Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Just as the title says, I'm about to do a thermo fan conversion on my R33 as my fan it about to break.

I want to avoid using those adjustable temp switches.

What temperature range should I aim for with the temperature switch?

It's an rb25det running at 12psi.

Also, where would the best place be for the position of the switch?

Cheers.

Thanks guys.

It's there a way to stop the clutch fans from breaking every 6 months or so?

My mate put a new one in his car and it's already got 2 large cracks in it after a little over a month.

Maybe another brand?

I admit that both mine and his cars get thrashed, but that's pretty much what we own them for...

I would say possibly engine mounts crapped causing the engine to move and the fan is hitting.

That or its getting to hot.

If you buy a geniune one it will last another 15 years or so.

Second hand....thats a gamble really.

Dont by gtech......

I don't think it's hitting, mine has 2 cracks between every blade, I'm just getting in early.

My mates actually flew apart while he was drifting, made a complete mess of everything.

His new one already has 2 large cracks but I don't know if it's genuine or not.

Stay away from gtech, check.

While I agree/understand the advantages and disadvantages of thermo fans a lot of drifters do use them, myself included. I have never seen a stock fan break but I don't like the idea of using a stock one with cracks and continuously revving it over 5000rpm. I know that I could buy another but I just like the advantage of thermo fans, it really comes into it's own when you have a nice setup with twin fans and a cross flow radiator.

With drifting (depending on the track) you can sit in a staging area for maybe 2-3 minutes at a time. After flogging the shit out of your car the twin fans really cool it down well. Not saying a stock fan couldn't but thermo fans DO work. I have only ever seen ONE(!) Drift car with a JZ engine running a stock fan, and I'd say over 50% of RB's run thermo fans as well.

These are just my experiences so take it with a grain of salt, but for people who say they don't work/are crap etc then they are incorrect

Never said they dont work, you need to go high end fans/brand to get the most out of them
Then u need to take in to account the power draw.
And if it actually is going to hinder airflow at higher speeds ( ie bad shroud)

He should be getting a bigger 40+ mm radiator instead if he hasnt already.
I track my car with stock fan and 50mm radiator and idles fine after a good heavy 4-5 laps

Edited by jay-rod

I gave up on the thermo I ran in my GTS4 (admittedly without any shroud). Could not keep the engine cool - the slightest incline (at highway speed) caused the thermo to switch on. After I put the standard fan back on, have had absolutely no problem with temperature control.

Figured the couple of kW I gain running the thermo wasn't worth the cost of an engine rebuild.

Jared, I don't think you understand how a thermo fan is designed to work. You will gain a few kW if you set the thermo up the way it was intended, ie to only be working when the engine temperature gets too high.

Alternator only works harder if the thermo fan is on. The majority of the time the thermo isn't on. Only comes on when the engine temp reaches a pre-set thermostatted temperature. Therefore I gain a couple of kW because the engine doesn't need to drive the clutch style (factory) fan.

Which is exactly how the viscous hub works. It only locks up when the viscous fluid is hot. Once locked and after the airflow across the hub has cooled the fluid, it disengages and freewheels again. The effect of the 'drag' on the motor, when the hub is freewheeling, would be negligible at best

  • Like 1

If your changing to thermo fans to gain horsepower, your a long way from being on the right track

If your stock setup works then leave it alone. If you are doing a thermo fan conversion for a practical reason then go for that. I really don't understand people who go on about the horsepower gains from running thermo fans.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Unfortunately haven’t taken pics yet after it was finished. All the edges are hemmed nicely, just had to cut holes for the gear shifter and seat bolts and seat belt bolts in the rear. The molds seem like they’re done with steam and a layer of glue on the underside to hold a bit of shape but still soft enough that it’s a good fit when it’s all pressed down.
    • When's the rear mounted turbo kit coming? Needs dose and V8 chop idle lol.
    • I was very unimpressed with how the car came up from the A pillar forward, before I hit things (twice). It all has to go. It had to go, but now it has to go... more. So we finally found the very first Shennanigans with the entirely perfectly setup engine that had no problems being pulled apart to improve on 'was perfectly fine'. Cam bearings looked a bit... stock. Which isn't entirely bad given they were stock and this is a ~20 year old engine. So new cam bearings are on the way because it's somewhat difficult to get to this stage to do it later, and it will trash the block. It was quite unusual that it wasn't done when the perfectly new-looking VCM cam was originally installed by [unknown] What IS unusual is the cam that was installed there was advanced SIX degrees. As to why there is no way to know.. however it could have been @Dose Pipe Sutututu's mate who wanted a larger cam sound but also wanted it to come on earlier to be more usable. This is my dyno sheet with the previous setup - This cam is not supposed to peak until 7000+ RPM, according to VCM. This is what lead me down the whole 'my heads/intake setup is running out of puff and can't support the cam' line of thinking to begin with. Anyway too late now - New cam is in! It could be rather funny if this smaller cam acts like a larger cam because it isn't advanced six degrees. In the spirit of everything is working amazingly - the COMP cam required no dialling in whatsoever. It was about 0.5 degrees advanced, which seems pretty bang on. Any adjustment either way would be further out. I'm told as a chain breaks in it ends up regarding back about 0.5 a degree as the chain breaks in, making it bang on. In the spirit of everything was previously working amazingly - The timing gear that was taken out turned out to be was an N-Motion double timing chain kit, with adjustable cam gear (which is how it was 6 degrees advanced) and all looks entirely perfectly new. It also had a Torrington bearing, which was one of the reasons I ended up getting the Cloyes kit which they used in the C5R 24 hour racecar - Because I couldn't confirm what was in the engine when talking to Tony Mamo. I did believe however it was a Double chain kit of some kind... but found no supporting documentation or evidence for it.
    • I recently did this to my R33 with the full set from Car Mats Direct, they can't do the vinyl anymore that's advertised on the website due to a supplier issue so I ended up with the Black Loop Pile which looks great. I went all out with rubber sound deadening sheets from Repco and also added the sound deadening foam layer option with the carpet. Makes a world of difference and got rid of all the weird smells in the 29 year old interior. It was a bit of work but I'd 100% recommend it, Car Mats Direct had awesome customer service and quick postage. Replaced my seats with some sporty ones from Autotechnia while I was at it, feels like a new car.
×
×
  • Create New...