kenlow fan's

[tacr2man]

Have to go with reads90 , why complicate things the thermostat is to regulate engine temp the fan is just to pump air thru rad when heat needs to be dumped , when you wade a viscous fan doesnt drive water anyway , so no risk of pulling blades into rad . Electric fan less powerful than viscous fan , more things to go wrong , involves expense when you already have a perfectly good v fan . Still in the end whatever floats your boat , a lot of what landy owners do to their vehicles is emotional rather than logical , esp on cost benefit basis. JMHO&E

[Retroanaconda]

(...)

No relays - X-eng thermostatic switch is rated to switch 20A as is the Carling switch (I think!)

(...)

My fan has a 30A fuse for it's power supply, I wouldn't want to potentially pull that through any switch or thermostat. Mine will be relay-switched.

[LandyManLuke]

you already have a perfectly good v fan .

Do you? I didn't....

Besides, having the extra room in the engine bay is a worthy enough bonus for me.

[Mo Murphy]

I'm with Luke on this one, a £10 Mondeo fan from the scrappys but like anything, one man's meat is another man's poison

Mo

[poohbear]

Tacr2man -

I see your point, I had to remove the Viscous unit as it fowled the steering box and rad hose - hence why electric fitted. The TD ran a viscous unit without any problems before conversion.

Compared to the price of the engine and other parts for Tdi conversion, a few bob on a fan from a scrappy didn't seem that over the top plus the X-eng part actually helped in adapting the hose to boot! So all in I'm well chuffed.

Retroanaconda -

fan sits on a 20A fuse & setup appears to run alright. I may fit an Ammeter in line at some point just to see what the current draw actually is out of curiosity, and will probably fit a relay in the future to increase the life of the switching components - depends what else needs fixing first

After all its not where you are going that counts, its how much fun you have on the way!

D.

[nicks90]

unless you physically have to remove the viscous fan - like some above have said - then fitting an electric fan is pointless.

there are NO ELECTRIC fans on the market (being sensible regarding size and price of course) that can shift the same volume of air as a viscous engine driven fan. I cant remember where i read it, difflock i think, but someone worked out the total volume a fully locked up viscous fan can pull and it was staggering! Makes your average kenlow fan look like a kids fairground whirlygig.

Not only that, but for us tdi drivers having the viscous fan means you get good airflow over the intercooler when at low speed / offroad. With an electric switched fan you get bugger all. Then you have the added complication of electrics that can and will go wrong, rusty connections, things vibrating loose, get wet, short out, motor on the fan dies, leaving you with no cooling at all...............

then add to that the extra strain on your battery and alternator. A 30amp fan is pulling half your defender tdi alternators total power output. Doesnt leave much in reserve to power the stereo / amps / subs

[Megansfolly]

i have a knlowe on mine but put the switch in the top hose as there was no room on buttom hose. had to go with lecy fan as the said before there was not enough room for viscous fan but wired mine through a relay as i dont like the idea of all thet current eunning round with out a relay

[Quagmire]

Mine is running a kenlowe- that went on when i had the 2.25. The engine did become much more free revving and i lost that big "whoosh" noise i used to get on acceleration. That said the 2.25 did not have a viscous and so was enagaged all the time.

With the V8 the kenlowe seems to cope OK (but the '8 has not seen a summer yet though) but then i do have a nice clean block and heads, and nice new radiator for the coolant to swim around. I leave it on the lower of the two speeds and only knock it up to high speed when its really hot outside.

Generally though the fan isn't on very often, only when i come off the motorway and heatsoak sets in, or when stuck in traffic. Whenever moving it isnt required and rarely comes on.

Relay is definitley needed, if you leave mine on high speed and are standing near the front with the bonnet up when the fan kicks in you get a "crack" noise like when you see those high voltage tests on TV. Draws huge current on startup.

[boy]

any pics off the fan fitted !! thinking of changing my fan!!

[Quagmire]

Here it was with the 2.25 (but a V8 rad)

And not a very good pic of how much room there is with the V8.

[Ex Member]

Electric fans get a bad rep for a few reasons. If you do the install well, they are as reliable as a viscous fan. I personally have never found a used LR with a working viscous unit and they are quite expensive to replace.

The main pitfalls people do when changing to electric.

1) Mounting the fan from the fins (as per the above pictures). The mounts eventually rub through the channels and cause a leak. The fans should be mounted to the radiator supports (top and bottom) and not the channels, fins or tanks.

2) Do not seal the shroud to the radiator. This results in air recirculation and the efficiency of the cooling is very poor.

3) Install a fan that is too small. Just get "Mondeo" fan from the wreckers... It is a perfect fit, they are cheap and plentiful and have way more air flow than needed for a LR TDI or V8.

4) The electrical installation is bodgy.... Make sure everything is designed and installed for the fan amperage and suitable for a wet environment.

Here is my install: http://www.landroveraddict.com/smf/index.php?topic=369251.0

[Quagmire]

Correction to my last post- the top two pics show the 2.25 rad

1) Mounting the fan from the fins (as per the above pictures). The mounts eventually rub through the channels and cause a leak. The fans should be mounted to the radiator supports (top and bottom) and not the channels, fins or tanks.

This was the very reason why i had to change the 2.25 rad early(and went with a v8 one as the engine was going to be swapped a few months later) i originally had it mounted like the pics, with the cable tie type things going through the rad. I too had heard people say that it wore through but thought it would take years...

It didnt, it took about 6-8 months and when it did leak it wasnt a small one.

The new installation now has the fan mounted correctly to the rad frame top and bottom, and is much more secure.

[mmgemini]

Not only that, but for us tdi drivers having the viscous fan means you get good airflow over the intercooler when at low speed / offroad. With an electric switched fan you get bugger all. Then you have the added complication of electrics that can and will go wrong, rusty connections, things vibrating loose, get wet, short out, motor on the fan dies, leaving you with no cooling at all...............

Really

Would you explain to mer how a viscous fan pulls air through the intercooler and the fan at low speeds when it is NOT WORKING

I've a Kenlowe fitted. Overpriced I will admit. It works. Not had a failure yet. Both viscous fans I've had fitted didn't work properly.

Oh yes. I have used mine at ambient temperatures of 45DecgC plus. That means the fan is pullinmg HOT air through the radiator.

Loke others have said. There's plenty room at the front of the engine to work without the viscous and the shroud. Try changing a water pump on a 300Tdi in the bush with those fitted.

mike

[FridgeFreezer]

Also in the rare event an electric fan fails you can replace it with pretty much any other electric fan from the nearest scrap car.

[mmgemini]

Also in the rare event an electric fan fails you can replace it with pretty much any other electric fan from the nearest scrap car.

Also it doesn't seem to go through the radiator core either.

mike

[Madcowz]

I took my viscous fan out and was able to stand in the engine bay with my feet on the road and the engine up to my chest. Worth it just for that

Have the X Fan doobryfirking thingy installed but still need to fit the fan, it's a Mondeo one from Ebay, £5.99 inc P&P A job for when the clocks change.

[Ex Member]

Really

Would you explain to mer how a viscous fan pulls air through the intercooler and the fan at low speeds when it is NOT WORKING

Also on a 200TDI, the viscous fan shroud significantly restricts air flow through the intercooler. Just removing the shroud makes a big difference to the intercooler.

[boy]

well that helps me out lots thanks lads!!

dave

[nicks90]

Really

Would you explain to mer how a viscous fan pulls air through the intercooler and the fan at low speeds when it is NOT WORKING

Fit one that DOES work then! Mine lasted 136k miles in my defender. In fact the fan didnt fail, it was the stupid bearing on the timing cover that did. Even if i took the fan off years ago, i;d still need the pully and bearing there anyway for the serpentine belt so the problem wouldnt have been avoided. Replaced with genuine and not ****part and i'm sure it'll last another 136k miles. Wifes disco 200tdi had 280k miles on it and it was still working fine too. You've just been unlucky.

Oh yes. I have used mine at ambient temperatures of 45DecgC plus. That means the fan is pullinmg HOT air through the radiator.

Whats the ambient temp got to do with it? Electric or viscous, still pulling the same air through....

Loke others have said. There's plenty room at the front of the engine to work without the viscous and the shroud. Try changing a water pump on a 300Tdi in the bush with those fitted.

i am lucky i suppose, i dont live in the bush. But changing the waterpump on my drive with one fitted isnt a major drama. you jsut undo it and take it off with a spanner..... or am i missing something here?

mike

[FridgeFreezer]

Electric or viscous, which is better?

[gruntus]

Electric or viscous, which is better?

Finally a bit of levity!

[M&S]

Ok, not wanting to get into the whole debate (as my viscous fan seems to be doing the job just fine so I'm sticking with it) I do have a couple of quick questions please:

1) How do you know if your viscous fan has actually failed?

2) Don't they tend to fail in an operating condition and if so, that's surely a good "fail safe" (I'd rather have cooling all the time to get me home).

Cheers, Martin

[nicks90]

yes, generally when they 'fail' they just lock up giving you maximum cooling all the time.

as long as your thermostat is working fine, then the engine temp will still be maintained by the stat.

to check its working is simple.

when the engine is cold, turn engine on for 30 seconds to get everything 'spun up' and the viscous fluid in the fan moving around. Turn the engine off!!! The fan should be fairly easy to turn by hand at this point.

When the engine is fully up to operating temp, turn the engine off!!! the fan should now be stiff to turn by hand.

if the fan is locked on all the time, you can either leave it alone and put up with longer warm up times, or replace it.

Sometimes though, all the magic stuff leaks out of the unit and the fan spins uselessly hot or cold. Then it needs replacing.

[mmgemini]

Nicks 90

I se you have never changesd a water pump on a 300Tdi.

The power steering pully has to come off to change the water pump as well as the fan shroud.

I work all the time on my drive..Yes in the rain as well.

So you are now saying that a viscous fan works ALL the time. I thought the idea was that it didn'rt work at low speeds unless the engime temperature was above the normal 84Deg C.

mike

[nicks90]

Nicks 90

I se you have never changesd a water pump on a 300Tdi.

The power steering pully has to come off to change the water pump as well as the fan shroud.

you undo the viscous fan with a spanner - you spanner! Excuse me for not being explicity clear in my post earlier!

I work all the time on my drive..Yes in the rain as well.

So you are now saying that a viscous fan works ALL the time. I thought the idea was that it didn'rt work at low speeds unless the engime temperature was above the normal 84Deg C.

who said that? what? where? is someone following me?

mike