Electric fan instead of viscous fan???

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sierrafery

sierrafery

Well-Known Member
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Hi, I know what to do and how to do it but pls enlight me, could it be bad for the engine if i'll adapt an electric fan instead of the viscous fan? I just want to get rid of the viscous coupling and everything related to it........the reason is to save some money coz otherwise i have to replace the timing cover.

i dont want to make experiments untill i make certain that it wont hurt......overcool/not cool enough the engine or something

Any oppinions will be greatly respected and appreciated

Thanks
 
Last edited:
JFDI

Get rid of viscous unit, save fuel better warm up etc etc

If you know how and what go for it as long as the electric fan is big enough for the job at high load

One of the better things I did on my 300TDI
 
sierrafery said:
Hi, I know what to do and how to do it but pls enlight me, could it be bad for the engine if i'll adapt an electric faninstead of the viscous fan? I just want to get rid of the viscous coupling and everything brelated to it.

i dont want to make experiments untill i make certain that it wont hurt......overcool/heat the engine or something

Any oppinions will be greatly respected and appreciated

Thanks
Click to expand...

My viscous fan decided to lock up solid yesterday while out laning. The result was the worlds worst turbo lag and a significant reduction in overall power. I was driving with my nanocam plugged in and the engine temp was kept below 77 and 83 degrees at all time.

I can't see it damaging the engine if driven with it overcooled. The only thing that would worry me would be the main valve of the thermostat sticking through lack of use. Hopefully the bypass valve would help keep things in check if it were to happen though.

I'm going to keep my knackered viscous in case I ever get a problem with overheating as it should help keep the engine temp down. I'm currently trying to decide whether to replace my fan with another viscous or a leccy fan. I have a plentiful supply of fans to choose from so may do a bit of experimenting driving around with various leccy fans fitted and monitoring the temp with the nanocom.

If I choose to go the leccy fan route I'm looking at getting an adjustable plumb bob temp sender similar to those used ny the likes of kenwood. I was wondering about fitting twin fans off something like a peugeot. The fans on them are 3 speed fans. With a bit of testing the plan is to get one fan working off the temp sender and find out which speed setting is best and then the other fan on a manual switch which will be on high speed.
 
or you could just dump the fan - I did about 2 years ago, I kept the viscous one just in case I needed when laning but have never fitted it - even when towing the big kit trailers up boggy lanes to site or me trailer tent up the m'way ( or over certain mountain passes that we have up the road). you do need to make sure the rest of the cooling system is in good fettle but, you should be doing that anyway.
I wouldnt leave it off though if I was off to foreign climes but as the fan self tightens on the driveshaft and it dont take a lot of room you could always carry it you.
 
ratty said:
My viscous fan decided to lock up solid yesterday while out laning. The result was the worlds worst turbo lag and a significant reduction in overall power. I was driving with my nanocam plugged in and the engine temp was kept below 77 and 83 degrees at all time.

I can't see it damaging the engine if driven with it overcooled. The only thing that would worry me would be the main valve of the thermostat sticking through lack of use. Hopefully the bypass valve would help keep things in check if it were to happen though.

I'm going to keep my knackered viscous in case I ever get a problem with overheating as it should help keep the engine temp down. I'm currently trying to decide whether to replace my fan with another viscous or a leccy fan. I have a plentiful supply of fans to choose from so may do a bit of experimenting driving around with various leccy fans fitted and monitoring the temp with the nanocom.

If I choose to go the leccy fan route I'm looking at getting an adjustable plumb bob temp sender similar to those used ny the likes of kenwood. I was wondering about fitting twin fans off something like a peugeot. The fans on them are 3 speed fans. With a bit of testing the plan is to get one fan working off the temp sender and find out which speed setting is best and then the other fan on a manual switch which will be on high speed.
Click to expand...

Only thing with electric fan conversions is good positioning of fan switch to avoid localised boiling. Or compensating for position by lowering fan switch temperature.

If I was going to do it I would site it as close as possible to top hose outlet and use a metal tee piece and twin terminal temp switch.

considering that your thermostat is controlling engine temperature regulation-earlier fan cut in poses little issue with overcooling.
 
I always thought the OEM -> leccy fan swap was a series LR thing, does it make much difference to a Disco???

I dont have a pile of spare fans so is it worth the £30-40 to do it????
 
I fitted a kenlow electronic fan to my dads range rover diesel (p38) a few months ago, and its the best thing we ever done. It seems quite a lot nippier, certanly a lot quieter and slightly better on diesel. The temperature probe now fits in the radiator fins as close to the top hose as possible, and then the thermostat is adjustable.
But the kenlows are expensive, cost him £175 for the fan. But the sensor and thermostat are available as an after market part so maybe usefull to run any electric fan.
Mark
 
Thanks very much for the answers so far:5bcheers2:...........what about using a similar leccy fan with the front one considering that i have a larger intercooler already?
 
Watching with interest !.

Am I right in saying that Disco,s with A/C will turn on the A/C fan if water temp gets high ?.

I,ve read about this the length and bredth of the internet.
It seems every one has an opinion on it, from air not being drawn through the intercooler to the viscous fan " not actually " drawing any power.

There does, however, seem to be a lot of folk that have done away with the viscous unit, and reported no problems at all.

Its a fair point that Landrover made these motors to survive some of the worlds harshest environments, and therefore some aspects of its design may not apply so much to some countrys.

I,ve been driving my van a lot in this hot weather, and not once has the cooling system fan come on !.

How much different can a Landrover engine be ?.

Del.
 
50 pence said:
Watching with interest !.

Am I right in saying that Disco,s with A/C will turn on the A/C fan if water temp gets high ?. Yes

I,ve read about this the length and bredth of the internet.
It seems every one has an opinion on it, from air not being drawn through the intercooler to the viscous fan " not actually " drawing any power.

There does, however, seem to be a lot of folk that have done away with the viscous unit, and reported no problems at all. These people are generally driving 200tdi and 300tdi engines which generally run cool anyway. TD5's run 10-13degs hotter so are much nearer the point of catastrophic engine damage.

Its a fair point that Landrover made these motors to survive some of the worlds harshest environments, and therefore some aspects of its design may not apply so much to some countrys.

I,ve been driving my van a lot in this hot weather, and not once has the cooling system fan come on !.

How much different can a Landrover engine be ?.

Del. If your fan came on while you were driving your van it would indicate a major problem. Your fan should only come on when stuck in traffic for prolonged periods in hot weather. Viscous fans are designed to be progressive and in normal operating conditions should rarely need to locc up in order to cool the engine.
Click to expand...

answers in red:)
 
Took my fan off about 6 months ago and 99% of the time never had a problem (once whilst picking a car up at the scrappy i left the engine running for about 45 minutes on a muggy and the temp shot up on the drive home with car in tow, pulled over and switched it off and after 10 minutes it was good as gold again).
I'm going to be fitting an electric fan to mine just as soon as i scrap a car with a decient one attached and then just fit a switch to the dash to turn it on when the need arises.

Chris.
 
After i saw all the oppinions so far, the only risk i see in putting a leccy fan instead of the viscous unit is that the electric one could burn when you're on outlandish ground and then the engine will get overheated.......that one is not as big prob as it seems.....after i will fit it i'll put some pics to show the clamping system of the fan which will allow to remove it easy without bothering other parts.......to not be in a flap the requisite is a spare engine for the fan to be allways near at hand.....the busted one can be respooled and then always will be a spare one. With a quite simple electric scheme i'll put a LED on the dash(in one of the blank switches below the rear wiper switch) which will illuminate if the fan is not working and a fuse to protect the fan's engine for the unlikely eventuality that the blades get blocked by something.

for those who are thinking about that here's some interesting stuff How To Properly Install An Electric Fan
 
sierrafery said:
After i saw all the oppinions so far, the only risk i see in putting a leccy fan instead of the viscous unit is that the electric one could burn when you're on outlandish ground and then the engine will get overheated.......that one is not as big prob as it seems.....after i will fit it i'll put some pics to show the clamping system of the fan which will allow to remove it easy without bothering other parts.......to not be in a flap the requisite is a spare engine for the fan to be allways near at hand.....the busted one can be respooled and then always will be a spare one. With a quite simple electric scheme i'll put a LED on the dash(in one of the blank switches below the rear wiper switch) which will illuminate if the fan is not working and a fuse to protect the fan's engine for the unlikely eventuality that the blades get blocked by something.

for those who are thinking about that here's some interesting stuff How To Properly Install An Electric Fan
Click to expand...

the alternative is to simply keep the old viscous fan in the back. That's what I'm gonna do if I end up going the leccy route.;)
 
ratty said:
the alternative is to simply keep the old viscous fan in the back. That's what I'm gonna do if I end up going the leccy route.;)
Click to expand...

Good idea too:)...if u have a working viscous unit but mine is busted......for the price of a new viscous unit i better by 2 of these MG MIDGET MGB GT V8 MGC RADIATOR ELECTRIC COOLING FAN on eBay (end time 11-Aug-10 11:00:04 BST) that's what i've found at "first shot" but sure there are cheaper or second hand even bigger ones....i'll dig the sh*t outa net to find;)
 
I was talking to an ex landrover engineer some time ago when we were thinking about fitting the electric fan to my dads range rover. According to him the only reason that land rover still fit viscous fans instead of electric, is that when being used offroad mud can build up in an electric fan so that when it is needed it can be jammed up, where a viscous fan is constantly turning so keeping itself clear.
We havent had any problems at all with my dads diesel range rover since fitting the electric fan, in fact its 100% better and much more pleasurable to drive.
Mark
 
You also have to make shure the fan is turning the right way. some are designed to pull air some are designed to push air.
Mark
 
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