replacing engine fan for electric one

aroma · Post by **aroma** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:22 pm

whats the pros and cons of replacing my engine driven fan for an electric one beside being able to turn off for river crossings its a td27 non turbo in a 91 navara would it give me a bit more hp :roll:

better fuel use???????
thanks
any one done one in chch?

rokhound · Post by **rokhound** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:28 pm

Engine mounted fans difinatly rob you of power. So to get rid of it in that respect is a good thing. Make sure you set up the 'lecy on right though, as you don't want heating issues. My vote is do it!

Moriarty · Post by **Moriarty** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:55 am

Use a two pole switch so the red light (or colour of your choice) comes on when the fan is OFF. Easy to forget in the heat of battle and a dead or dying engine miles from anywhere is less than amusing.

aroma · Post by **aroma** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 8:23 pm

a kiwi fruit sprayer I use to drive had an electric one yep the BOSS

for got to turn it on one day and cooked the engine he couldn't say anything
was planing having it wired up to be temp sender controled if fitted a switch it would still operate when temp sender kicked in not sure of the workins yet
think about it,think about it again then stuff it up :oops:

makes me feel better any idea of rough cost will be able to do it all at work
did see super cheap with some fan units for sale the other day

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 8:29 pm

another electric fan question(piggy back on this thread)
how long do they last being dunked in mud and water etc???

BIG_BOY · Post by **BIG_BOY** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:28 pm

depends witch one you have but water dousent normally worry them as the temp drops in water so there off & then they get a chance to dry off before there needed again. mud is a bit different as they came on alot & find it harder to turn in mud so my gess is they wont like mud that much

spanky · Post by **spanky** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:19 am

i put one on my scudo mainly because the viscious? bit shit it self mine is wired so it has a switch and a thermo switch so i cant forget to turn it on, hunt around a wreckers and use the biggest that will fit mine has 4 wires. they dont seem to mind the mud and crap mine lives in this state most of the time

cheers vaughan

vando · Post by **vando** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:18 am

Vaughan's got the idea. Stooge around the wreckers to find a good sized one - early Honda Accords aren't too bad, Subbies have good ones too. And Vaughan's way of wiring it in is safest.

adogg · Post by **adogg** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 6:55 pm

sorry to put a dampener on this but i read recently on another forum,that if you go electric you swap the load that a normal fan creates to the alternator,make sense? cause now the alt has to work harder keeping up with an extra 50-60 amp load and this creates the same or more drag on the same belt/crank you just removed the fan from?? have i lost anyone yet?? ,i`d keep the viscous , but thats just my 2c :wink:

aroma · Post by **aroma** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:52 pm

I think u did loose me but by removing the fan causes more engine load to the alt and you need extra power to run the electric fan did I get that right? heeeee heeee I got given a stuffed alt the other day trying to get it to go its 60 amp std bout 40 amps if it gos I might be almost a winner
spanky what temp does thermo switch work and where did you get it?????
ta folks

Moriarty · Post by **Moriarty** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 8:28 pm

adogg wrote:sorry to put a dampener on this but i read recently on another forum,that if you go electric you swap the load that a normal fan creates to the alternator,make sense? cause now the alt has to work harder keeping up with an extra 50-60 amp load and this creates the same or more drag on the same belt/crank you just removed the fan from?? have i lost anyone yet?? ,i`d keep the viscous , but thats just my 2c

Yes, you are probably right, never really thought about!! But, the advantage is, when deep in the wet and or dirty, if you have your fan stopped, you aint gonna throw stuff all over the place.

wjw · Post by **wjw** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 9:02 pm

VN commodore fans have the highest throughput of any I know, 4000 Litres / minute! mine cost me $40

spanky · Post by **spanky** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 11:45 pm

aroma wrote:I think u did loose me but by removing the fan causes more engine load to the alt and you need extra power to run the electric fan did I get that right? heeeee heeee I got given a stuffed alt the other day trying to get it to go its 60 amp std bout 40 amps if it gos I might be almost a winner
spanky what temp does thermo switch work and where did you get it?????
ta folks

on the escudos the ac fan turns on if the computer thinks it is hot , i wired one pair into that and the other to a switch , so if i forget to turn it on it comes on automatically, other wise just take a temp sender out of a jap fwd radiator, what sort of truck is yours? i would have a sender at work. cheers
vaughan

meatc · Post by **meatc** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 7:59 pm

The one in my sj413 was set up as follows

Go to local parts store get them to look up thermostat for your vehicle. take the temp values for that and search the book for a temp switch that has a cut in just a bit lower then the top value of the thermostat. (lets the thermostat and radiator do the work then fan helps out as things get to warm.)

Get a fan from a wrecker as previously mentioned.

Wire it up with auto (running off temp switch), off (for water crossings), on (in case the temp switch packs up)

They dont run for long usually and ont draw much so extra load on alt is likely to be less than a decent set of spots.

spanky · Post by **spanky** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 12:43 am

a good fan if you dont have much room is one like this from a fwd diesel nissan u13 or u14. was going to put on mine but found a slimmer one . it is 335mm across the blades and 410x370 all up and 90mm deep

and it has 4 wires so you can have thermo and manual.
vaughan

aroma · Post by **aroma** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 7:47 pm

I hope that photo was not taken on a working radiogram? they would be worth money now day and the vacum cleaner for tidying up the dirt be fore the missus catches you !
supprising what you can see in photos
thanks for answers now the hunting starts and measuring up
one more question how to attach the hole lot to the radiator or to the radiator frame????????????? possably the last dopy question for a while maybe :oops:

Shane · Post by **Shane** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:07 pm

adogg wrote:sorry to put a dampener on this but i read recently on another forum,that if you go electric you swap the load that a normal fan creates to the alternator,make sense? cause now the alt has to work harder keeping up with an extra 50-60 amp load and this creates the same or more drag on the same belt/crank you just removed the fan from?? have i lost anyone yet?? ,i`d keep the viscous , but thats just my 2c

theres not a shit show in hell of a elect fan drawing as much power from the engine as a engine driven fan...........not even close

Go the elect

Shane

aroma · Post by **aroma** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 12:12 pm

Just bought a v8 vn commodore fan should keep the old girl cool now the fun stars the wiring amd locating temp switch
well it keeps me off the streets

aroma · Post by **aroma** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:31 pm

well that stuffs that found out this morning the viscous bit is part of the water pump and cant get enough room with it there to mount the fan
:oops:

well gives me the weekend back f @#$!%^#@$@ all the brackets made and every thing wireing loom roughly made up to
hmmmmm do have a grinder in the garage :?:

adogg · Post by **adogg** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:04 pm

doesnt sound right :shock:

viscous fan should just unbolt from the water pump pulley :?:

I never seen or replaced a whole water pump/viscous fan assembly? your fan must be off a v6 as v8 VN`s had a viscous fan like the one hanging in my shed, v6 ones sweet though they move a lot of air :wink:

but blow a lot of fuses though ay skid :wink:

skid · Post by **skid** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 7:11 pm

adogg wrote:doesnt sound right viscous fan should just unbolt from the water pump pulley I never seen or replaced a whole water pump/viscous fan assembly? your fan must be off a v6 as v8 VN`s had a viscous fan like the one hanging in my shed, v6 ones sweet though they move a lot of air but blow a lot of fuses though ay skid

hahahahahahahaha, funny guy. You just earned yourself a job rewiring orange.

adogg · Post by **adogg** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 7:16 pm

hahahahahahah wondered how long it would take for you to spot that,less than an hour!!! :lol:

easy rewire just gota find the time,this rain makes me :evil:

skid · Post by **skid** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 7:24 pm

if you really want to go electric, then like every one says the commy v6 fan is awesome.
mine is attached to the standard 40 series radiator cooling my 350 V8. I did have probs with the cooling capacity, but have put in another radiator that was cleaned and pressure tested, and now its runs cool 24/7.

My fuse blowing probs are nothing to do with the fan, but something to do with my shitty wiring.

CHEERS

SKID

aroma · Post by **aroma** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 7:52 pm

sorry skid the viscous is part of the water pump maybe I should sell it and buy a toyota (argggghI'll go and wash my mouth out with soap) the vn fan

won't fit but have been given a couple of skinny ones and will fit when work stops getting in the way

mudlva · Post by **mudlva** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:22 pm

HI there i have my vans hooked to a two pole switch(on/on) first "on" feeds power to the relay which in turns opperates the fans. the second "on" is wired through an after market indicater unit through to a bulb on the dash. this means that when you turn the fans off, the dash light will start flashing. this was better than having a bulb that stayed on as i tended to miss the light until my overheat light came on. i found that i had to wire a 21watt bulb into the dash light side as the indicator unit works on wattage draw and the dash light only drew a couple of watts, this made the dash light not flash as i wanted. i mounted the 21 watt light bulb under the dash next to the steering column, this worked good as it lit up the peddle area and also high lighted that the fans were off.
good luck in wiring up your new fans and i hope this helps
cheers MUDLVA

aroma · Post by **aroma** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 8:28 pm

yahooooo fitted fan today neighbour donated 2 one stuffed but the other fitted just got to get and fit temp switch (a1 radiators) about $35 and fitting to solder to radiator $15ish but as of now switch in dash to turn off not planning to running a little bit warmer but was running a bit cold for my liking for a diesel
am waiting for second fan to put on as back (workmate)
would post pictures but seem to #$@%$& every time
lets see what its like on a run Sheffeild next week hopefully

mudlva · Post by **mudlva** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 9:15 am

xcelent and good luck a thermo switch mite be handy to controll the temp. it helps keep it at a set temp rather than the fans going full time and over cooling the motor. they fit into the radiator inlet. and works on the low voltage side of the relay
cheers mudlva

Nav2NV · Post by **Nav2NV** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 6:28 pm

aroma wrote:well that stuffs that found out this morning the viscous bit is part of the water pump and cant get enough room with it there to mount the fan
well gives me the weekend back f @#$!%^#@$@ all the brackets made and every thing wireing loom roughly made up to
hmmmmm do have a grinder in the garage

91 navara you say
yea they have the viscous part attached to the waterpump,there is a different type where the viscous unit BOLTS to the waterpump,but the pulleys are part of the viscous unit,so u still have to bolt thet viscous part on,unless you were to attach a stand alone pulley to your waterpump(to drive that obviously).

im thinking of converting my td27 navara to electric aswell.just waiting untill ute is off the road doing motor conversion,
then ill take the radiator out and have a radiator specialist install a plug port thingy so i can attach a temp sensor.

that would be the way to go,no worries about overheating problems.

as or attaching the fan to your navara,make up some brackets to go 'around' the rad to the radiator support,that should hold it in place.

jumper · Post by **jumper** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:10 pm

I swapped the mech fan for two electric fans after i put the mech fan into the rad and busted it while going through a mud hole. Just had its first off road test and was perfect.
One fan is a 12in repco and the other is 10in out of a neon :roll:

these are attached to a sheet of 3mm steel that is the fan shroud.
The fans are controlled by a thermo switch in the top rad pipe and wired to relays and a switch so they can be turned off.
Fans are cooling a 350 chev and a new rad

aroma · Post by **aroma** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:53 pm

better keep everyone up to date
got one fan in temp switch in not connected trip over porters

well can tell you the temp gauge works :shock:

have since got two fans on one plastic guard thingy will run backwards

and will fit in front of radiater with bit of massage to bumber will hook one to temp switch and one to dash switch this weekend all going to plan and will put spare in parts box

replacing engine fan for electric one

replacing engine fan for electric one

mmm

Re: mmm

Re: mmm