80 series electric fan

hi guys, i have been pondering this for a while, when the viscus fan engages i feel that the engine has to work harder to keep same speed, would it be practical or even possible to remove it and replace with electric fans? and what would you recommend if its been done before. thanks


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I recall Jon Wildsmith doing this on his off-road truck a long time back. Went back to viscous soon afterwards as it did not effectively cool for him.

Recently done this, still testing but looking very good thus far, keep in mind the temps I expect to see here in Spain, check out my sig (about page 10?) for my long running thread on 'MUD'.

regards

Dave

I tried it on an auto gearbox 80 with big tyres and lots of extra weight and as Adrian said I went back to the OEM fan. I concluded the auto box cooling dumps a lot of heat into the radiator and needs a more constant cooling effect than an electric fan provides. On a manual gearbox 80 it might have worked ok.

Good point Jon, mine is manual and is not loaded up at the moment. I do have an auto radiator though, to be used for warming the camping shower water, hopefully ;>)

regards

Dave

The factory fan moves a lot of air, and its tough to find an electric fan with similar output. Even if you can find one that is man enough for the job, it still gets its power from the engine, just via the alternator, so nothing much is saved.

mmm ok point taken thanks for the advice!


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I am in the middle of running experiments at the moment, I am unsure of the outcome but would add a couple of points. The standard fan does the job easily but there is a continuous parasitic drag, this disappears once the fan switches off, your driving environment dictate oe you fan wilbe istale....................IGIVE UP why s thi weired typing appening on this site only???????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/my-lc-80-thread.365673/page-11

regards

Dave

Could the fan be re-geared to lessen the load on the engine ? I'm thinking large pulley turning a small pully at the fan ?

Gearing the fan down may lessen the load on the engine but it would be moving less air so will be less efficient when you need it most. With a correctly functioning viscous fan the parasitic drag is negligible IMO. After all, it's stuck on the front of a big torquey diesel engine, not some buzzy little 1000cc commuter power plant.

I agree the parasitic drag is very small indeed but it is there nonetheless. I think if you plan to use an electric fan as I have then there should be more reasons to make it worthwhile, also you need to look at your driving environment. Something I am personly anticipating is better AC cooling at idle. 80's designated for hotter climates had an additional electric fan as the mechanical did not move enough air at idle. My 80 AC has always been pretty good, I would like to think it will be even better when connected.


I have typed this up in Wordpad and hope it comes out alright, the standard editor just will not work correctly on the site, despite many years in IT I have yet to find out why, if anyone sees anythig looking ....well.....weird let me know.


regards


Dave

Ah yes, the AC. I'm in no doubt that the OE fan has no problem cooling the engine but I agree fitting a fan to improve air con cooling at idle may well be worth while. Diesel engines produce very little heat at idle unlike petrol engines so the VC in the fan will be 'unlocked' and the fan will just be coasting when in town traffic, even in hot weather. This is when the AC will suffer just when you need it most! If you load the engine for a time to get the temp up, for instance, towing on the motorway or uphill then stop, leaving the engine idling you can hear the fan roar as it's shifting more air due to the VC being locked until the engine cools. So in town traffic, an additional electric fan should be of benefit to the AC but you would need a relatively small fan IMO to achieve this, certainly much smaller than if you were contemplating removing the OE VC fan and going for full electric cooling.

that makes sense in regards to the AC, my one suffers in town... but is ice cold on the long road....

I have gone for a trial on full electric cooling, all the info is in my sig 'link' to 'MUD'.

regards

Dave

The JDM electric fan is half the width of the rad, fits just under the horn. Comes on with the aircon apparently.

chapel gate said:

The JDM electric fan is half the width of the rad, fits just under the horn. Comes on with the aircon apparently.

Click to expand...

Spot on Mike, as soon as the trinary switch detects the climb in Freon pressure, I will be using this switch to control heat soak......hopefully.

regards

Dave

I would like to fit one. But looks like it wouldnt work with the rad blind fitted...

Looks like i cant have the cold weather pack and the hot weather pack fitted at the same time.

Hey Dave sorry for the ignorance is the heat soak from the AC or the engine?

chapel gate said:

I would like to fit one. But looks like it wouldnt work with the rad blind fitted...

Looks like i cant have the cold weather pack and the hot weather pack fitted at the same time.

Click to expand...

The rad blind should roll up out of the way right?

regards

Dave

iceman said:

Hey Dave sorry for the ignorance is the heat soak from the AC or the engine?

Click to expand...

From the engine but, it seems the AC switch measures pressure in the normal way i.e. to allow the compressor to come on and off however, there is also a set of contacts to control the electric fan optional for hotter climates. I have purchased from Mr T the correct pigtails that fit the unused terminals so fingers crossed.

regards

Dave