Electric cooling fans For 200tdi. Kenlowe or Bolt On Bits

HI, I have a 1990, 110, 200tdi which is bloody freezing in the winter time. It gets down to -18C where I live.
I have changed the Thermostat , tried covering the radiator with a muff. A piece of cardboard seemed to work better.
I am now seriously thinking of fitting an electric cooling fan and remove the standard one.
I see a 14 inch Kenlowe fan comes in around £150. I have seen on Ebay a 14 inch Fan from Bolt On Bits for only £59 which is some difference in price.
Has anyone had any experience with these cheapo ones. Do they work?
In Winter it can get down to -18c but in summer time it does reach the upper 30's.

I have one fitted to mine, can't quite remember the brand, will have a look. It only ever comes on when I have no water in (19j with a dying head gasket), very rarely does it cOme on. The temp is adjustable too, I have it to turn on at about 110 deg.

I don't thing you need to spend all that money on a kenlow one, there is a guide on here on how to fit a Peugeot one. Worked the same!

My 200 has the viscous removed and runs at 85 sll the time going up to 90 when pushed hard up long hills but never goes any higher ever.
So why dont you just remove the viscous fan and chuck it in the back and see how you get on, then for the summer put it back on, zero cost apart from the viscous fan spanner.
My electric fan came from e bay just search universal 16 inch fan dead skinny and easy to fit comes with fitting kit.
This is the seller http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal...rParts_SM&hash=item5d2b060210#ht_1279wt_1165A lot cheaper than the named brands, i have two 200tdis with the same fans on and both are still good 18 months later.


Lynall

Search around your local breakers yard and you will find a suitable fan.

That looks a poor job as the shroud covers nearly all of the rad surface area up.


Lynall

Mondeo mk3 fan fits perfectly. looks OEM...
£10 on fleabay

My 110 200 Tdi has no viscous fitted at all, and has been fine, even on some of the really hot days we had, 32, 33 degrees. I have an electric fan fitted in front of the rad which is just on a switch, but I have never had to use it.

Lynall, many thanks for the info and the link, they seem very cheap. Do they come with the heat censor? From the people I have spoken with they all say a 14 inch fan is what I need for a 200tdi. I presume the 16 inch still fits if you have been running with them for your vehicles. I haven't looked at how to take the visco fan off , but you mentioned a special spanner. I presume you can't take them off with a normal spanner or socket set?

lynall said:

That looks a poor job as the shroud covers nearly all of the rad surface area up.


Lynall

Click to expand...

it works - coz all the air is blasted through the fan venturi - and Peugeot thought it was ok too

I got my fan off with just an open ended spanner, hit it with a hammer to shock it off, came off easy!

Hi All,
Thanks for all the comments, after careful consideration I have gone for the Kenlowe one.
From what I have found it appears the Kenlowe one will resist wadding where the cheapo ones are only good for .50cm deep. Plus Bolt on Bits don't ship to France where as Paddocks do for only a fiver. Kenlowe sales were very helpful but more expensive than Paddocks for the same model. Apparently Kenlowe say you can tow a heavy load for up to 100 miles. I would have thought if you made it to 100 miles you could go on indefinitely. They also said if you tow heavy loads often it would be best to leave the visco fan on. When I do my Morocco trip I will leave the visco fan in the back just in case.

The Mad Hat Man said:

it works - coz all the air is blasted through the fan venturi - and Peugeot thought it was ok too

Click to expand...

Yes but on the pug it was mounted on the back of the rad so the air had passed over the ENTIRE surface of the rad first then through the small hole, not the other way around.
Thats the idea of the shroud.
In all my years as a mechanic i dont think i have ever seen a rad shrouded at the front like that which kind of tells me something

Lynall

mikescuba said:

Hi All,
They also said if you tow heavy loads often it would be best to leave the visco fan on. When I do my Morocco trip I will leave the visco fan in the back just in case.

Click to expand...

So in a nutshell they are saying their product is **** as it cannot cool a hard working diesel engine?
You wont have any bother with the 200 tdi as its a great engine.


Lynall

spal, thats what my fan is...

lynall said:

Yes but on the pug it was mounted on the back of the rad so the air had passed over the ENTIRE surface of the rad first then through the small hole, not the other way around.
Thats the idea of the shroud.
In all my years as a mechanic i dont think i have ever seen a rad shrouded at the front like that which kind of tells me something

Lynall

Click to expand...

It was fitted at the front!
It was a long time ago, so I am not sure, but yu can't fit a "pull" fan to act as a "push" fan, because the blades are shaped incorrectly. I am positive tho, that I fitted it as per the donor vehicle.

I have ordered the Kenlowe fan which should arrive next week, Just in time for me to have a dirty weekend. Kenlowe said the fan could be used as a push or pull fan but on the 200tdi it will only fit as a pull fan as there is no room between the rad and the front grill. Anyway I will see when I fit it next week. I do hope it will improve the heating system during the winter. I was looking at one of those electric heaters. You can now get 300w ones. I know the 150w dashboard ones are crap.

The Mad Hat Man said:

It was fitted at the front!
It was a long time ago, so I am not sure, but yu can't fit a "pull" fan to act as a "push" fan, because the blades are shaped incorrectly. I am positive tho, that I fitted it as per the donor vehicle.

Click to expand...

That not strictly correct as i have two of the same 16 inch fans one pushing and one pulling and they both shift loads of air.
The fans i have, have curved blades and i was expecting to have to mess about with them but was pleasantly surprised how well they move the air so left them alone.
You can see from the pic of my s2 fan that very little of the surface of the rad is covered but even so this small amount made the engine run approx 5 degrees hotter


Lynall

Mike not sure what fitting kit you have, but i drilled and bolted mine to the rad top and bottom frames, so nice and neat, just unbolt and lift of the top rail and drill it on the bench, wiggle the rad up and an inch or so, so you dont drill into it and voila very neat and easy to get off just 4 m6 bolts, hold the fan on.


Lynall

Hi, Thanks Lynall. Will keep this in mind. They say it comes with both a fixing kit and nylon ties. I prefer to go for a permanent fix so once its done you don't have to go back to it.
I just hope it improves the heating system for the winter. Last year it was freezing, It took ages for the engine to warm up.