Intercooler fan yes or no ?

[FNqGu04]

While looking for anew inter cooler I noticed a lot being offered with an electric fan attached.
Is it worth while having a fan on your IC ,just putting it out there ??

:feedback:
Craig

[MB]

G'day Craig, I'd say it depends on the intended truck usage mate. If it were for highway use then I'd imagine the scoop would do all the work needed. I'm thinking for low down slow crawling applications a fan would near be essential to stop heat soak on top mount IC's.

[threedogs]

there has been lots written on this topic have a search and see what you can find,
Depends what you use your Patrol for,,what motor /IC do you have

[Hodge]

My cross country IC arrived with a fan fitted. I wired up a in-dash switch so i can manually turn it off or on. As MB said, general driving around town or on freeway it makes sweet f*** all difference with fan on or off. If the cross country intercooler is as good as they say it is, I don't know why it comes fitted with a fan.... But anyway I left my fan on and wired it up.
I haven't yet tested it under crawling conditions though.
However... I have a enormous ARE scoop which scoops up a lot of air movement while vehicle is at speed. So...
My guess is, (and this is only my guess) cars with standard size intercoolers and/or scoops will benefit much more with a fan, than the larger intercoolers and/or scoops. The fan will promote more air flow.
My 2c.

[Winnie]

G'day Craig, I'd say it depends on the intended truck usage mate. If it were for highway use then I'd imagine the scoop would do all the work needed. I'm thinking for low down slow crawling applications a fan would near be essential to stop heat soak on top mount IC's.
I agree with what MB says here. In fact at highway speeds or even general road speeds, a fan is more of a hindrance than a help.
But offroad at speeds below 40kph then fan does help a fair bit then.
I have a fan on my cross country cooler wired to ignition so it is always running. I would forget to switch it on at low speeds if I had it on a switch, and I think it helps with heat soak when stopped at lights etc, it always has cooler outside air flowing through it so doesn't soak up as much heat from the engine.

[Wizard52]

In theory a fan should help at all speeds if set up properly as standard set up does allow air to flow through all the intercooler as can be seen from attached photo of mine. Back half is dirty from air and dust hitting top of intercooler but front half is as clean as a whistle. Standard scoop & intercooler.

[threedogs]

From the info I received when I brought my ARE scoop was the STD scoop
doesnt really do much till you hit 80KPH, with the ARE scoop fitted that drops down to 60KPH
Heat retention would be the enemy, Not sure which is the best way to wire one up.

[FNqGu04]

Hi guys
Thanks for your feedback , I have seen them wired up to a thremocouple fitted to the outlet
of the IC so it comes on when the air temp reaches a certain point .

[clubbyr8]

I mounted a 10" or was it 9" fan under the standard intercooler so it sucks air through the IC. It's wired via a Jaycar 50 C normally open thermostat switch that's connected to the IC outlet. I've also got a manual override switch in the dash. It sucks a lot of air through the IC and only comes on when the temperature rises above 50 C. Doesn't come on much at highway speeds but works well in traffic.... :)

[jff45]

I use a 12" Davies Craig fan under a 450x300x76mm core size which is also controlled by a Jaycar 50C temp switch and in dash override (which I've never had to use).
IMO, they are needed. The IC is a massive heat soak when the engine is shut down for only a short period, e.g. stopped for shopping, and the the scoop acts as a chimney to funnel all the engine heat up through the IC.

[threedogs]

In theory a fan should help at all speeds if set up properly as standard set up does allow air to flow through all the intercooler as can be seen from attached photo of mine. Back half is dirty from air and dust hitting top of intercooler but front half is as clean as a whistle. Standard scoop & intercooler.

If I saw your IC I would think only half is being used, be it the dirty side only saying that because with the ARE scoop
there are vanes underneath to direct a pecentage of the air to the front of the IC. With the OE scoop air is forced
only to the rear. Saying that I believe only the Dirty part of your IC is being used, so not very efficient it could be better
The ARE web site shows how efficient your IC can get,, what with a tigged IC to fitting an ARE scoop to even fitting a fan

[mudski]

I agree with what MB says here. In fact at highway speeds or even general road speeds, a fan is more of a hindrance than a help.
But offroad at speeds below 40kph then fan does help a fair bit then.
I have a fan on my cross country cooler wired to ignition so it is always running. I would forget to switch it on at low speeds if I had it on a switch, and I think it helps with heat soak when stopped at lights etc, it always has cooler outside air flowing through it so doesn't soak up as much heat from the engine.
Yeah good point you make their winnie. It never really come to mind about the heat soak whilst sitting at the lights. Albeit a minor gain. It is still a gain.

Sent from my GT-N7105T using Tapatalk

[Kimbo63]

Have any one with a cc inter cooler tried it without the fan all together ?
Just struggling to work out if it would be more beneficial without the fan altogether just how cool do you need the air when crawling along with next to no boost?

[gubigfish]

Have any one with a cc inter cooler tried it without the fan all together ?
Just struggling to work out if it would be more beneficial without the fan altogether just how cool do you need the air when crawling along with next to no boost?

I was running it without the Fan for the last 6 months or so, only just connected the fuse for the fan after christmas on my way back from Yallingup and it seemed to make a difference in the temps. Won't really know till I give it a workout on a beach how much of a difference its making.

[Kimbo63]

I was running it without the Fan for the last 6 months or so, only just connected the fuse for the fan after christmas on my way back from Yallingup and it seemed to make a difference in the temps. Won't really know till I give it a workout on a beach how much of a difference its making.
Was the fan still on the ic and just disconnected ?

[Hodge]

I think I know what Kimbo63 is getting at.
When I looked at my intercooler with the prefixed fan on it once CC sent it to me... I thought this fan might be a physical air flow obstruction. So I too am curious how good it would perform without the fan completely .

Sent from S5

[gubigfish]

Was the fan still on the ic and just disconnected ?
Yep sure was

[Hodge]

As I said in my previous post I have noticed no temperature difference displayed with fan on or off. However ... Am yet to do anything crawling slow speed with motor under load.

Sent from S5

[moonie]

With a good after market intercooler you do not need a fan just a larger scope I have been throw this it has taken me 6years of research,a fan is good only if you driving under 30 to 40kph for long periods of time but just for a day or two I wouldent worry

[threedogs]

so the fan is only to get the IC temps down not EGTs, what would this translate to.
sitting in traffic what advantage would you acheive, Im lost with all this.
struggling to see where the advantage is. Its not going to be performance
cause your only crawling, just something else to fail imo,,lol

just saying lol

[Hodge]

so the fan is only to get the IC temps down not EGTs, what would this translate to.
sitting in traffic what advantage would you acheive, Im lost with all this.
struggling to see where the advantage is. Its not going to be performance
cause your only crawling, just something else to fail imo,,lol

just saying lol
Erm IC temps inhibit egt temps ... So the lower the intake temps the better your egts are ... So yes there is benefit .

Sent from S5

[Winnie]

so the fan is only to get the IC temps down not EGTs, what would this translate to.
sitting in traffic what advantage would you acheive, Im lost with all this.
struggling to see where the advantage is. Its not going to be performance
cause your only crawling, just something else to fail imo,,lol

just saying lol

Naturally if your IC is cooler then so is the air inside it.
If you are just crawling along there will be SFA air flow to the cooler which sits on top of the motor and gets hot.
Pretty simple really!

[threedogs]

I always thought boost kept your egt's down ,has anyone done a before and after fan install
or just assuming if fan is fitted the intake temps will be down in a hot engine bay.
Just not convinced fitting a fan gives you bang for buck results, lol

[Hodge]

I always thought boost kept your egt's down ,has anyone done a before and after fan install
or just assuming if fan is fitted the intake temps will be down in a hot engine bay.
Just not convinced fitting a fan gives you bang for buck results, lol
Well it does but where does this hot charged air go through before it gets to the motor? That's right the intercooler.

So naturally the more efficiently the intercooler brings the charged air (Boost) down before it enters the motor, the better.


Sent from S5

[Wizard52]

Just to put the cat amongst the pigeons- our radiators run a fan to pull max air for cooling at all speeds so why would a fan on an intercooler be different? Even at highway speeds, I doubt the standard scoop would collect the max air that could be pushed through, so a fan should help as long as it has correct pitch. A variable pitch as on aeroplanes would be ideal but at what cost?
I remember my mother used to have a cheap chinese cooling fan that made a lot of noise and spun quickly at max speed but hardly moved any air because of shape of the blades.

[MB]

Top bullbar mounted spotties or light bars wouldn't help bonnet windflow either at high speeds I would think.

[threedogs]

Top bullbar mounted spotties or light bars wouldn't help bonnet windflow either at high speeds I would think.

even by fitting a bullbar you have compromised the aerodynamics
Who has high egts @ low speeds ???

[MB]

Who has high egts @ low speeds ???[/QUOTE]
Here's some of the boys testing their EGT's @ low speeds :-)
https://youtu.be/u2aH7zq0xX4

[bazzaboy]

Hypothetical ( and maybe stupid ) question ...... instead of installing a fan on the IC, if one was to fit a motorized damper-vane on one of the AC vents, and then directed that conditioned air at the IC, would it have a measurable effect or improvement? I read somewhere that a similar experiment was done using a CO2 fire extinguisher and that they found that it was too cold and it hindered the performance.

[Hodge]

even by fitting a bullbar you have compromised the aerodynamics
Who has high egts @ low speeds ???

Have you ever crawled up a very steep long hill in the high country or somewhere John? In low range? EGT's will creep up there easily.

[Turtle_au]

When do most vehicles overheat? Stop/start traffic. Loading up generates the heat, then stop and you lose the airflow to get rid of the heat. Not just the airflow through the radiator and intercooler but also engine bay. I remember a friend had an early EXA turbo and kept destroying turbos every 12 months. After the 3rd one he found out that there was a problem with his thermo fan timer. It was supposed to run for 10 minutes after shutdown to keep airflow in the engine bay. His didn't and gradually killed the turbo.
Any cooling when stopped will help.

Sent from my SM-T355Y using Tapatalk

[nissannewby]

..........

[threedogs]

Have you ever crawled up a very steep long hill in the high country or somewhere John? In low range? EGT's will creep up there easily.

Yes Ive been up many long steep hills in the high country in low range,
but in a double diff locked 350 chev troopy @ 1200 rpm

[nissannewby]

Erm IC temps inhibit egt temps ... So the lower the intake temps the better your egts are ... So yes there is benefit .

Sent from S5

ICs dont really inhibit EGTs. Your not wrong in what you are saying though. The turbo compresses air making it more dense, so more air means we can put more fuel in which equals more power and torque etc. Now when the turbo compresses the air it heats up so we put it through an intercooler which in turn brings the temps down increasing density once again. More air will then equate to leaner afrs and lower egts.

The ic efficiency wont change. Placing a fan on will help to reduce heat soak which top mount intercoolers are plagued with. This is where better quality cores come into their own as they can get rid of heat soak quicker. Remember the cooler is just a heat exchanger, if air flow is poor the exchange is low just like any other cooling system.

The problems with the fans that are fitted to most cc coolers or most top mount coolers are they arent up to the task for prolonged periods they simply do not move enough volume of air to keep the heat soak away. Its a double edged sword though as you simply can not fit a fan of sufficient output under the ic.

[nissannewby]

Just to put the cat amongst the pigeons- our radiators run a fan to pull max air for cooling at all speeds so why would a fan on an intercooler be different? Even at highway speeds, I doubt the standard scoop would collect the max air that could be pushed through, so a fan should help as long as it has correct pitch. A variable pitch as on aeroplanes would be ideal but at what cost?
I remember my mother used to have a cheap chinese cooling fan that made a lot of noise and spun quickly at max speed but hardly moved any air because of shape of the blades.

The difference between engine driven fans and the tiny little fan under most ics is huge. Not even the best of 12/24v fans can come close to the output of an engine driven fan.

[Hodge]

ICs dont really inhibit EGTs. Your not wrong in what you are saying though. The turbo compresses air making it more dense, so more air means we can put more fuel in which equals more power and torque etc. Now when the turbo compresses the air it heats up so we put it through an intercooler which in turn brings the temps down increasing density once again. More air will then equate to leaner afrs and lower egts.

I think I chose the wrong word to use. "Help" instead of inhibit would have been much more suitable. lol But I understand what you're saying.

[nissannewby]

I think I chose the wrong word to use. "Help" instead of inhibit would have been much more suitable. lol But I understand what you're saying.

Im not having a dig or anything mate. I know you are up for the info so just quoted you. I am on my phone and dont really enjoy writing all this on these tiny screens.

[Wizard52]

The difference between engine driven fans and the tiny little fan under most ics is huge. Not even the best of 12/24v fans can come close to the output of an engine driven fan.

Agree entirely. I only wish I could get the air to flow through all of the intercooler instead of back half only, as in photo in my earlier post.

[FNqGu04]

Wizard2
You might need one of those ARE scoops that 3D reckons are the ducks nuts .

[Rumcajs]

I've removed mine (fan) from CC intercooler as it was just being shaken in to destruction (its a Di thing intercooler mounted on the engine unlike on TD and CrD mounted on the cross bars to the body) and the last thing I wanted the fan blades destroying the intercooler as they'd fly off broken.

Apart from the noise when stationary at the lights I haven't noticed any effects on anything be it performance or EGTs down what not.

If you want to reduce EGTs and at the same time increase power go for Water/Meth injection instead.

Regards

[4bye4]

Just came back from a run on the beach with our club. I have no fan on the intercooler and had EGT's of 350deg on the bitumen at 100 to 110 on the way there and back. Dead slow on the beach through the sand for nearly and hour, never exceeded 400 deg and water temp was steady all day at 90 to 92 deg. Admittedly the EGTs were up dead slow in the sand, but I don't see it as an issue. BTW the ambient temp was mid to high 30's.

[vlindustrias]

it is not that important you should better make a good vent and a air box so the air comes at fast y continuos rate during the advance of the car i used to have a IC fan and it cant see any difference. and the fan allways will be a source of noises

[GeeYou8]

Agree entirely. I only wish I could get the air to flow through all of the intercooler instead of back half only, as in photo in my earlier post.
The dirt only on the rear of the IC is exaggerated because the dirt is heavier than the air so it travels further to the rear than the air.
Or if you prefer, the dirt is stationary and the IC moves further forward before it is directed downward onto the IC (A body remains at rest or in motion until acted upon by an external unbalanced force).
So the problem is not as bad as it looks, but there will still be some difference in air flow between front and rear.
Graham