Hey guys, Recently I've added a 16inch thermofan to my 56mm radiator. I've done many trials about this before and found that the clutch fan does work the best. However it makes alot of noise and robs the engine of power. So anyway the goods: 16inch thermofan from Supercheap (i tried a 16inch ebay job b4 and it only flowed 1/2 what this new one does) Davies craig thermoswitch sensor. No shroud. IMHO the thermofan works better when mounted right up on the radiator compared to having it on a bracket 2cm back from the radiator. The best solution would be a custom shroud to increase induction area but I haven't gotten around to that. I have set the switch to turn the fan on at around 84 and turn off about 82 degrees. I tested the fan by hooning up Mt Cootha in 2nd gear and the hottest I could get it was 96 degrees. Mind you: this is with the aircon on the whole way. Once I got to the top of the hill I let it idle and in about a minute the temps were in the 85-86 range. I've done the exact same test with the clutch fan and the max temp I got it to was 85degrees. However it really did sound like a 747 revving up the hill. However in start stop traffic, I would often get over 90degrees with the aircon on a hot day. The pros of thermofan: cools down faster when idling than clutch fan way more engine bay room very quite (even with the fan on) Cons of thermofan: another thing to go wrong which could cause overheat not as good in cooling when hooning Pros of clutch fan: works great in high rev, high load but low speed situations (hoonin up mt cootha) Cons of clutch fan: stupid noise, no engine bay room, sucks up power Anyway, I found that my new thermofan will pretty much need to stay on all the time when the aircon is in use. Without the aircon it cycles on and off every couple of mins. To help with the increased condensor heat, I thought I might just hook up the aux fan to run all the time with aircon. I've wired this up easily but I've found that it is very noisy. Although I have a TT and my aux fan has 3 wires - it only seems to run at high speed - even if I manually bridge the high or low speed relays. This is annoying as I would like the aux fan to be on slow speed with aircon but not sound louder than a clutch fan. I was thinking of replacing the aux fan with an aftermarket fan which isnt so loud and flows better. But its a bit squeezy in there and I'm not sure how big a fan I could fit in there. Anyone got any suggestions on what I might do? I've attached some pics. Let me know any comments etc or suggestions to aid with aircon cooling.
Comments My only suggestion is that you don't add a custom shroud it will reduce the natural air flow when moving. The way you have it installed is the best configuration for a thermo. It is also worth noting that the alternator will take the power from your engine to run the thermo fan. Be careful that the thermo fan is not rubbing on the radiator or it might wear a hole in it. I have use rubber from a bike tube to create a small gap and stop wear in the past.
Hang on, so this thing costs more, and does a horrible job at cooling compared to the stock one, yet you keep it just cause its quieter? Ide rather have a cold 747 than a hot, bubling, dead 300zx engine.
Thanks for the comments guys, Has anyone tried to fit a 16inch thermo to the condensor instead of the aux fan before? And Vizard: i'd hardly call 96degree max a hot bubling dead engine temp. As I said in my post, the clutch fan cools the best but is inefficient except for high rev high load low speed. Its crap on idle in traffic.
Looks exactly the same as my new set up! Although it is set up to come on earlier but I may play with this, MattB
looks the same as mine also , ive got the ASI, 56mm radiator with a 16" thermo fan from super cheap with no shroud , ive found it works great , the standard thermo only comes on when i turn the aircon on . .
Ok an update.... Just modded the stock aux fan to come on whenever the aircon is on. Found that at idle it will keep the temp at around 82 or 83. New thermo doesnt even come on till 84. Went for a hoon up Mt Cootha again - results were..... max of 88degrees with aircon! Ten degrees less than without the aux fan. I find that while driving the temps are about 82 pretty consistently. So the main thermo only comes on every now and then. Very happy with the results. The 2 fans seem to work well together. I would love to put a better aux fan in but its a bit squeezy and whacking another 16inch thermo in there might make it overcool the engine. Just found another pro for removing clutch fan: easier to hear turbos boosting
bluecube i have the same setup as you but i had trouble puting the inline sensor on the top hose , i note that you have done this in your pic , what did you use ? see in my pic below there is not much hose to cut into which is why i havnt used my silicone hose yet , ive ordered a curved inline fitting from Chads group buy and im hoping that will do it , did you use something like that ? .
Hey western z! I used this special hose adapter from davies craig It has a special piece that allows you to insert the temp probe and then tighten it to keep it watertight. I got it off ebay. Here is the link - http://cgi.ebay.com.au/DAVIES-CRAIG...oryZ6763QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I had to cut my top hose HEAPS! but don't cut it too much or it won't fit. I find it pretty difficult to remove and install the hose. But once you got it in then its ok! Here is a closer pic of my adapter: That curved one from the group buy would probably fit in easier than mine! Are you going to use it for a davies craig thermo switch or for an aftermarket gauge? At least you got more room either side of the radiator in your NA. Mine is soo squeezy.
hey thanks for that link bluecube i have my thermo control sensor sliped under the hose for now but this is a temp arrangement i dont like to keep it that way although it works well i have my setting to cut in around the same as you. as for the after market gauge sensor i went staight into the top water hardpipe , you can see in the pic below , where did you put your gauge sensor ? .
At the moment I have just been using datascan for the temp readings. I really want to install a gauge with a sensor in the hard pipe but i'm not sure how to tap the hole properly (i do have a tap and die set but never used it before). Yours look good. Did you tap it yourself?
yeah i borrowed a tap and i taped it myself but i took the pipe off on put it in the vice to do it , and while it was off i thought i might as well polish it as well, then i just had to do the bottom pipe , lol. .
