Thread: Fan keeps eating radiators

Originally Posted by shayne86

Sorry but can we circle back to numerous comments about removing the serpentine belt for water crossings....... what?!

I can't remember any situation I've ever been in offroad where i though that removing my water pump and power steering from the equation would be the best option

You are only crossing a creek or river, Not the continent.
The engine won't overheat with all that water flowing around it and the vehicle is still steerable without the power steering.
Removing the belt is a Far better option than slamming the fan through the radiator and cooking the engine on the way home don't you think??

Originally Posted by trout1105

You are only crossing a creek or river, Not the continent.
The engine won't overheat with all that water flowing around it and the vehicle is still steerable without the power steering.
Removing the belt is a Far better option than slamming the fan through the radiator and cooking the engine on the way home don't you think??

Yeah i understand but water crossings can turn to custard in a heart beat. Gonna be a bad day getting recovered from a bog hole with no water pump and no power steering. But anyways

James NZ
PM sent….
onebob

Originally Posted by onebob

Okay - I’ll poke my head above the parapet and risk getting my head blown off and say that I too are modding a Ford Falcon FG fan to see how it would fit my new radiator. And before the naysayers interject, I’ve gotta say FFS these fans keep a supercharged 5.0L V8 cool so why wouldn’t it work for a 2.5L turbo diesel. I am going to find out ….

Pretty sure the water in the radiator keeps the engine cool, the fan only pulls air through the radiator when the car isn't going fast enough to provide sufficient air flow. There's a lot more to it than just the fan. The radiator core is probably the most important, it's size in all 3 dimensions plays the most important part in your cooling system, then there's the water pump and what sort of condition that is in. You also have the thermostat which has to be right, if it allows too much flow, the engine will not run to it's optimal performance, if it doesn't allow enough, the engine will overheat.

We’ve fitted fitted electric thermo fans with an isolation switch for water crossings. It’s a good idea to wire in a light on your dash, to show when they are off, so that you remember to turn them back on.

Fans flexing into radiators have been a thing for years. Has no one done a 4wd course? It's one of the things they teach you in off-road 101. I've done two separate courses and they covered it including how best to fit a tarp in both.

I had a roll down tarp over the radiator grile in my old defender. Worked really well. Was from South Africa.

Sorry I don't mean to sound rude, I just thought people knew? How about wading plugs? Do people know about them and how to use them?

If you don't put the wading plugs in and things are hot you're gonna have a bad time - particularly if you have a manual and change gears in the water.

Fourby in the UK do an interesting timing cover vent to stop the engine sucking in water.

Also, if you're doing a lot of river crossings, make up a support mount for your numberplate. I use a piece of 3mm alloy plate behind my front number plate. Cause they rip off real easy if you don't have one.

Hi guys

I didn't realise my original post was going to spark so much interest. One thing I would like to mention tho, and I'm not trying to upset anybody or course offence, but I'm guessing that some of the posters here are old hands. I myself got my first landy at the age of 18 and have been off roading for 41 & 3/4 years now , so I don't mind taking the time out to perhaps put a tarp over the radiator etc. But sometimes suggesting to a 21 yr old that he stops and removes various bits of his landy whilst his mates in their nissans, cruiser etc carry on is probably not an attractive proposition to him. That's not to say he's like a bull in a china shop, he will stop and check the track out etc, but if your the second or third truck to go thru the same river crossing you've probably got a reasonable idea of what to expect when going thru it. Here in NZ we have lots of river crossings and in fact probably, I'm guessing, 90% of trips will have at least one river to cross, so removing bits of the landy would get rather fatiguing. I have not had the luck to off road in Oz so I don't know of the track circumstances over there but I am aware of some of the famous tracks in northern Queensland that involve water.

My son is also doing his automotive apprenticeship and although I try to guide him as much as I can (I'm ex mechanic) he does want to branch out and experience things for himself. My role is to try to mitigate any downsides to his experiments. I tend to think that when your young there are times when you will "re-invent the wheel" because that's part of human nature.

For the more experienced guys here, I would really like to know why the V8 fan has a moulded in circumference ring and the TD5 doesn't. It seems to me that the V8 fan would be a better option for him. My knowledge of fans may be behind the times but in the old days as long as the radiator was shrouded and the fan set into the shroud it worked back then so I am interested to hear why it doesn't work on the disco now.

I do enjoy being part of this group, and appreciate the knowledge generously given. Thanks for reading this.

Cheers, James NZ

Edited to hopefully explain things a bit better.

Originally Posted by gusthedog

Fans flexing into radiators have been a thing for years. Has no one done a 4wd course? It's one of the things they teach you in off-road 101. I've done two separate courses and they covered it including how best to fit a tarp in both.

I had a roll down tarp over the radiator grile in my old defender. Worked really well. Was from South Africa.

Sorry I don't mean to sound rude, I just thought people knew? How about wading plugs? Do people know about them and how to use them?

If you don't put the wading plugs in and things are hot you're gonna have a bad time - particularly if you have a manual and change gears in the water.

Fourby in the UK do an interesting timing cover vent to stop the engine sucking in water.

Also, if you're doing a lot of river crossings, make up a support mount for your numberplate. I use a piece of 3mm alloy plate behind my front number plate. Cause they rip off real easy if you don't have one.

Tarps are cheap. Even poly tarps will work provided you remember that NO air will pass through. Even doubled up shade cloth will help in a pinch.

Wading plugs... don't forget the timing cover one in a TD1, especially if you are not the first vehicle to cross and the water is now full of silt.