15" pusher fan? with a/c?

[djshimon]

I am not having overheating issues with my fan clutch but I would like to put in a pusher fan in front of the radiator to cool the engine compartment on hot days-and hopefully avoid a possible hot soak issue.
I read that Timsrv did a 15" pusher fan in front of the radiator and I would like to do this-or any size should work, I guess.
I have a 4wd and a/c and I want to keep it this way. any suggestions? pictures would be very helpful as i'm visually oriented.
Or should I just go e-set up?
thanks folks, aaron

[timsrv]

I don't think a 15" fan will fit on a 4wd. I put a 15" pusher on a 2wd, but 2wds have taller radiators (more room there without the front differential in the way). The core area of a 4wd radiator is roughly 12"T X 20 3/4"W so you could go with a single 12" fan or dual 10" fans.

Whatever way you end up going, please take some pics and post them here. If hot soak issues are the sole reason you're doing this, you will want to wire it/them up to a t'stat that's wired directly to the battery (not switched by the ignition). Tim

[djshimon]

I like the idea of the electric fan setup instead of the clutch fan, I just don't want to build a shroud- Didn't you buy a pre-made fan and shroud setup(dual 10") from a local auto parts store a few years ago? Was it any good? I think it was a flexalite.
I'm not having hot soak or any issues with this "new" engine yet! I only drove it to the muffler shop to have them weld a crack in the 'Y' pipe and it drove smooth as butter on a 85-degree day! Haven't drove it on the highway on a hot day or put a serious load on it, yet. I'm just hoping to keep it cool in the engine compartment after driving to delay heat related issues in the future-it gets hot under there!

[timsrv]

Yes, Flex-a-Lite #310 I believe. It's a universal fit shroud with (2) 10" fans installed into it. It's a little bit wide for the van radiator but it can be shoe-horned in there. It attaches with 4 zip-tie like devices that poke through the radiator fins, then you slide a locking "button" on the other side of each zip-tie thing to hold in place. I guess it works okay, but I wasn't too crazy about having those things going in my radiator and possibly chaffing a hole in my core. I eventually built a custom shroud and replaced the Flex-a-lite unit. Originally I had my t-stat probe mounted to my top radiator hose, but I wasn't happy with the response time of the heat transfer. I ended up putting it in direct contact with the coolant by installing it in into a spare port in the head. Performance improved immensely after that and I've been very happy with it ever since. Tim

[djshimon]

Thanks Tim, I've looked at that thread a few times and didn't know about the ziptie through the radiator part. It seemed too good to be true-a dual fan and shroud setup for the van-and it was. Maybe it can be fitted to the radiator in another way?
Ok thanks again. I'll let you folks know what I come up with.
-aaron

[theschnell]

My 2 cents is that an electric fan is not powerful enough to pull enough air through on the 4wd. I switched to an electric fan back when I had a 2wd and it worked well, but we had removed the A/C evaporator, or whatever that big thing is in the front, so it got some ram air.

On my 4wd, I've taken off the a/c evaporator, and I'm still not getting enough air flow to keep it cool when I'm on the highway. I can go 75mph, but if I go any faster and I go up a hill it will start to get hot. I feel like the fan clutch setup pulls a lot more air and I wish I had just stuck with it. My clutch was bad I'm pretty sure, so I could have just replaced it and been good to go, but I knew I had successfully switched to ram air on my 2wd so I thought I would try again. I think it was a bad idea. I think I'll probably go back to stock, but I can't spend another penny on the van right now.

[theschnell]

Tim,

I should ask. Is your dual 10 fan where you built the shroud on a 2wd or 4wd? And do you still have the A/C stuff on the van? Maybe there is still hope for me to go electric.

[djshimon]

hey schnell, are you using one or two fans? and which side of the radiator is it on?
I've seen another post where they used one slim fan on the bumper side of the radiator in conjunction with the clutch fan. I leaning towards that route.
-aaron.

[theschnell]

I bought a 14inch fan and tried to integrate it into the original fan shroud in place of the clutch fan. That didn't work. I think if you put it on the front, bumper side, as a pusher, that would be the best. I ended up looking at one of the threads on TVP where Tim describes his dual fan conversion, and was reminded that part of my problem may be that I did not get a high efficiency core when I had my rad recored. I have had to resort to a couple of air dams in front of my radiator to push the air up to the top of the radiator, and that is good for 75mph. I guess I'm just going to have to be satisfied with that for now.

If you put a pusher fan in, I think a 15 inch would be way too big to fit nicely. I'd do what Tim says and do one or two tens.

[trestlehed]

Ok guys, here are some threads you might want to check out from the other website concerning my dual electric fan conversion and a link to the custom radiator guy in Northern California:

Here is a link to the custom rad you need for $300. Don't take shortcuts on your cooling system.

http://www.toyotavanpeople.com/forum...diator+upgrade


After getting 2 brand new fan clutches that were bad right out of the box, I went with a custom 3 row radiator with dual electric fans. Expensive, but well worth it in the long run:
http://www.toyotavanpeople.com/forum...diator+upgrade

Also do a search here for the "Hose of Death" replacement. This is another "must do" for these old vans.

[djshimon]

Thanks for that info Trestlehead-i like the look of that shroud and setup, nice and simple. But I couldn't find in your posts' where you got the shroud from? I suppose I could do some fabrication but don't want to at the moment. Maybe I'll talk to some metal fabricators in portland for an estimate.
I am leaning towards a 10" pusher in front of the radiator in conjunction with the clutch fan for this summer. I'm not having temperature issues right now but if I experience some this summer(with the aux. fan and clutch fan) I'll have a project for the winter.
You are right in that 500$ to fix one of the main weaknesses to our vans' is definitely worth it. I will surely go with the re-core in a matter of time, but is it best to do an engine flush before or after a freshy re-core? -My guess is before.
I just thought that your name trestlehead is probably because you surf trestles? I lived in Carlsbad for a few months, years ago, and I love it down there-great surfing and lifestyle-I never surfed trestles though.
thanks again, aaron.

[timsrv]

Tim,

I should ask. Is your dual 10 fan where you built the shroud on a 2wd or 4wd? And do you still have the A/C stuff on the van? Maybe there is still hope for me to go electric.

My dual electric fan set-up is on my super-overloaded 2wd cargo van. Part of the reason I built my own shroud is because the flex-a-lite unit didn't cover the entire core (width was fine but it was 2 - 3 inches too short). I wasn't super worried about the wire tie things but that combined with the fit issues led me to build my own. I haven't tried the flex-a-lite unit on a 4wd radiator yet, but suspect it would fit the core much better due to the shorter 4wd radiator core.

FWIW, I carry about 3,000 lbs of tools and inventory in my 2wd cargo van (about 2x it's rated capacity) and I have working AC. My van has front and rear AC with 2 condensers (one under the front of the van and the other directly in front of my radiator). This time of year I run my AC almost all the time and the electric fans are satisfactory. Occasionally though, there are times I need to drive up long uphill grades on hot days. In those situations I sometimes need to turn off the AC until after I reach the top (otherwise the van gets hot). This is nothing new for me though and I also had to do this before I installed the electric fans. The cool thing about electric is they pull maximum CFM's even when the van is at rest............allowing the van to cool down. The problem with the clutch fan is it requires high engine RPM's to move high volumes of air. Of course this means more engine heat.........sort of a catch 22.

I should mention that pusher fans are not as efficient as pullers. If you are simply wanting to assist stock cooling (keeping your clutch fan) then you'll need to go with shroudless pusher(s). If however you are getting rid of the clutch fan, then it would be far better to go with dual 10" pullers installed in a shroud. Tim

[trestlehed]

djshimon wrote:

I just thought that your name trestlehead is probably because you surf trestles? I lived in Carlsbad for a few months, years ago, and I love it down there-great surfing and lifestyle-I never surfed trestles though.

Yep my name has a double meaning. Not only did I surf Trestles a lot but I also work for the railroad.
Back when I was a conductor I would open the door and look at the surf at Trestles no matter how busy
or crazy things were on the train. So a co-worker nick-named me trestlehead. And it stuck.
Not surfing much nowadays, more into biking now.

As far as the fan shroud on my van, my friend had a metal fabricator do the work. Turned out nice.

Good luck on your van... Let us know what you found and what you did to fix it.
Thanks!

[gushaman]

djshimon wrote:


Yep my name has a double meaning. Not only did I surf Trestles a lot but I also work for the railroad.
Back when I was a conductor I would open the door and look at the surf at Trestles no matter how busy
or crazy things were on the train. So a co-worker nick-named me trestlehead. And it stuck.
Not surfing much nowadays, more into biking now.

As far as the fan shroud on my van, my friend had a metal fabricator do the work. Turned out nice.

Good luck on your van... Let us know what you found and what you did to fix it.
Thanks!

LOL trestlehead, I figured it was just another name for a run-of-the-death-star stormtrooper as I had often previously thought the eyebrow portion of thier helmets looked like an old railrod trestle! Ive been callin stormtroopers trestleheads for years now because of you! Its even caught on here in TN!

[ARP]

Yup I am the one who kept the stock clutch setup aNd added the pusheronthe front hooked to an. Adjustable thermosat with probeonthefuel return line. VerY happy with the setuP, comes on after shutdown and taakescaare of the Hot soak, also oncelastsummerpulling the grade out of Zion in 105F tempsd : sand stopngo traffic it cameon and was iMportant keeping things coolScuE the mess these iPads suck.

[User1]

Yup I am the one who kept the stock clutch setup aNd added the pusheronthe front hooked to an. Adjustable thermosat with probeonthefuel return line. VerY happy with the setuP, comes on after shutdown and taakescaare of the Hot soak, also oncelastsummerpulling the grade out of Zion in 105F tempsd : sand stopngo traffic it cameon and was iMportant keeping things coolScuE the mess these iPads suck.

Hey ARP,

Is your system documented anywhere? Maybe with some pics?

Thanks,

[trestlehed]

FWIW my dual electric fan set-up is doing a good job. Even though I believe I have a small HG leak (small amount of coolant loss after each short drive) AND I still need to tweak the fans on/off temps... So IMO the dual electric fans are vastly superior to the stock fan clutch set-up.
You also gain a small amount of horsepower when you do away with the fan clutch.

Hopefully within a month I will have my mechanic buddy declare all out war on my cooling system and finally get everything fixed/adjusted properly.

[User1]

FWIW my dual electric fan set-up is doing a good job. Even though I believe I have a small HG leak (small amount of coolant loss after each short drive) AND I still need to tweak the fans on/off temps... So IMO the dual electric fans are vastly superior to the stock fan clutch set-up.
You also gain a small amount of horsepower when you do away with the fan clutch.

Hopefully within a month I will have my mechanic buddy declare all out war on my cooling system and finally get everything fixed/adjusted properly.

I see you're in SD treslehed, what's the deal if I needed a shroud made? Any connections? I haven't given up yet on the stock cooling system. I'd still have problems regardless of which cooling system used. I think you were the one that had that piece made that the hose of death clamps to, right? Is there someone that is setup to make more if needed?

[trestlehed]

My fan shroud was made by a machine shop in the Carlsbad area for $200. I can ask my mechanic who did it.
However, since you are located in Long Beach (conveniently located in the center of the So Cal Car-topia Megalopolis) you should have no problem finding someone local to do it for you.

As for the coolant outlet plate that flows to the hose of death... The guy who made it was in Oceanside, but he left town a while back. From what I heard he worked at a motorcycle racing Co. and liked to work nights and keep a low profile. Maybe ditching the IRS or ex-wife? Don't know. But that connection is dead. I suggest you do as I did: Pull your coolant outlet plate, take it to a machine shop and have 'em reproduce it. Maybe have the same guys do your fan shroud so you can get a bundled discount.

Wish I had more info to give than that.

[gushaman]

once upon a time, i had a 4wd a/t, and i put in an mr2 electric fan. it fit well, but i got a good fan clutch and never wired the fan up. but i often thought it made it a lot cleaner in the engine house