running without a viscous fan

take it off and leave it in the boot, traffic after a run is the problem, whilst moving alls good.
It you get in a situation you need it just spin it on. Ran my td5 90 for 6 months without it. under around 13 deg ambient

DISCOVERY1-DAZ said:

How did you wire up the switch to use the aircon fans mate????

Cheers

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air con? :lol::lol:

Mines pretty basic! I only have one electric window

oh right!!!

Hi guys

ran both my disco 300tdis without the fan on one was a 97 manual and the other a 98 auto, the only prob i had was with the 97 manual on our way to our caravan in cornwall from manchester got about 1/2 mile from taunton dean services on the M5 and got caught up in a traffic jam was stuck in it for about 1/2 hour and the sun was blazing but moving up a couple of yards at a time and noticed the temp gauge starting to rise by this time we where about 150 yrds from the services and went up the hard shoulder ( i know it wasn't right but didn't want to boil over ) anyway fitted the fan and waited till the jam had cleared and set off again with the fan on and realised straight away than the engine response was slower than it was with the fan off so once we arrived at the caravan i removed the fan and had no probs after that.

last october we went to the caravan again in our new to us 98 auto but with the fan removed towing a small trailer with a s111 gearbox in it i was delivering to a forum member in devon and there was 6 of us in the disco and luggage for 6 peeps aswell and again with no probs, now before i removed the fan again the engine response was slower than it was with the fan off, the gain is mainly when setting off and when the car is recovering from climbing a steep hill as the car picks up better.

forgot to add as reguards the 97 when driving up the hard shoulder and parking up at the services the temp gauge dropped back to normal.

I have run my 300Tdi for a year, now, without the fan and the gauge never moves above the horizontal.
On the subject of the squeely pulley, check the belt for wear(There is a tell-tale cast into the pulley arm and the engine front cover). When I replaced my old belt all went quiet.

imp999 said:

I have run my 300Tdi for a year, now, without the fan and the gauge never moves above the horizontal.
On the subject of the squeely pulley, check the belt for wear(There is a tell-tale cast into the pulley arm and the engine front cover). When I replaced my old belt all went quiet.

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I was about to make a similar post.

My temp needle never goes above half way, I even towed a car and trailer 100 miles the other week on the M25 (Traffic) without any issues.

I also had a squeaky pully but my belt snapped. Once I replaced it the noise had gone.

Cheapest and easiest option. (Especially without a fan. )

I run an electric fan on one disco and the standard viscous on the other.
I prefer the electric set up. Takes up less space, hardly ever comes on and is very quiet.
Optional manual override, and choice of more efficient, more compact radiator.
The viscous is noisy, saps power, ugly!

I've got air conditioning but the belt has been removed, but I did notice them on the other day, I had been off roading and the engine bay, particularly the radiator was full of mud. We was on the way to a ford to wash it out about 20 miles away but had to keep stopping for one of my mates who was overheating. Mine never got hot but I heard a humming and realised the aircon fans had come on.

I don't know if they are supposed to come on as a back up if the engine gets hot? there are no switches or wiring to show they have been modified.

Afik they will come on if engine gets too hot.

My Tdi 300 aint had a Sid Viscous on for three years, I tow a lot and never once has the temp guage gone above normal. I also removed all that dam plastic cowling at the same time and working on the front of the engine is a doddle.

davek0974 said:

Afik they will come on if engine gets too hot.

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That sounds good! Might remove the aircon belt (never use the aircon) and the viscous fan from my 300tdi - don't tow anything so shouldn't get too hot anyway.

hopefully doin a lecky conversion this weekend ( mainly for space )
not gonna risk running without one ( just incase )
Im off to the scrapyard to have a rummage lol

Ran mine from Nottinghamshire to Aberdeenshire with no fan .. no issues with temperature. I could understand the concerns about heavy traffic, I didnt encounter much, with the exception of hitting the rush-hour A1 traffic between Sunderland / Gateshead / Newcastle, - having got there from Retford, if anything was going to go the way of the pear, it'd have done so , but as I say, no issues with temperature at all, desipte the lack of a fan.

4 years with no fan or cowl, no problems with towing, motorways or laning.
rad isn't in the best condition either
temp is always stable - so much so I once checked the sender to see if it was bust.
dump the fan, I think it's only there for when you need to tow a 3 ton trailer through the Sahara in slow moving convoys .

I totally agree, took my viscous fan and cowl off 10 years ago, fitted a lecky fan off a Ford Orion (with a switch) and have never needed it. If I was stuck in traffic for long enough to boil it I would probably switch the engine off anyway.

davek0974 said:

Afik they will come on if engine gets too hot.

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Mine did afer my head gasket went causing overheating problems. I think one of extra the senders on the thermostat housing controls them. Dont know what temp they are set to cut in at though. I am going to remove my aircon rad but leave the leccy fans in place.

Gaz

ntfs said:

I totally agree, took my viscous fan and cowl off 10 years ago, fitted a lecky fan off a Ford Orion (with a switch) and have never needed it. If I was stuck in traffic for long enough to boil it I would probably switch the engine off anyway.

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Now this has got me thinking, as I was looking at changing mine to an electric fan, but kits were well into the hundreds, so never bothered, but had a look on ebay, and orion fans are around £30.00 with the cowling...

How hard it is to get these to fit, or are there any other makes of electric fans that would fit better, do you need the cowling or just the fan to put into the existing cowling......as for less than £30.00 for a new one worth a punt....

14" Radiator Fan

or even cheaper (slightly)...

14" Radiator Fan

StuRox said:

Now this has got me thinking, as I was looking at changing mine to an electric fan, but kits were well into the hundreds, so never bothered, but had a look on ebay, and orion fans are around £30.00 with the cowling...

How hard it is to get these to fit, or are there any other makes of electric fans that would fit better, do you need the cowling or just the fan to put into the existing cowling......as for less than £30.00 for a new one worth a punt....

14" Radiator Fan

or even cheaper (slightly)...

14" Radiator Fan

Click to expand...

Peace of **** really there are fitting kits on ebay too i fitted mine with a relay and switch on the window consol i use it occaisionally when the water temp gets above 80 degrees c

is there anyway to wire the a switch into the aircon fans so you can just flick them on if needed?

im ok wiv spanners but when it come to lectrics:doh: