Electrical Can you use the 4cyl electric fan controller in a 5.0 swap?

notch.nouveau

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Apr 18, 2020
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I’m swapping a 5.0 engine from an 87 into an 89 which was originally a 2.3L. I know the 4cyl fan won’t fit, but could the electric fan controller and wiring from the 4cyl be used with an electric fan setup meant for a 5.0?

I have the SVE Electric Fan Conversion Kit, which I guess could just be wired as instructed for a 5.0. But I’m wondering if I could make use of the 4cyl’s existing fan controller and wiring to make this cleaner and better integrated with the AC and whatnot. The fan kit comes with a thermostat — could I just take the temperature control switch from the 4cyl and plug it into the thermostat housing on the 5.0? Or does the fan control system also somehow involve the 4cyl computer?

I’d appreciate any general guidance on doing the 2.3 to 5.0 swap with an electric fan. I’m new to this and new in these forums, so thanks for your patience and all the help I’ve already found in other threads!
 
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I’m just going off the Chilton diagrams, but I can post a pic of the controller from my car as soon as I get to it. I don’t know if it’s worth getting into the specific details or if there’s a general solution, but the 1987 donor car does not have A/C and the 1989 LX does have A/C, which I’m hoping to maintain if possible. I don’t know if this is possible because, as I understand it, the A/C is controlled by the EEC. I mention this here as part of the fan issue because they seem to be tied together. Anyway, this just shows the extent of my confusion.

Here is the 1987 diagram, with the 5.0 components highlighted on the right and the 4-cylinder components to the left (the 1989 4-cylinder looks to be the same). I guess my goal is to splice these together... would the 5.0 EEC accept those wires from the 4-cylinder’s fan controller and A/C?
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And here are the EEC diagrams for each
IMG_0433.jpeg

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You'll find all the wiring diagrams here. '87 & '88 are the same.

Wow, this is a great resource... not sure how I haven’t come across this before. Thank you!

I made sure to get donor and swap cars with compatible harnesses (I heard 87 and 89 were compatible). But I guess the questions remains if the 5.0’s computer can be spliced to the fan controller and A/C from a 4-cylinder?