Need some advice, hopefully will hear from the good idea fairies here.
I have items in the car that can be controlled in various ways via switches, the holley efi or thermistors. I'd like to hear what other people might have done.
Thermistors
These are elements that are self regulated at a pre-set temperature. For example the thermistor setup for the trans cooler would be a static 165*F. Once the temperature is reached the circuit that is open would close and allow the flow of angry pixies into the fan and she'll whirl till the temperature condition is not met. Rinse and repeat.
Pros: easy management, less wiring (ground and positive to relay and that's it), relay is still required but I'm using MSD 4-1 relays.
Cons: thermistor is a mechanical device, prone to wear and tear and breaking, if it goes at the track the racing day is over.
Manual Switches
Painless makes some great switches, low budget Jegs and Summit are also snazzy pieces as well. These would still be hooked up to a MSD relay and would be ground activated. Once I learned what ground switching is, I think it's the bee's knees! I expect my ground buss bar to have a lot of hookups...
Pros: easy management as well, one wire on a switch to the relay. The Jegs and Summit pieces are inexpensive. Allows full control of item no matter the condition.
Cons: The Painless switch is expensive, they also want you to buy into their harness and if you don't you void warranty immediately. The Jegs and Summit pieces although inexpensive may be Chinesium, also since it's ground switch you won't get the fancy leds potentially lighting up.
Holley EFI
Coolant temp sensor, trans temp sensor (has to be wired in in any case), oil temp sensor would all be monitorable in the software. This allows you to create output triggers to the relays which means you can do something as cool as.
If "above" 600 rpm AND trans temp > 175 kick the fans on.
There is nothing special about the above, no secret sauce, this is Holley I/O 101. While not cranking and temp sensor is above 175, turn the fans on.
Pros: Electronic "thermistor" per say. Also wouldn't jar the electrical system as the RPM gate would stop the fans turning on if the car was already hot while cranking. Easily configurable. Unlimited options and logic gates from Holley. Can do ground switching from the Holley so no 12v+ needed.
Cons: No manual control, if the EFI goes down, the whole car goes down, sensors be damned.
Any thoughts/comments are appreciated. I know this is really race specific but I know
@Marc W might have some feedback.
