97-01 XJ Auxiliary Fan upgrade.

Hello everyone. I've noticed that my 96' cherokee doesn't have the 6 blade auxiliary fan. Instead, it has the 8-blade auxiliary fan. To the untrained eye, it looks like the newer XJ fan, but the newer versions have 10 blades and the fan itself seems to stick it out of the shroud a bit more than the 97-01 fans. Will the swap be worth it? Also, will it work with my stock wiring?

Thank you.

Mid year 96 got connector changes. I run 2 97+ 10 blades and chopped 6" from the jy donor harness and soldered it into my early 96.

Other option is to cut the plug off the 96 fan and solder/connect it to the 97+ fan.

gradon said:

Mid year 96 got connector changes. I run 2 97+ 10 blades and chopped 6" from the jy donor harness and soldered it into my early 96.

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Does running the two 97+ fans put strain on the stock alternator to the point of the alternator creating extra drag?

Thanks for your help.

The 2nd efan relay gets activated from the stock efan relay in mine. I dunno about the added drag from the alt, but I do hear the pitch of the walbro-whine lower when the fans are activated at idle.

Measuring my stock aux fan, current draw was (IIRC) 30-31A very briefly when turned on, and around 11A running. I added a relay and wiring so I could run the stock fan off a switch, and I clamped the meter around that added wiring. Very few other posts that I found where people measured the current, but those seemed like reasonable numbers in comparison.

streetxj said:

Does running the two 97+ fans put strain on the stock alternator to the point of the alternator creating extra drag?

Thanks for your help.

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The answer is yes. Running two stock fans consume a ton of power. I ran a stock aux fan plus a Ford two speed until I replaced it all with the Flex-a-lite aluminium set up which has three fans.

What I did to accommodate the two fan set up was to install a new 200 Amp Alternator. Some where in here is the part number. Hate to say search for it though... In that setup, the Ford ran on low with the ignition and shifted to high when fan was called by either the PCM or the water pump controller.

On average, the parasitic drag created by the alternator is preferable to the drag from the mechanical fan as it is less.

The stock fan has a 40A fuse as did each leg of the Ford fan. These are required to absorb the inrush current at start up. Once running, they both do draw less.

The fans I am running now are fused at 10A each. Control wise, I dumped the controller provided by Flex-a-lite and had the passenger side running full time with the ignition and the center/driver side fans operating by command of either the PCM or my electric water pump controller via simple relay logic.

Here is the logic behind running the passenger side full time. I have observed on two separate XJs the A/C compressor "short cycling" when there is not a fan running to cool the condenser coil. Mayhap this is a coincident. But, two Heeps with identical issues with the A/C both solved by running a fan makes me wonder...

^Thanks for the info. For now, I might just replace the 96' 8 blade auxiliary fan with the 97+ 10 blade fan. My fan clutch is working fine. I have an external hayden 1404 trans cooler in front of the a/c compressor. That location is where the auxiliary fan sits behind.

Just to compare. Here is the one I bought for $46.62.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350868470750



Here is the one that is currently in my 96' XJ.

streetxj said:

I have an external hayden 1404 trans cooler in front of the a/c compressor. That location is where the auxiliary fan sits behind.

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Wat?
AC Compressor is on the passenger side... aux fan is on the driver's side in front of the power steering pump.

Re: Re: 97-01 XJ Auxiliary Fan upgrade.

Talyn said:

Wat?
AC Compressor is on the passenger side... aux fan is on the driver's side in front of the power steering pump.

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Probably meant condenser?

O-Gauge Steamer said:

Here is the logic behind running the passenger side full time. I have observed on two separate XJs the A/C compressor "short cycling" when there is not a fan running to cool the condenser coil. Mayhap this is a coincident. But, two Heeps with identical issues with the A/C both solved by running a fan makes me wonder...

Click to expand...

Was this with the AC turned or not turned on? I have been running dual fans since 2004 and none of them run all the time. I do not experience the compressor short cycling.

Johnnie Walker said:

Probably meant condenser?

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whoops. Yeah, I meant the condenser. :dunce:

What difference do you notice with the later fan? Quieter I bet.

techno1154 said:

Was this with the AC turned or not turned on? I have been running dual fans since 2004 and none of them run all the time. I do not experience the compressor short cycling.

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Not to take this off topic but, obviously, the compressor can not short cycle when it is off...

It is good to know that yours works properly though. As stated, I have seen the phenomenon on both a '97 and a '98. There may, of course have been mitigating circumstances such as marginal pressure or switch condition that caused both to exhibit the same symptom.

Just goes to show you, that as soon as you think you have it figured out, it jumps up and bites...

I've drove it for the first time with the 10 blade fan and all I can say is that it's not worth it... The temps are the same. The 95-96 8 blade fan does move quite a bit of air, so maybe the 97-01 fans are good for the older XJ's with the 6 blade fans. It also seems to have and on and off vibration at warm idle when the auxiliary fan is on. My OEM one doesn't do that. But, my moms 00 XJ does that. It had always done that. Could be a 10 blade auxiliary fan thing. Might re install my stock 8 blade one.

Well the minor vibration on and off vibration seems to not be a big deal. I've noticed that my jeep has a harder time climbing to the 210 degree mark in hot/humid weather sitting in traffic. It's staying in my jeep. I'm keeping my OEM fan as a spare. Just posting this for whom ever has a 94'-96' jeep cherokee with the 8 curvy blade style auxiliary fan and is thinking about upgrading. I've read that those who have the 6 blade fan can also upgrade to the 8 blade without any wire splicing. The plugs are the same. They are only different in the 97-01 10 blade fans. I think it was worth the 46 bucks.