Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hi,

Can anybody recomend an electric fan - size, brand?

I have been getting temps rising up to 94deg, when sitting in traffic on hot days, which I would like to get down a bit. I am going to upgrade to a VL radiator as well.

Also, it wouldnt hurt to get rid of the stock fan - gain a bit of mid range torque.

Any experiences, recommendations or warnings or general comments would be most welcome

cheers

Steve

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/11038-recomended-electric-fan/
Share on other sites

I have a Davies-Craig DCL14 on my 32 atm. Its causing me no end of hassles.

Firstly, I had to have the A/C fan rewired so that it comes on when the A/C is switched on (ordinarily thermo-switched from the switch in the bottom of the radiator), otherwise the gas over-pressurises.

With a FMIC, the engine is quite susceptible to overheating. I had it out at Winton the other week, and the gauge tried to wrap itself around the H mark. Took about 15 minutes idling with bonnet up to cool down again. Lots of coolant being blown across into the overflow bottle.

I'm seriously considering putting the factory fan and shrouding back on. Actually, have driven it in Adelaide in 40 deg heat in the factory configuration, black car, A/C going full blast, and the temp gauge never budged.

My advice would be to leave it as Mr Nissan designed it. The couple of rwkw you'll gain isn't worth the worry.

Ever considered that the thermostat might be faulty?

Hey blindelk. thanks for the reply.

I dont think the thermostat is faulty, as it brings it up to temp pretty quick, and on open road there isnt too much hassle. Just when I get in to traffic, going between sets of lights etc - usual inner city stuff.

I do have a fmic, but looking at the radiator, it seems a little on the skinny side. The heat issue is the main prob, just thought it might have a power increase spinoff as a bonus.

Steve

I've got a Davies Craig DC-16 on mine. 16 inch version.

It JUST fit's the stock radiator and has about 30mm clearance at the back.

The 16 inch version can push 2200cfm of air while the 12 does 900 and I think the 14 does about 1400cfm.

Sadly the factory shroud won't fit with the 16incher on :)

But you can get kits that fit nicely with two 12 inchers with shroud and all. Seen them on a R32 GTR and it was a good fit.

blind_elk - sounds like your termo switch isn't adjusted right, plus it should have had a relay installed so that when the air con is on the thermo fan turns on. I hope you get it sorted out.

J

Jay,

Yeah, got it all sorted, wired thru a relay. And the DC thermo uses the original thermo switch as its trigger.

Might actually look at positioning the DC thermo so that I can use the shroud as well.

Yeah, if you can make a shroud for it it'll work much better.

You can buy the Davies Craig fans through Super Cheap Auto !!

I've had no problems with mine. The temp sits a little higher than normal (about 2 needles worth) but when it get's there it doesn't move regardless of outside temps, driving speed etc.

J

Steve i fitted 2 x 12'' fans to mine to make the cooler piping better. With a large FMIC the temp goes up a bit in the heat but not too hot.

Just a tip, go to repco and get a price on 11'' fans, these are made by davies craig and are actually a 11'' fan which davies craig sell as 12'' (they measure the outside not the fan size), the repco ones were a lot cheaper. cost me $160 or so for both.

Still working on the temp issue at the moment they are on a switch. But the fan infront of the rad switches on at about 90deg and is activated by the sensor in the radiator. Im looking at getting a lower temp switch to go in the radiator and using this to give the realy for the fans power.

Hi Clint, thanks for that. Is the switch you use supplied with the fans, or do you buy them seperately?

Are you using a shroud, if so, did you get it from repco as well?

How do you find the cooling after they switch on, does the temp rise much above 90C?

cheers

Steve

steve the fans come with everything you need to fit them all you need to do is give the realy power to switch the fans on, so i used my own switch.

in not using any shroud as i made a aluminium mount for them to bolt to, i didnt like the idea of poking holes through the radiator.

the temp gets up to 80deg then i switch the fans on, the temp will go up to 90deg on really hot days and after you give it a bit of a thrash. I dont think i would like to give it a thrash on a 35deg + day unless i got a new radiator ($650 PWR alloy one)

You can get twin fans mounted together with a shroud from repco as well but it was twice as much to buy.

Thanks again Clint. So would the relay normally be fitted to a thermo switch if you wanted it to actuate automatically? did you just wire up a switch for convenience? or do you use it as well as a thermostat.

Has anybody hooked up a themostatically controlled relay? And if so, how did you do it? (themostat placement, type etc)

Cheers for any help

Steve

I used the thermo switch on mine.

Getting the probe in the top radiator hose is a right pain in the butt. Then you have to tighten the living crap out of the clamp so the hose doesn't leak.

Works like a dream.

You set the temp up so it's about 5 degrees hotter than normal (going by the instructions) so that the fan only turn on when the thermostat opens and lets the hot water through, then turns off once the water in the radiator has cooled.

The instructions say that if you've got it adjusted right, in winter the fans might only come on for a minute of two at the most then turn off. Summer it will stay on for somewhat longer.

I can arrange for some pics if you want..

J

Steve,

My set-up is the same as J's (from the sounds of it) DC16 with thermo s/w & no room for the factory shroud. I used sealant & a well tightened clamp to ensure no leaks from the thermocouple line in the top pipe.

I've had mine for a few yrs now & apart from 2 blown fuses (poor quality fuse holder - replaced with a quality one) it's worked very well. Temp's sit @ ~82'c (hits 92'c if really hot & pushing it). I've been in bumper to bumper near 40'c heat A/C on full blast & the temp gauge hardly moved up @ all (yes my temp gauge works).

The size, type & postioning of a FMIC can really effect running temps! I noticed Steve that you FMIC is a bar & plate (actually looked more of a bar-fin?) These FMIC's seem to pose more of a restriction for airflow through to the radiator.

I actually contacted Davies Craig (or is that Craig David :D ) & gave them a run down on my car, they suggested the DSL16 over a set of smaller twins! Maybe go for a 16 & a smaller one beside it. If it'll fit? Use a good quality coolant & add a bottle of Redline Water Wetter & you should have no problems.

If I was into pushing my car hard around a race track (round & round type :)) I be going for a radiator upgrade straight up! For the occassional drag run & spirited road use in all weather the DC16 is great :thumbsup:

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Stock ECU (or more accurately stock tune) absolutely refuses to go over 10psi and behaves like you have seen. The Nistune is the same if it is the stock tune. If the Nistune chip has been tuned, the resulting tune could be literally anything for any combination of parts. The Nistune just makes the stock ECU Tunable.
    • So stock ECU does not like anything above 10 psi?  That Nistune one is just for "try" if it will be any different, I know it need to be tune for that. I know but YOU may know about these problem but i/we dont. They few little Skylines here let alone people who know anything about tham so that is why iam asking here  
    • So now we have a radiator with no attachments whatsoever. It lifts up with a particularly tight spot between the drivers side air box mount and the lower radiator outlet, but if you've got this far you will sort that too. This is the lower mounts with the rad out so you can see where the rubber bushes go, it is a straight shot upwards Done! Assembly is the reverse of disassembly, with blood less likely to be shed.
    • Right, onto the second last trick. The Air Con condenser is mounted to the front of the radiator and stays in the car when the radiator is removed. There are 2x 10mm headed self tappers holding the top of the condenser to the radiator, remove those The bottom of the condenser is attached to the radiator with clips. You need to lift the condenser out of those clips and clear (up, then forward). f**ked if  could work out how to do that last bit with the front bumper on. I hope you can, and you share the trick.  Bumper removal probably deserves its own thread one day once I've recovered the will to live, but basically you need to remove the wheels, front inner guard liners (clips and 10mm headed bolts), the self tapper between the guard and the bumper at the rearmost point of the bumper (same as an R32 that bit), any remaining clips at the top/front of the grill, an absolute bastard design with a plate that holds the top of the bumper above the headlight each side (only 1 bolt which is tricky to get to, but the plate catches 2 places on the bumper and must be removed....carefully!) and push clips between the bumper and guard under the headlight. If you've done all that you will be faced with wiring for the fog lights on both sides and in ADM Q50 RS at least, 4 nasty tight plugs on the driver's side for the ADAS stuff. So, the clips at the bottom look like this on drivers side (looking from the front) And on the passenger side (also from the front), you can see this one is already out Clearance on both of these are super tight; the condenser needs to move up but the upper rad support mount prevents that, and the radiator can't move down far because it is (rubber) mounted. Once you achieve the impossible and drop the condenser off those mounts so it does not stop the rad moving, you are good to go
    • OK, next the shroud needs to come off and there are a couple of tricks. Firstly, there is a loom from near the passenger side headlight to the fans, coolant temp sensor etc and there is no plug to undo.  In my case I was OK to leave the shroud on top of the engine so I just undid the passenger side fan plug and about 10 of the clips which gave enough free wire to put it aside. The fan plugs were super tight, the trick I used was a small falt screwdriver to push down on the release tab, then a larger flat screwdriver to lever the plug out of the fan unit....be careful with how much force you apply! If you need to remove the shroud altogether for some reason you will have to deal with all the plugs (tight) and clips (brittle)....good luck. I removed all of the clips and replaced them with cable ties that I will just cut next time. Also, in the Red Sport / 400R at least, the intake heat exchanger reservoir hose is bolted to the shroud in 2 places with 10mm headed bolts; so remove them (the hose stays in the car; no need to undo it at the t fittings down at the radiator lower mount. Once you've dealt with the HX hose and the wiring loom, there are 3x 10mm headed self tappers holding the top of the shroud to the radiator; remove those.   The shroud then lifts out of the bottom mounts where it sits on the radiator, up and onto the engine out of the way. Simples
×
×
  • Create New...