Installing the FORD XR6 cooling fans on TD27 Radiator

[fullthrottle]

Thought I would start this topic as a continuation of......

http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/ ... =4&t=34457

.....since I've now cut the waterpump shaft off

I'll put some pics up later, but the fans are all mounted to the radiator now. All sized up on the truck and ready for permanent mounting tomorrow.

There are a few cuts here and there just to make it fit really snug and remove any air gaps. So now when I flick them on, they only suck through the core, and boy do they suck. I better not drive past small children or dogs after this mod

[fullthrottle]

Oh yeah, got the twin fan unit including housing from Gaskin Ford in Seaview for $145

[fullthrottle]

So here is some progress.

The fan housing sits absolutely perfectly over the length of the radiator and is about 20mm to wide, soooo.

Fisrtly cut off the original XR6 mounting tabs that hang out the sides.

Then across the top is a large plastic lip. Slice this off and just leave about 4mm of the lip on. This small lip will hook over the lip of the top radiator tank.

The off-cuts of the lip can be cut into smaller bits as you need to cover the gap in both sides of the original shroud.

When installing, the fan unit is fairly tight on the left side of the truck where the water pump housing is, so I worked out that sliding the fan unit off center with the shroud starting at the side of the radiator works best. This then leaves just a 20mm gap on one side.

more to come......

[lax2wlg]

Looks tidy, looking forward to the next update

[fullthrottle]

Been working on the wiring today, here is the diagram I put together.

In my case I want to be able to shut off the fans independantly, so during river crossings, both fans are disabled. And sometimes I will just have one fan enabled on the thermostat switch to save power

[L-andy]

http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=28914

See bottom of page to see my experience with running just one of a pair of electric fans.

Cheers

Andy

[mudlva]

I would recomend booth fans or nothing
I ran two fans on my cruiser and if 1 packs up the other fan just pulled the air thru the hole of the fan that wasnt going

[fullthrottle]

http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=28914

See bottom of page to see my experience with running just one of a pair of electric fans.

Cheers

Andy

Cheers Andy
Yeah I was wondering about that too. These XR6 fans have a divider in between them that sits hard up against the radiator. So with one fan on, it would have to suck the engine bay air out through the stopped fan, through and out the front of the radiator and then over to the other side.
I guess its possible.

Will give that test a try and see how it goes. I like your two stage fan speed idea too......hmmmm maybe a revised wiring.

[L-andy]

The divider may make the difference and work ok.

The series parallel wiring works real nice although the fan motors have to have identical electrical characteristics for it to work properly.

I have a drawing somewhere for wiring but can't get it till Monday.

Cheers

Andy

[fullthrottle]

The divider may make the difference and work ok.

The series parallel wiring works real nice although the fan motors have to have identical electrical characteristics for it to work properly.

I have a drawing somewhere for wiring but can't get it till Monday.

Cheers

Andy

That would be great. If you find it,post it up.
Cheers

[kbjj]

My Ford Mondeo fans look very similar but smaller, they had a slow speed using a big resistor that was mounted in shroud. I just use high speed. I have two resistors if your interested? I recommend fuseing each fan individually

[L-andy]

This is how my fans are wired. It could be done with just one double pole (DPDT) relay but the single pole ones shown are more common.

Not sure is the .bmp file will display properly, doesnt look to flash when shrunk to 800x600!

Cheers

Andy

[fullthrottle]

OK the fans are now in. I haven't set the thermostatic switch yet, so just trialed it with the manual switches and is seems to work well.
Will have to take it for a good slog up some hills to see for sure.

Definately need 25Amp fuses on the fan feed, not 20Amps.

Snug as a bug in a rug.

[lax2wlg]

Looks great. How did you attach the fan to the radiator housing? Just nuts n bolts?

[fullthrottle]

Looks great. How did you attach the fan to the radiator housing? Just nuts n bolts?

Yeah pretty much. Once the shroud is all lined up, I just drilled holes through the shroud and through the radiator support lip. Found that the square nuts fit best and secured with locktight.

I took the radiator to John at Petone Radiators and he checked it out and gave it a rodding. Great guy with plenty of useful information.
Not much crap inside it.

- Don't run more than a 50/50 mix in the cooling system. That stuff is highly corrosive.
- Disconnect the heater and other hoses and jam a hose down them and flush out the remaining old mixture from the engine block before refilling.
- Giving your radiator a fresh coat of black paint helps with its cooling abilities and extends the life of your radiator.

[scruff123]

Nice work! I custom fitted a full aluminium silvia radiator with holden astra fans in my old bighorn, they work a treat. Good luck

[Sadam_Husain]

I took the radiator to John at Petone Radiators and he checked it out and gave it a rodding. Great guy with plenty of useful information.
Not much crap inside it.

- Don't run more than a 50/50 mix in the cooling system. That stuff is highly corrosive.

yeah used petone radiators a few years back and were real happy with the service, whats all this about the 50/50 mix I thought that shit was corosion inhibitor not a corosive itself

[kbjj]

I took the radiator to John at Petone Radiators and he checked it out and gave it a rodding. Great guy with plenty of useful information.
Not much crap inside it.

- Don't run more than a 50/50 mix in the cooling system. That stuff is highly corrosive.

yeah used petone radiators a few years back and were real happy with the service, whats all this about the 50/50 mix I thought that shit was corosion inhibitor not a corosive itself

Also water has better heat transfer qualitys than anti freeze, google Redline Water Wetter, http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx? ... 75&pcid=10

[fullthrottle]

I took the radiator to John at Petone Radiators and he checked it out and gave it a rodding. Great guy with plenty of useful information.
Not much crap inside it.

- Don't run more than a 50/50 mix in the cooling system. That stuff is highly corrosive.

yeah used petone radiators a few years back and were real happy with the service, whats all this about the 50/50 mix I thought that shit was corosion inhibitor not a corosive itself

Yeah that stuff is certainly corrosive. Keeps the block nice and clean and stops anything forming, scale, mould etc. Too much of the stuff and it will eat your gaskets and seals away.

Also water has better heat transfer qualitys than anti freeze, google Redline Water Wetter, http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx? ... 75&pcid=10

I did ask John about this water vs anti-freeze mix topic. He said even with a 10/90 or 50/50 mix, the fluid still has the same cooling properties.
That Redline product is another chemical that alters the composition of the existing fluid.

[Sadam_Husain]

Also water has better heat transfer qualitys than anti freeze, google Redline Water Wetter, http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx? ... 75&pcid=10

yeah I've heard about that shit, never used it or looked into it but probably should go do some reading now you've posted a link

[slide]

I thought that shit was corrosion inhibitor not a corrosive itself

Its both!
Its anticorrosive properties come from stopping electrolysis. On its own its corrosive. They recommend mixing the antifreeze with water before filling the system. But yes, give it a good flush first, as also, different coolant types can react with one-another to create a corrosive mix.
Food for thought
Nath

[Sadam_Husain]

I might have to refine the coolant refilling technique a bit, I think both trucks hold about 10 litres, I usually tip a 4 litre pack of antifreeze in then finish the rest off with water, run it for a bit, top it all back up, stick the cap back on and drop the bonnet and go back inside. I'm definately always a bit under 50/50 mix

[fullthrottle]

I might have to refine the coolant refilling technique a bit, I think both trucks hold about 10 litres, I usually tip a 4 litre pack of antifreeze in then finish the rest off with water, run it for a bit, top it all back up, stick the cap back on and drop the bonnet and go back inside. I'm definately always a bit under 50/50 mix

Yeah mate, definately flush the old crap out as much as you can and then pre-mix a solution. Doesn't have to be all of it, just a good quantity to help with the mixing.

Anyway, extremely happy with the results.
Took the truck for a spin over the haywards a few time in low gear and high revs. Temp started coming up, but a few seconds after those fans came on the temp dropped very quickly.

I changed the wiring slightly. I have a turbo timer, so wired the switched circuit side up to the ignition so the fans could still cool while the timer was running.

When standing next to the truck, it's now like a hot hairdryer. Ahhh will be great on those winter nights up at the hut. Just roll the truck in, fans full noise and everyone is toasty , (maybe not happy with the noise though)