2nd Fan infront of Radiator

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Christos_Vic

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Hey Guys,

From what i can see from the pics in-front of my radiator i only have 1 thermo fan covering half the radiator and then looking behind the radiator is the engine fan in the shroud.
Is there any real added benefit in installing a second fan on the other side of the radiator? What instances will it help with?
I will be doing very infrequent towing of a camper trailer and am looking at starting to do basic 4x4 off roading?

Cheers guys.

Sorry pics are on their side cant work out how to rotate them.
 

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Hey mate,

The little fan is to help move air through the aircon condensor when you're stopped and have the aircon turned on. You could probably fit another one and an extra relay for it, but you would be better off looking at fitting a small fan on the intercooler to help keep intake temps down when moving slowly off road.

I don't think fitting another fan will help a lot with cooling, I'm not sure if the thermo fan comes on when the coolant gets to a certain temp. You could probably wire a switch up so you can turn them on manually off road, but the engine fan does a pretty good job.

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I've found the worst thing is blocking the incoming airflow. I've got a winch blocking the lower intake and a pair of driving lights obscuring the upper part. When I move my light bar below the top of my bull bar, my engine overheats much more easily. My engine driven fan's fluid couple is in good condition, so I pulled over to the side of the road, moved the light bar back above the bull bar where it used to be (I moved it to comply with the law) and the temperature issue went away.

My car didn't overheat - I won't let it - but the temp did rise faster with the bar blocking the airstream.

Now, do I think that adding an electric fan to my car would help? Most of them, no, they just don't move enough air, unless you get the BA Falcon ones, but from memory they're not pushers, I think they pull air which means they'd need to go behind the radiator - I'm not sure on that because I've only read that they're the bees' knees in electric fans.
 
You are correct on the Falcon fans, Tony. They go behind the radiator. Bf series 2 onwards they went to one single large thermo fan mounted the same way, behind the radiator. If you do a lot of low speed driving, they're not a bad idea to replace the engine driven fan. You do have slightly less drag on the belts from not having the fan, however, there is obviously more load on the electrical system.

I don't know if they would fit on the Navara though, but they do fit the patrol if that's any help haha. The main advantage of an electric fan, apart from being able to run at full speed regardless of engine speed, is being able to have them off when doing water crossings. No risk of dragging fan blades through the radiator if you go too slow.

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Hey Guys.

Bods - haha, well thats a bit embarrassing that the fan has absolutely nothing to do with cooling the engine,lol. Have definitely read a few threads on here and a few youtube vids about putting a fan on the inter cooler to help keep temps down. My only real concern with that what was the best way to fix the fan in place to the IC, and should it be ran off a relay or a straight on/off toggle in the cabin?

Old.tony - haven't put a front bar on yet as have been trying to look at different types that will let as much airflow into the engine bay as possible to keep it cool. paranoid that im gonna block off some airflow and cause the thing to go into meltdown, probably very unlikely to happen, haha. Been looking at all the way possible to keep the temps down for towing and going off road.

Also been trying to do everything i can to keep the engine clean and breathing properly, EGR block was amazing as it is a bit more responsive and pick up a few extra km`s per tank. Picking up a oil catch can shortly to keep it clean and fitted a safari snorkel and now it has a nice rumble as it breaths.

Thanks guys.
 
I have noticed on mine that the condensor fan switches on/of with the compressor itself. You can feel/hear the compressor cut in and out at idle, and the fan switches with it. I have also read (but can't verify) that it cuts in when the coolant reaches 100 deg C regardless, to help the cooling system. That could be wrong, or for a different model though, as I'm unaware of any sensors anywhere that could accurately measure this?

I have never been close to overheating off road. That includes lots of hectic and extended low range stuff in over 40 deg. Though with a fully laden car sitting on 130 kph for extended periond (40 deg C, into a strong headwind) it climbed up to 97 deg, the hottest it's been so far.

Think this is for the same reason old tony mentioned. Winch blocking half the airflow, lights not helping with the other half. I notice the factory alloy bars have cut outs in the lower portion for air flow reasons.

As to the original question, I don't think an electric thermo fan is going to make much difference if the fluid coupling is working properly.
 
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^ The D40 will bring on the thermal fan at any time the air conditioning compressor is on, but if the aircon is off, the thermal fan will come on when the coolant temperature measured by the ECU reaches 105C.
 

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