home made cooling fans? how easy??

ok, i admit it i am a proper tight git, but i was wondering how easy is it to make me own cooling fans for me rr classic? is it as simple as fitting a thermostatic switch somewhere in the plumbing and wedging a pair of fans(what type? can normal ones from another car at scrappies be used?) can i then somehow take off the viscous fan and save a bit of unleaded

Viscous fan removal will not achieve what you want, unless it is seized permantly locked. Fitting lecky fans will only increase chance of possible overheat, due reliability issues which will be a lot dearer to fix than the couple of pence you think you can save by doing what you are suggesting JMHO

not agin? We have this discussion every couple of weeks. Lecky fans dont increase chance of over heating - that depends on the switch-on temp and the cooling efficiency - not the type of fan. If fans large enough to cool the radiator are used and switched at a realistic temperature then there should be no harmful effect. Exactly the opposite, as quicker operating temps can be reached. Also the benefit of being able to turn them off if fording.

Before you get too upset, I did not say per se that lecky fans increase chance of o/heating , it was in context of using misc fans from scrap cars , and doing it on shoe string as a means of saving fuel .

To take you up on another point a viscous fan does not require "switching off" or removal for wading as it does it automatically due to senseing temp drop and unlocking drive. It also free wheels until engine warms up and gets to op temp and then thermo opens hot water goes into rad and when this heats airflow to required level the fan locks up and does its cooling.
I would suggest that a thermo fan would be slightly more reliable than lecky fans due to less components that could possibly fail , and when it does fail it locks to safe mode with overcooling as a result . JMHO

tacr2man said:

Fitting lecky fans will only increase chance of possible overheat,

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Wot makes yu think i am upset - far from it - my only comment is that this is a discussion repeated at least monthly. At the end of the day, it is an individual choice. I would suggest that by the time the viscous fan has detected a "thermal drop" - that will be after it has sprayed water all over the engine, and not before. As for reliability, electric fans are pretty reliable and chaep to replace.I like lecky fans, you dont. Fairy snuff - there yu go Rustyrangey - takes yo choice.

I like viscous fans for their simplicity. I like lecky fans cos if you have a coolant fault you can make em run flat out to get you home. I have had 2 viscous fans fail on me. Neither has locked up. If you are that worried due to living/travelling in a hot climate I think the answer is to have a viscous main fan and a small condenser type elecky fan at the front of the rad as a back-up. JMHO.

Blimey, sorry fellas i didn't mean to start a barnie good advice from both sides my viscous thingy seems pretty stuck, it does freewheel if i hold it back and give fan a good tug but pretty much runs flat out all the time engine is running. theres a ford down the road i'm dying to have a go at and don't really fancy it soaking the engine electrics if it's gonna cost me nearly as much to fix it i'd rather go electric and hopefully have a bit more control over the fans. i also run lpg so a quicker warm up time would be handy. the only thing that worries me a little is that although the temp guage always sits bang in the middle once up to temp the engine seems to throw off a lot of heat and i need to make sure the leccy fans are man enough. does anybody know what size/setup is best?

I don't know the sizes but everyone I have spoken to about it says they have to cover the whole rad... and you might be better with two.. and buy good quality ones..

and viscous fans turn all the time.. if you can hold it back it isn't locked up.... not that I would ever try....ouch...

lol i did wonder about jammin a lumpa wood in there and seeing what happens i think i'll have a look about at different fans, i found some 12" ones new at about £40 each which would work out a lot cheaper than a kenlowe set-up which i think uses 2 13" fans?? i would put the fans on me xmas pressie list but that's already full

do a search - read my how to guide on fitting Peugeot lecky fan - £15

blimey i didn't realise i ahd to pay to read old threads
thanks mad hat i'll have a search about

For what it is worth, I changed to electric fans this year. I have tried 2 set ups, the first was a single 16" fan and the other is a pair of 12" - both work fine and keep the V8 at a safe temperature. As a back up I keep the viscous fan in the back. At the moment I'm running the twin 12" fans and I'm quite happy with it.

Most of the time the engine is happy to run with the fans switched off but you will need them in slow traffic especially on a hot day. The other thing is, if you run electric fans, your alternator and battery need to be in good shape, both my set ups draw about 25Amps.

Opinions do vary on this subject and if you're doing it on a tight budget, fans from a breakers is likely to be a cheaper option, I have heard a pair of Ford Mondeo fans work quite well but other fans can be used to equally good effect, however you will need to think about the thermo switch.

In my set up I bought a rather trick thermo switch - it wasn't cheap but is easy to install and set, check out Sealey & Draper Tools - Classic-Car-World Tool Shop So there you go, for what its worth.

I run twin electric fans dont know what their off but their not LR . got both wired to their own swich , my motor has never had a mechanical fan ive never had any probs with this set up , as someone said you need a good battery / alternator plus a good temp guage..

sounds like it's not tooo difficult to do then, where did you get your fans from kev? the mondeo idea is worth a look as i assume it may be possible to use the coling they are fixed to? i had a look at the switches on the link they look good, i have seen something quite similar in lrm somewhere for £30 ish. most people seem to be of the opinion that the fans should pass the air towards the engine, seeing as how they are only likely to come on when the car is either in traffic or working harder but more than likely fairly slowly can't they be sited behind the rad (engine side) and blow outwards? surely it would help cool more efficiently?

rustyrangie said:

sounds like it's not tooo difficult to do then, where did you get your fans from kev? the mondeo idea is worth a look as i assume it may be possible to use the coling they are fixed to? i had a look at the switches on the link they look good, i have seen something quite similar in lrm somewhere for £30 ish. most people seem to be of the opinion that the fans should pass the air towards the engine, seeing as how they are only likely to come on when the car is either in traffic or working harder but more than likely fairly slowly can't they be sited behind the rad (engine side) and blow outwards? surely it would help cool more efficiently?

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you,ll need the fan/fans between the rad and the engine the fan sucks through the rad , their fore blows on the engine ,as for expensive switches mine have been working on two volvo window switches for the last two years .......

i think i'll definately have a switch in the cabin so i can turn them off in case i go in deep water but i'd feel better if there was a thermo switch to save me having to keep an eye on the temp

rustyrangie said:

i think i'll definately have a switch in the cabin so i can turn them off in case i go in deep water but i'd feel better if there was a thermo switch to save me having to keep an eye on the temp

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its ok having a thermo switch till they fook up , you wont know anything about it till your gauge is in the RED , oooooops .. you should be watching your temp anywho.........

But if you have it on a manual switch surely aren't you a lot more likely not to turn it on?

I have never had any of my homebuilt fans die on me...all have been from a scrap yards (well, one I found on the side of the road which appeared to have come out of a truck). I wouldn't go for a fan out of a particular car as it doesn't really make any difference. Just go to a scrappie or your junk pile and connect a battery up to it and see how much air it forces out. If you find one with a casing that is easy to fit to your vehicle that is all the more handier. It does not neccessarily need to be the full size of the radiator, thats a myth IMHO....many cars are built without the fan covering the whole rad...it just depends how good the airflow of the fan is.

i've had a look through fleabay as theres lots of lurvely pics to get an idea of wots wot, seems like theres lots of possibilities, just need to find a good scrappie to have a look around with me tape measure. think i'll run a thermo switch plus isolate switch in cabin, if the thermo does balls up i can always jump the wires across thermo to get the fans running temporary

rustyrangie said:

i've had a look through fleabay as theres lots of lurvely pics to get an idea of wots wot, seems like theres lots of possibilities, just need to find a good scrappie to have a look around with me tape measure. think i'll run a thermo switch plus isolate switch in cabin, if the thermo does balls up i can always jump the wires across thermo to get the fans running temporary

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If you go for a twin fan set up you could always have 1 on a thermo AND a switch and the other as a back-up purely on a switch.