot here in Southern California, the car could definitely benefit from it regardless of the freshness of the cooling system.
Reply
Old Aug 9, 2021 | 01:28 PM
  #7  
oharal's Avatar
oharal
Drifting
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
Top Answer: 1
 
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 1,421
Likes: 302
From: CSRA, SC
Default

When the car is working as designed it should have no issue at all keeping cool on the hottest days anywhere in the USA so if your car is not managing heat well then something is wrong.* A couple years ago suddenly my car was running 15deg hotter on the highway reaching temps it would only usually hit on the hottest SC days in stop/go traffic. I cleaned so much crap out of my radiator (and left a whole lot more I just couldn't get out) and my temps dropped 20 degrees across the board. These cars literally EAT road crap and pack the rad full of it all.




*As long as you don't have some wildly modified car on factory cooling system, in which case, I guess that would also be "something wrong"
Reply
Old Aug 9, 2021 | 02:18 PM
  #8  
herwawan's Avatar
herwawan
Thread Starter
Pro
Photogenic
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 576
Likes: 173
From: In transit
Default

Originally Posted by oharal
When the car is working as designed it should have no issue at all keeping cool on the hottest days anywhere in the USA so if your car is not managing heat well then something is wrong.* A couple years ago suddenly my car was running 15deg hotter on the highway reaching temps it would only usually hit on the hottest SC days in stop/go traffic. I cleaned so much crap out of my radiator (and left a whole lot more I just couldn't get out) and my temps dropped 20 degrees across the board. These cars literally EAT road crap and pack the rad full of it all.




*As long as you don't have some wildly modified car on factory cooling system, in which case, I guess that would also be "something wrong"
It is all true indeed! I don't really want to dive into the debates on how a cooling system should be working, I'm just trying to make sense of this part.

I know it was more widely used as a Da Vinci product, Evil Twin refers to it quite often on the forum.
Reply
Corvette Stories

The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts

story-0

5 Best & 5 Most Overrated Corvette Track Packages of All Time!

 Joe Kucinski
story-1

Every 2027 Corvette Engine Explained

 Joe Kucinski
story-2

Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette

 Verdad Gallardo
story-3

10 Ugly Corvettes That We Still Kinda Love

 Joe Kucinski
story-4

Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer

 Brett Foote
story-5

10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)

 Michael S. Palmer
story-6

8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems

 Pouria Savadkouei
story-7

10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years

 Joe Kucinski
story-8

How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972

 Joe Kucinski
story-9

Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!

 Michael S. Palmer
Old Aug 9, 2021 | 03:23 PM
  #9  
Jenyk's Avatar
Jenyk
Intermediate
 
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 27
Likes: 2
From: Prague, Czechia, Europe
Default

Originally Posted by herwawan
It's hot here in Southern California, the car could definitely benefit from it regardless of the freshness of the cooling system.
Did you consider hood vents? It seems to be a better solution for your problem.
Reply
Old Aug 9, 2021 | 03:39 PM
  #10  
Smoken1's Avatar
Smoken1
.
Supporting Lifetime Gold
10 Year Member
St. Jude 10 Year Donor
Liked
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 5,044
Likes: 1,158
From: Oregon
St. Jude Donor '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23
Default

Originally Posted by herwawan
Haha that is EXACTLY how I felt when I received it. The thing is, I also got a 160-degree thermostat so without modifying the fan curve, it won't do much. It's hot here in Southern California, the car could definitely benefit from it regardless of the freshness of the cooling system.
Lived in Las Vegas and didn't need any of that
Reply
Old Aug 9, 2021 | 07:11 PM
  #11  
herwawan's Avatar
herwawan
Thread Starter
Pro
Photogenic
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 576
Likes: 173
From: In transit
Default

I guess the question won’t be answered. I’m not trying to debate whether I need it or not, but I get the point.
Reply
Old Aug 9, 2021 | 11:01 PM
  #12  
C5MSG2004Vert's Avatar
C5MSG2004Vert
Drifting
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
Top Answer: 1
 
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 1,365
Likes: 414
From: New Jersey
Default

Originally Posted by herwawan
I guess the question won’t be answered. I’m not trying to debate whether I need it or not, but I get the point.
The fan control is pretty complicated. There are three relay's used to control the two fans. The diagram is only for one fan. It does not look like it could even work unless you completely rewire both fans. If you just need to control the fan turn on and off temperature's get a cheap used hand held tuner and you can program it yourself.
Reply
Old Aug 10, 2021 | 03:17 PM
  #13  
herwawan's Avatar
herwawan
Thread Starter
Pro
Photogenic
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 576
Likes: 173
From: In transit
Default

Originally Posted by C5MSG2004Vert
The fan control is pretty complicated. There are three relay's used to control the two fans. The diagram is only for one fan. It does not look like it could even work unless you completely rewire both fans. If you just need to control the fan turn on and off temperature's get a cheap used hand held tuner and you can program it yourself.
Understood, thanks. I'll just send it back then.
Reply
Old Aug 10, 2021 | 09:45 PM
  #14  
vette4fl's Avatar
vette4fl
Le Mans Master
Community Influencer
Photoriffic
Shutterbug
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Feb 2021
Posts: 6,524
Likes: 4,369
From: Florida
2025 Corvette of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2024 C5 of the Year Winner- Unmodified
2022 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Default

Not trying to pile on, see info below...

I run stock stat/fans etc and I am in Florida. No problems over heating, as others have noted, so there is something to sort out. I would start with a radiator rinse (cheapest option). Even on my low mile car I rinsed out a noticeable amount of dirt from my radiator, and have seen pics of some other cars that were full of trash. Attached is a pic of the model I bought off Amazon. You're going to need one anyway even if the problem turns out to be something else. Below that, I have attached a pic of the remote controller from SacCity Corvette; this one is a hell of a lot simpler to install and use (about $120).




Bought this on Amazon - uses water or compressed air



Last edited by vette4fl; Aug 10, 2021 at 10:09 PM.
Reply
Old Aug 11, 2021 | 03:31 PM
  #15  
monarch's Avatar
monarch
Advanced
 
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 70
Likes: 26
Default

Or for four bucks just make your own:

Piece of 1/4" copper tubing from home Depot electrical taped to air gun tip. Couple tiny holes drilled in the end. Cap with a random screw and some Teflon tape. The copper tubing is soft enough that you can just screw the screw right into the end.


Way longer than the Amazon attachment and nicely flexible enough to reach every book and cranny.





Reply

Get notified of new replies

To Adjustable fan controller switch - how does this work?





All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:05 AM.

story-0
5 Best & 5 Most Overrated Corvette Track Packages of All Time!

Slideshow: The 5 best and 5 most overrated Corvette track packages ever.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-06-09 12:46:45


VIEW MORE
story-1
Every 2027 Corvette Engine Explained

Slideshow: Every 2027 Corvette engine explained

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-06-09 12:16:31


VIEW MORE
story-2
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette

Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-06-08 19:53:43


VIEW MORE
story-3
10 Ugly Corvettes That We Still Kinda Love

Slideshow: 10 ugly Corvettes that we still kinda love.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-06-03 10:34:17


VIEW MORE
story-4
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer

A lot of money has changed hands at the online auction house over the years.

By Brett Foote | 2026-06-03 10:21:50


VIEW MORE
story-5
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)

Slideshow: 10 great gifts Corvette enthusiasts actually want for Father's Day!

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-06-03 15:43:40


VIEW MORE
story-6
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems

Slideshow: These are the quirks, annoyances, and oddly lovable problems that every Corvette owner eventually learns to live with.

By Pouria Savadkouei | 2026-05-28 09:31:39


VIEW MORE
story-7
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years

Slideshow: 10 reasons why the C6 Z06 is still a performance benchmark after 20 years.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-27 17:20:09


VIEW MORE
story-8
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972

Slideshow: How much horsepower every Corvette engine lost in 1972.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-27 16:54:53


VIEW MORE
story-9
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!

Slideshow: How to Protect A Convertible Top: 10 DOs & DON'Ts

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-03 00:00:00


VIEW MORE