Replacing The Radiator Fan With Electric Fans. Performance Benifit?

[vidospace]

I was servicing the car yesterday and saw that the radiator fan is basically on all the time, even though it has a clutch to allow it to spin separatetly to the other belts/pulleys on the engine. It got me to thinking how much power is it acutally taking away from the engine? I assume it could be as much as say the AC compressor? But at the same time I have seen some hardcore RBs with the stock fan in place?

[lachlanw]

when its cold it is more like free wheeling like you can stop it with your hand and hold it (not very smart but do-able)

[discopotato03]

Nissan fitted them to RB26's ...

A .

[frozenwaffles]

i took mine off and replaced with thermo fans...massive reposonse difference....

[Humbla]

i took mine off and replaced with thermo fans...massive reposonse difference....

What he said.

[Bliksem]

Any pics of the thermo fan setups?

[wannaslide]

i took mine off and replaced with thermo fans...massive reposonse difference....

so do you really get a response differece that is noticeable cos im after more response

[89CAL]

I'm just interested to see some setups. I may do it in the future but for now im happy. Dont think the stock fan sucks to much power out of it

[frozenwaffles]

its jujst got heaps more throttle response... i havent dyno

ed the difference but you can notice it alot when you take your car for the first drive without the fan...

[Ultimategtr]

a bit off topic here but my dads old rd28, we ran it without the thermo fan for a lil while and it seemed to rev alot easier. more responsive, even tho it was diesel.

Iv heard that the gains are offset by the power electric fans use, so go figure. Of course i dont have dyno sheets to prove but only for 2-4 kw its not worth it imo.

[frozenwaffles]

power is not the goal here...reponse is...

[Turbo Dave]

This would help me clear my cooler pipe a little easier, any pics? and what sort or thermostat would you use? ECU controlled or manual thermostat?

Edited January 11, 2009 by Turbo Dave

[Bliksem]

ECU controlled or manual thermostat?

You could go either, depending on what ECU you have. There are also thermo fan controllers from Billion, Power Enterprise, davies craig, Pivot etc.

A mate made a circuit for me that I havent gotten around to fitting yet, it just used a pikaxe chip that can be reprogammed.

Edited January 11, 2009 by MintR33

[Jet 20]

when the thermo fans are running it will load up the alternator more causing a drain on the engines power, the question is how does this engine power drain compare with the standard fan??

when the thermo's are not running the engine will have better response compared to the standard fan cos the standard fan never fully disengages so to speak.

[zoom]

I remember about 5 years ago when i installed the thermo fan and electric water pumps, the engine revs seemed to be quicker. You can actually notice the car pull harder particularly from mid to high revs. Both the fan and pump have their own controll. You can controll whatever temperature you want.

The down sides are:

1. when the fan activated the alternator will kick in which may cause your engine to hunt for about 10 seconds (this will happens particularly in the traffic and hot day.

2. if the fan died, than your engine will be running to hot. (i haven't had any problem since i installed 5 years ago). .

Just have to keep your eyes on the water temp.

[carter]

ive got thermos on my 25 in my cefiro. im running 2x 10'' atm mite get 2x12'' 2 keep it cooler again. ive got it set up2 a switch that has a temp sensor that goes in the top hose wen u hook it upto the radiator, wen my motors usually on i just turn it down to the lowest temp so its always on. ive got a pic 4 u all 2 c as well.

[W0rp3D]

I had one in my old rx7, did not do any where near as good of a job as the clutch fan did.

[blind_elk]

My experience was that I couldn't get air to flow through the radiator, thus making it easy for the engine to overheat. Even on the highway, a slight uphill gradient increased the load enough that the thermo would turn on.

Also, the A/c radiator relies on the standard fan for some cooling.

[Guilt-Toy]

when its cold it is more like free wheeling like you can stop it with your hand and hold it (not very smart but do-able)

i did that on my old ca20 blue bird when i was 17... it put a big cut in my palm and you could see raw flesh in there.. i went white lol... to this day i still have the scar.

So yes not very smart

[400kw]

if anyone is looking for a 16 inch themo ,im trying to get rid of one it also comes with brackets to suit r33 ...100 bucks and ill send it to you ..