 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > Replace Engine Cooling Fan with Electric |
 
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| spudfan Member Since: 10 Sep 2007 Location: Co Donegal Posts: 4676  
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I find that compared to my tdi, the Puma warms up pretty quickly. Personally I would leave well enough alone. Heaven knows how many fault codes you would get if you interferred with the system. It is hard to change one thing and not effect something else in the setup. 1982 88" 2.25 diesel
1992 110 200tdi csw -Zikali 2008 110 2.4 tdci csw-Zulu 2011 110 2.4 tdci csw-Masai |
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15th May 2011 10:09pm |
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| BigMike Member Since: 13 Jul 2010 Location: Lancashire Posts: 2253 
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I wouldnt do that. Under load and high ambient temps they can melt and cause fires they are ok for the UK but as spud says, there would be dtcs up the ying yang if you tried this.
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15th May 2011 10:11pm |
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| Alive Tuning Member Since: 01 Mar 2010 Location: Louth Posts: 610
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Leave the viscous fan on!
Don't believe everything you read about electric fans. It's just another one of those placebo products that promises to save you X% fuel, but in reality, does at best, very little. If they were that good, the manufacturer would fit them, and I'll bet there isn't much difference in price between the two types either! 
Regarding engine warm up times, It does not matter what kind of fan you fit anyway, as the thermostat stays shut until normal operating temp is reached, so no coolant flows through the radiator at this time anyway. You'll get a cooling effect with your heater fan on, as it'll draw air through the heater matrix, hence slow the engine warming process. 
Regards, Gary. |
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15th May 2011 10:20pm |
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| Tjhappel Member Since: 08 Aug 2012 Location: Southern California Posts: 32  
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I have removed my viscous fan and replaced with a high output electric fan. The main reason I went down this route was to keep the engine warmer in really cold winter temps. I was having a huge problem driving in anything under 0 as when I stopped at a light or parked for a second you could literally watch the temp gauge drop and cold air started blowing into the cabin. It doesn't sound that terrible but when your driving in consistently -10 to -30 range it's really nice to have a heater! I tried replacing my thermostat several times but to no avail, the dealer basically said "well this engine is really efficient and the viscous fan is constintly pushing cold air past it while parked and it's not producing heat fast enough". I bought an engine cover and it helped with warm up but not while idling.
I live in So. California so I have to deal with extreme high temps as well, I typically tow a trailer that weighs about 2.5 tons.. this whole week has been at or above 35c. so power loss due to too small of intercooler was an issue for me also. I figured that installing an electric fan would kill two birds with one stone. I first bought a fan that put out 2100cfm's thinking this would be plenty. I kept the thermostat set for the same temp and installed an override button in my cab so if I was towing or just driving/idling in extreme hot temps I could just turn it on and leave it on. Strangely enough it keeps my Ac blowing much cooler when the fan is on when it's really hot out. I'm thinking because its pushing more air past the Ac Condensor? I installed it around January so I did get to go up skiing and in fact it did solve my cold temp issues and whenever the fan kicked on I didn't experience any loss of power. However..... Come summer time the first time I hooked up my trailer and went up a steep grade the car went into limp mode for ~5 seconds then normal power restored. After tons of testing etc. I realized I HAD to either switch back or find a much higher cfm electric fan. I was lucky to find an new electric fan from the older model lincoln mark 8. The cowling for the car fit perfectly (with minor adjustments) and is much more efficient at getting air across, my new fan is rated at 5100 cfm which is an amazing upgrade from the old. I've had it installed for about a month now and have been rigoursly testing in high temps while towing and so far I can't get it to duplicate the limp mode problem. I have since added a chip upgrade along with a larger intercooler and all of this has really been beneficial to my driving experience in all conditions. I don't know that I'd recommend going to all the lengths that I did to install an electric fan but if your having the same issues that I did I would definitely give it a shot. I'll report back if there's any issues but honestly I've driven it super hard towing 2.5 tons in 35c weather continuously and it's been perfect. I hope it actually increases engine life with less pulling on the motor. Hope this helps.... |
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8th Aug 2012 12:57am |
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