FMIC, Relocated Condensor, Dual 16" fans
02-15-2013, 06:16 PM
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FMIC, Relocated Condensor, Dual 16" fans I got a lot of ideas from this forum so I figured I'd post some pictures of my setup for others to get some ideas.
Blower Intake- 9" S&B filter, ATI truck hat, 2" barb hose adapter McMaster for bypass tube, EGR hose barb. The bypass tube is silicone, but a radiator hose would work better since the silicone is pretty ridged and any expansion/contraction/vibration difference between the ATI bypass valve and intake hat will stress the hat connection. I've got solid motor mounts so not much is shifting compared to soft mounts. In the pictures the gray material on the hat is 2-part industrial epoxy for the bypass adapter (yeah it got away from when applying but it works)
IC Pipes- 3" CX racing kit. The blue silicone is not at joints, I slid it over locations that could vibrate against the frame, cruise control etc in order to dampen. The IC pipe is in three sections:
1. Blower to passenger side IC
2. Driver side IC to 60deg silicone ,next to ABS
3. 60deg silicone to MAF
Bumper - I didn't want to delete the bumper entirely, so I made a replacement out of 1.5" square steel. I used only 4 of the 6 bumper bolt locations. The bumper itself is beefier than OEM, but with only 2/3 the bolt shear strength. Stronger than nothing.
FMIC- 4" CX racing IC hung in front of bumper with vibration isolators/dampeners top and bottom. Fully tucked inside bumper cover. Its further forward and higher than most of the others I've seen on here. I applied some foam to the top IC corners as the bumper skin rests about 1/16" away.
HVAC- Hung a new condensor (~60% area of OEM) behind bumper. There is a 2” gap between the IC and Condensor. I cut the connections off the old OEM condensor and welded to -6 and -8 aluminum tubes. I had a left over 9” SPAL fan from old setup so I hung it off the bumper behind the condensor. The fan is wired to a relay triggered by the AC compressor signal. I wish SPAL made a 9” fan gasket to seal against the condensor. Also, an 11” fan (or two) would be better than 9”, but I ran out money and the AC is low on my list.
Engine Cooling- Howe (Lou Gigliotti) radiator with oil cooler. This is a drop in fit for hoses and mounts, but with a thicker core. I got this years ago and I don’t know if LGMS still sells this, but it is a wonderful unit. Modified the ATI radiator support to tilt the radiator forward ~1" and clearance front fan. Two SPAL 16" fans (one push one pull) with gaskets mounted direct to radiator core. The fans are offset from one another and overlap the center. The fans are connected to the OEM relays for low/hi parallel/series operation. The thermostat is a 180deg, so I programmed the fans to start at 195deg. I bypassed the throttle body.
Manifold Vacuum- Spliced in a Tee to the brake booster line and ran it to a block. The block is tucked/tie wrapped next to the ABS unit and connects to the ATI red valve, vac/boost gauge, and a Hobbs switch for 2nd in tank fuel pump.
PCV- Filter where the OEM PCV valve would be. LS6 valley port runs to a catch can mounted and readily accessible behind the condensor. Two check valves on the catch can vent to either the intake manifold (vacuum) port behind throttle body or the ATI truck hat (boost). The intake manifold pulls 7psi at idle so I know its venting OK. However, I’m a little concerned that the check valve may not be opening under boost (cracks at 3psi). I figure the truck hat is less than atmospheric, so if the valley ever reaches 3psi it will crack the check valve. I just don’t know the vacuum in the hat.
Horns/cruise control- Bent the horn mounting frame and swiveled the horns to make room for pipe. Drilled a drain hole in one that points above horizontal. Mounted CC direct to rail.
Washer Reservoir- The OEM unit interfered with condensor by 1/8” and there would be no space for a fan. If I redid the bumper I could make it fit. But this time I swapped in a smaller reservoir. Upside is it will allow better airflow.
Trouble shooting:
I was testing out the cooling fan circuit with HPTuners and could only get the driver side fan to run on high. After way too much trouble shooting, I found the Fan Low trigger wire (green pin42 on bluePCM) between the computer and relay was cut. The wire runs through the harness clipped to the upper radiator support. The driver side clip is too small for the harness OD and had cut through the convoluted split tube, the fan signal wire, and chaffed several other wires. Didn’t notice this before because I was running the single fan ATI kit.
Prior setup would never read accurate manifold pressure. Two reasons, the gauge was reading off the Tee fitting for the HVAC reservoir (next to the VCM) downstream of the check valve and the tub to reservoir connection was leaking.
Next up is a blower rebuild with higher flow impeller, injectors, new cam and updated tune.
Blower Intake- 9" S&B filter, ATI truck hat, 2" barb hose adapter McMaster for bypass tube, EGR hose barb. The bypass tube is silicone, but a radiator hose would work better since the silicone is pretty ridged and any expansion/contraction/vibration difference between the ATI bypass valve and intake hat will stress the hat connection. I've got solid motor mounts so not much is shifting compared to soft mounts. In the pictures the gray material on the hat is 2-part industrial epoxy for the bypass adapter (yeah it got away from when applying but it works)
IC Pipes- 3" CX racing kit. The blue silicone is not at joints, I slid it over locations that could vibrate against the frame, cruise control etc in order to dampen. The IC pipe is in three sections:
1. Blower to passenger side IC
2. Driver side IC to 60deg silicone ,next to ABS
3. 60deg silicone to MAF
Bumper - I didn't want to delete the bumper entirely, so I made a replacement out of 1.5" square steel. I used only 4 of the 6 bumper bolt locations. The bumper itself is beefier than OEM, but with only 2/3 the bolt shear strength. Stronger than nothing.
FMIC- 4" CX racing IC hung in front of bumper with vibration isolators/dampeners top and bottom. Fully tucked inside bumper cover. Its further forward and higher than most of the others I've seen on here. I applied some foam to the top IC corners as the bumper skin rests about 1/16" away.
HVAC- Hung a new condensor (~60% area of OEM) behind bumper. There is a 2” gap between the IC and Condensor. I cut the connections off the old OEM condensor and welded to -6 and -8 aluminum tubes. I had a left over 9” SPAL fan from old setup so I hung it off the bumper behind the condensor. The fan is wired to a relay triggered by the AC compressor signal. I wish SPAL made a 9” fan gasket to seal against the condensor. Also, an 11” fan (or two) would be better than 9”, but I ran out money and the AC is low on my list.
Engine Cooling- Howe (Lou Gigliotti) radiator with oil cooler. This is a drop in fit for hoses and mounts, but with a thicker core. I got this years ago and I don’t know if LGMS still sells this, but it is a wonderful unit. Modified the ATI radiator support to tilt the radiator forward ~1" and clearance front fan. Two SPAL 16" fans (one push one pull) with gaskets mounted direct to radiator core. The fans are offset from one another and overlap the center. The fans are connected to the OEM relays for low/hi parallel/series operation. The thermostat is a 180deg, so I programmed the fans to start at 195deg. I bypassed the throttle body.
Manifold Vacuum- Spliced in a Tee to the brake booster line and ran it to a block. The block is tucked/tie wrapped next to the ABS unit and connects to the ATI red valve, vac/boost gauge, and a Hobbs switch for 2nd in tank fuel pump.
PCV- Filter where the OEM PCV valve would be. LS6 valley port runs to a catch can mounted and readily accessible behind the condensor. Two check valves on the catch can vent to either the intake manifold (vacuum) port behind throttle body or the ATI truck hat (boost). The intake manifold pulls 7psi at idle so I know its venting OK. However, I’m a little concerned that the check valve may not be opening under boost (cracks at 3psi). I figure the truck hat is less than atmospheric, so if the valley ever reaches 3psi it will crack the check valve. I just don’t know the vacuum in the hat.
Horns/cruise control- Bent the horn mounting frame and swiveled the horns to make room for pipe. Drilled a drain hole in one that points above horizontal. Mounted CC direct to rail.
Washer Reservoir- The OEM unit interfered with condensor by 1/8” and there would be no space for a fan. If I redid the bumper I could make it fit. But this time I swapped in a smaller reservoir. Upside is it will allow better airflow.
Trouble shooting:
I was testing out the cooling fan circuit with HPTuners and could only get the driver side fan to run on high. After way too much trouble shooting, I found the Fan Low trigger wire (green pin42 on bluePCM) between the computer and relay was cut. The wire runs through the harness clipped to the upper radiator support. The driver side clip is too small for the harness OD and had cut through the convoluted split tube, the fan signal wire, and chaffed several other wires. Didn’t notice this before because I was running the single fan ATI kit.
Prior setup would never read accurate manifold pressure. Two reasons, the gauge was reading off the Tee fitting for the HVAC reservoir (next to the VCM) downstream of the check valve and the tub to reservoir connection was leaking.
Next up is a blower rebuild with higher flow impeller, injectors, new cam and updated tune.
02-16-2013, 01:58 AM
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The SPAL fans are two wire. I don't like the blade type connectors that SPAL uses so I converted to weatherproof and wired same as OEM fans. PCM triggers FAN relay 1 at low fan temp and they run in series, thereby sharing current and running about 1/2 speed. PCM triggers relays 2&3 at high fan temp and they run in parallel, both full max current straight to ground and full speed rpm. I used 16" SPAL Mounting Gasket 30130074 to seal against the radiator.
In other words, the SPAL fans are wired just like the OEM fans.
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02-18-2013, 11:43 PM
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I'm charging it later this week, so I'll let you know later. I was going to ditch the AC altogether, but then I figured even if this condensor is undersized for hot days under full load, its still better than nothing if it works on the milder days. Dual fans 10-11" would go a long way on the condensor, but all I had was one 9".
03-08-2013, 04:11 PM
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In for an update on the AC situation. I have a 12x20 mounted directly in front of my relocated radiator. I haven't charged it yet and after seeing this post I'm thinking I may move it to the same location that you did.
03-11-2013, 04:20 PM
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Dried and charged the AC system. Works fine so far but it hasn't seen ambient temperatures above 75 deg yet. The test will be 100 deg days sitting in traffic, but that not for few more months. I'll update as soon as the system is pushed.
06-25-2014, 01:19 AM
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Needed an update regarding temp on hot days in stop and go traffic.
My block mounted temperature gauge peaked at 228F in stop and go traffic on a 95degree day with the AC on max. Over 50 mph and the temp would stay between 190-210F.
AC blows ICE cold.
Oversized battery helps with amperage draw of AC blower, Condensor fan, dual radiator fans and two subwoofers. I have yet to load the alternator with the above plus headlights.
I've got an aftermarket 170amp alternator from my suburban that will go in next time I pull the blower off.
My block mounted temperature gauge peaked at 228F in stop and go traffic on a 95degree day with the AC on max. Over 50 mph and the temp would stay between 190-210F.
AC blows ICE cold.
Oversized battery helps with amperage draw of AC blower, Condensor fan, dual radiator fans and two subwoofers. I have yet to load the alternator with the above plus headlights.
I've got an aftermarket 170amp alternator from my suburban that will go in next time I pull the blower off.
