Take off cooling shroud

This may sound silly but is it ok to run the engine without the cooling shroud on, mines got several bad cracks and the fan sometimes catches it.

Drill small holes either side of cracks and wire them together. Better with shroud in position.

What engine? You can do away with a viscous fan and shroud on a 200tdi with no adverse effects

109inches said:

What engine? You can do away with a viscous fan and shroud on a 200tdi with no adverse effects

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But don't sit in traffic with it in summer. Specially if you have just come off the motorway after a good fast run.

wammers said:

Drill small holes either side of cracks and wire them together. Better with shroud in position.

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109inches said:

What engine? You can do away with a viscous fan and shroud on a 200tdi with no adverse effects

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Model 12j, I would keep the fan, just the shroud

Problem is is that without the fan shroud you are greatly reducing the fans efficiency.

Give got an electric fan on mine and no shroud, in ten years+ its only ever come on once...

If you're keeping the fan on, I'd recommend repairing or replacing the shroud/cowl as without it the fan won't be pulling air through the radiator and you're asking for trouble if you want to do any under-bonnet tinkering with the engine running ( even though you should be able to stop the viscous fan at idle speed ).

Ran my 2.5 normal aspirated for 8 years without a shroud. Never once overheated. That was with standard mechanical fan.

My 200tdi doesn't have a shroud. No issues whatsoever.

wammers said:

Drill small holes either side of cracks and wire them together. Better with shroud in position.

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I agree - "stitch" it together with cable ties, trim the ends. Cable ties less likely to wear through the plastic - if you do have a go with the shroud off you can try silicone and cable ties. Fixable. [ps melt the cut ends of the ties - they can be surprisingly sharp]

Cabbie said:

Ran my 2.5 normal aspirated for 8 years without a shroud. Never once overheated. That was with standard mechanical fan.

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Reassuring news, is anyone aware of a part no for a shroud, I'm only seeing 200tdi and td5 fan shrouds online.

Genus Coffea said:

Reassuring news, is anyone aware of a part no for a shroud, I'm only seeing 200tdi and td5 fan shrouds online.

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possibly not something that's available - wanted ad on here should get you one since so many people have done conversions......................................

I have removed the fan and shroud off my 12j, to try to make the heater more effective. It runs a bit warmer, but is still just below 1/2 way on the temp gauge on the motorway, and my infra red thermometer is reading 75 degrees at the thermostat housing and top hose. Unless you're running hot it should be fine, at least at this time of year.

zeaphod said:

I have removed the fan and shroud off my 12j, to try to make the heater more effective. It runs a bit warmer, but is still just below 1/2 way on the temp gauge on the motorway, and my infra red thermometer is reading 75 degrees at the thermostat housing and top hose. Unless you're running hot it should be fine, at least at this time of year.

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I sometimes have to do journeys of around 100 miles each way. If the fan stayed on but with he shroud off do you think a 12j would cope? Currently my temp gauge stays at 1/4 way on any journey.

See my earlier comment. No problems even when towing a loaded car trailer and no problems when laning on muddy tracks slowly with no 'ram effect' through the radiator.

New ones 80 odd quid

Repair

Is it beyond repair? Have a go with the cable ties, refit and have peace of mind [and save £80]

Cabbie said:

See my earlier comment. No problems even when towing a loaded car trailer and no problems when laning on muddy tracks slowly with no 'ram effect' through the radiator.

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What's ram effect?

I had a similar thing with my 12j not reaching temperature in yhis cold weather.
I removed the shroud and fan but still it ran cold. Fitted rad blind but that made no difference either.
Replaced the thermostat, refitted the fan and shroud and now the temp gets to half on the guage within a couple of miles and the heater works!
As for repairing the shroud, as above, drill the ends of the cracks to stop them spreading then drill holes either side of the cracks and stitch it together with cable ties.
I imagine it would be fine without it though

Rich