Thread: Show us your RRC bonnet Vents

Originally Posted by Homestar

Just remembered something that may help - when I went for my first test run, things started to get hot. When I got home and let the engine cool, I restarted it and let it run up to temp in the driveway - on about a 35 degree day - it got to temp and sat there rock solid, no dramas.

The secret.... I had the bonnet up... . When I closed it, the temp crept up again, so if you are having persistent problems, just leave the bonnet at home...

It did prove how awful these things are at removing the heat under the bonnet - there is bugger all room for the hot air to escape.

38degrees today ... sitting in traffic .... A/C blowing it's freezing magic stuff through the car. Useless condenser fans screaming away .... EL falcon fans ticking over ..... I was watching the temp gauge starting to climb (no not the useless factory one... the VDO mechanical one that actually tells the truth) .... it gets to 88degrees and I faintly hear the EL fans spool onto high speed .............. The temperature just plummeted, all the way down to 78degrees before they shut off and went back to series mode.

Magic stuff, It will be interesting to see how they handle towing the block of flats in this sort of temperature.

seeya,
Shane L.

Shane, is the thermo switch that changes the fans from series to parallel operation part of the fans themselves or something you've done?

Originally Posted by Homestar

Shane, is the thermo switch that changes the fans from series to parallel operation part of the fans themselves or something you've done?

Oh I did that, I just replaced the switch on the thermostat housing, and used 3 relays from a parts car. Very simple, I think I linked it earlier on in this thread if you check. The entire cost was $15 for a set of used EL fans from someone wrecking one on the local facebook groups.

seeya,
shane L.

OK, now I'm prepared for an onslaught of 'that's a stupid question to ask' type responses, but answer me this experts:

How do you ensure the thermatic fans remain operational (without a manual switch) after immersion / water fjording etc.

I'm not able to see any IP68 / IPX rated thermatic fans anywhere. so I just wonder how many of them have failed after a deep water crossing.
Surely the push fans for the hvac on the front of the RRC have some kind of water seal, else they become full of muddy crap and fail...

Curiosity has the better of me on this one. I'm struggling to find a thermatic fan which is sufficiently rated against water / dust ingress (IP68) to be suitable enough for use on the pull side of the radiator.

Not disputing the fact that there are plenty of electric thermofans out there, but why else would LR persist with a viscous hub belt driven fan ? Has to be a genuine reason, apart from a simple 'product wasn't available back then' or ' was tested but proven to not be reliable' argument.

and while a manual switch may be fine for disengaging fans, I'm failing to see why it would actually be necessary, as the temp sensor will see a temp drop in the radiator core, and the fans won't switch on when immersed. Also understand that you don't want plastic blades chopping a core up, but if the fans are correctly mounted this should also be a non-issue.

so where are these immersion-proof electric thermofans? I'd like a pair, simply because it would make belt changes a lot easier. Or is it just wishful thinking?

it's a 12volt DC motor, I can't see why it wouldn't work even if full of water. I doubt it would be healthy for it long term to be filled with water all of the time. I know on my other cars there is drain tubes on the bottom of the motors ... just incase water gets in there.

seeya,
shane L.

Yeah, I think they are designed for 'water in, water out' type of operation as Shane suggests. What goes in comes back out again. This style of fan has been around for yonks, and are very reliable so I wouldn't be too concerned about giving them the occasional dunking. Maybe rinse them off with fresh water if you dunk them in mud while out playing.

My twin set up has one fan on all the time the motor is running.......... sheer laziness on my behalf or too busy doing other stuff.

That fan ceased to run after about 100 k + kms. (genuine fake EL)

Bought a real EL set up and swapped a motor from that in, bearings slightly noisy but runs ok.

Took the fake motor apart and all that was wrong was seized brushes that a good spray with contact cleaner and a dong with an American hammer would have fixed in situ. Brushes were hardly worn, there are four, not two, and had been once or twice immersed. Dust build up was the cause of the seizure.

HTH, DL

Originally Posted by Mercguy

OK, now I'm prepared for an onslaught of 'that's a stupid question to ask' type responses, but answer me this experts:

How do you ensure the thermatic fans remain operational (without a manual switch) after immersion / water fjording etc.

I'm not able to see any IP68 / IPX rated thermatic fans anywhere. so I just wonder how many of them have failed after a deep water crossing.
Surely the push fans for the hvac on the front of the RRC have some kind of water seal, else they become full of muddy crap and fail...

Curiosity has the better of me on this one. I'm struggling to find a thermatic fan which is sufficiently rated against water / dust ingress (IP68) to be suitable enough for use on the pull side of the radiator.

Not disputing the fact that there are plenty of electric thermofans out there, but why else would LR persist with a viscous hub belt driven fan ? Has to be a genuine reason, apart from a simple 'product wasn't available back then' or ' was tested but proven to not be reliable' argument.

and while a manual switch may be fine for disengaging fans, I'm failing to see why it would actually be necessary, as the temp sensor will see a temp drop in the radiator core, and the fans won't switch on when immersed. Also understand that you don't want plastic blades chopping a core up, but if the fans are correctly mounted this should also be a non-issue.

so where are these immersion-proof electric thermofans? I'd like a pair, simply because it would make belt changes a lot easier. Or is it just wishful thinking?

If your fans are set to 90 d and your at 110 d before you hit the water, they are not going to turn of in an instant, you may be out the other side before they turn off.

For me I make sure all thermos are switched off before hitting water and have a buzzer fited to ensure they are switched back on after, you think you wont leave em off but you do more often than you would think.

Water isnt thrown around via fans and there is no chance of fan or rad damage