V6 Thermos onto V8 Radiator???

[commsirac]

someone should do a test to see which one actually cools the motor/radiator better.

They have! Electric fans can match a clutch fan at idle, that's it, after that the clutch fan is going to be superior in any other scenario.

 

[commsirac]

Anyway......I did mention more or less the reason, I absolutely hate the roaring sound of that big ugly mechanical fan [even though it does the job well], but swamps the beautiful V8 sound. Furthermore I would think the electric setup would be a touch more efficient, which equals slightly better fuel consumption and/or a bit more power. As a bonus there is more room to work in the front of the engine..

One of the annoying aspects of the clutch fan is the roar. It will be in engaged mode after it is left sitting for some time This will be evident when it is cold, but when the motor has been revved past 2000rpm a few times, the noise should go away. As a test, rev the motor to 3000rpm and hold it there for 15 secs. What should happen is that the fan will initially roar due to being partially engaged, as the test proceeds the fan speed will drop to about 1/3 of the pulley speed and the roar should die away. 1/3 fan speed is still moving a good volume of air and does increase the air flow at speed and this can make the difference between a car staying at the right temp or not.

Once this occurs the roar should be gone for the entire duration of the journey unless of course conditions occur which cause the thermatic element to engage, which happens when 80C air makes its way to the element and then the roar will be back. If this happens when the car is on the highway then there is a definite fault, 1/3 fan speed should keep things around thermostat temp in any conditions.

If your fan roars constantly, regardless of temperature, then it is faulty. Unfortunately some aftermarket fans are defective in this regard, they'll cool the motor, but "drive" you crazy.

In real use there will be no measurable difference in fuel consumption.

 

[Morton]

Yup, I've tested this, too

1) I removed my A/C Condensor
2) I "installed" a cheap old 14" a/c fan on the front of my radiator.

now, here's the simple but slightly scientific part:

1) I "installed" my good 16" davies craig thermo fan inside the fan shroud, hard up against the radiator, and turned it on.

result: the passive fan on the pusher side was caused to rotate slightly due to the drawn air through its blades.

2) I removed the davies craig, and installed the clutch fan.

result: the passive fan on the pusher side was caused to rotate a little less at idle (but was still moving), but as soon as I revved the engine, the passive fan went to town


conclusion: I think the only reason the electric fan appeared to pull more air at idle (caused more rotation on the passive fan) was due to the fact that the electric fan was mounted hard up against the radiator, while the clutch fan has a good two inches of clearance.

So now I run the clutch fan, with my big davies-craig as the backup fan on the front (but on a switch, so I can engage it when the car is parked if need be.)

 

[Morton]

In real use there will be no measurable difference in fuel consumption.

Growing a moustache will cost you an average of $0.50 a year in petrol

Apparently.

 

[Dan355]

I have never had power draw issues but I did earth them straight back to the battery. It was for no other reason than it was convenient.

Reaper

Yea i just added a 4 pin plug whole lot lifts out in 5 mins. was also thinking about resistance in the wires ect if any.

 

[Dan355]

The rpm dropping is a good sign that the fans are actually connected properly, the bigger the rpm drop the better. It means the fans are actually drawing current due to good connections, this puts a higher load on the alternator reducing engine speed. If the connections are poor, the fans wont work so well and there will be minimum load on the motor. I dont think there would be much in it as to whether you ran the -ve back to the battery or earthed them on the front panel if the -ve wire distances were kept to a metre or less.

Of course if the car has the ecu controlling idle speed then you wont be able to see the effect of connection quality by monitoring the idle speed.

True, but a massive idle drop cant be a good thing, like some people have experienced. With a 15+yr old car you have to also question the effectiveness of the IAC, alternator ect.

 

[Dan355]

yeh i was a bit worried seeing a few poeple having probs with power but i haven't had any trouble at all, mines earthed to the body and i also have 2 amps with a subby and a 7inch screen and my alternator is still original one and battery is 6 months old, only thing i notice is at night when i turn on headlights there is a little flicker

Yea i get the flicker to.

 

[commsirac]

True, but a massive idle drop cant be a good thing, like some people have experienced. With a 15+yr old car you have to also question the effectiveness of the IAC, alternator ect.

as stated before, if the cars ecu keeps the idle speed constant then no one considers it a problem, off course you can see the difference if you look at the instantaneous fuel consumption. Just as years ago, people found turning the ac on an car could kill the motor at idle, they built in idle up solenoids or cams into the cars with air.
Nothing wrong with the alternator if it makes the engine speed drop under heavy current use, something wrong with one that doesnt.

 

[Reaper]

Yea i just added a 4 pin plug whole lot lifts out in 5 mins. was also thinking about resistance in the wires ect if any.

Mine is similar except I got the other half to the Ford plug and grabbed the wires as far upstream in the Ford loom as I could get.

Reaper

 

[Oken]

well looks like im just gunna go twin au's, seems to be the best way to go about it, ill just wire it up to a switch on the dash so i can turn it off and on when it needs it