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| Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=98&t=77542 |
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| Author: | thermorex [ Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
I created this post as a general bucket for Electric Fan conversions that are meant to replace the stock, mechanical fan. The oldest post regarding the CRD is made by poppie and this is the link: viewtopic.php?f=98&t=62129 My alternative came few years later, and started with this post: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=74419&start=20 Overall, the best ready to mount option currently available that I know of, is getting a FF Dynamics fan and shroud from ebay (seller spikedcollardogs - http://www.ebay.com/usr/spikedcollardogs). He has a setup already made for CRD, but the shroud is about 18x18, rather than 20x20. Price for the kit (including switches, relay and some wires) is 270+40 shipping. Another alternative would be to buy just the fan (he sells them separately) for about 125 + 20 shipping, and create your own shroud. You can buy a shroud from summit, 20x20, but what I found till this moment 20x20 from summit came with a 14 inch fan hole, so to install the 16 inch there is some additional cutting (not a big deal to be honest). The beauty of getting an FF Dynamics fan is that is has lifetime warranty, all other brand names do not. Overall, not too many options available, I chose getting the FF Dynamics fan and the shroud only from EBay for 260 shipped (that does not include wires, relay, switches, but it does come with some fan motor adapters - the original kit has some adapters that secure the fan motor on the fan grille that are too deep, and using the setup as it comes from the seller would cause the fan motor to touch the bolt where the mechanical fan is mounted – so the extra slimmer adapters must be used instead of what the fan comes with). BTW, I am not affiliated with the ebay vendor and Brianawd was kind enough to post about this kit, and this is how I found about it. I also used a variable speed controller from summit, due to being easier/smoother on the electric system and also allowing theoption of overrides: always on, always off, on the top of the command it gets from the thermostat it comes with. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-33054/overview/ Price is about 105 with free shipping for orders over 100. Trust me, this little baby it’s worth the money! Below is my post from a previous thread, slightly edited. It includes some pictures of the ebay fan and shroud, with the variable speed controller installed on the jeep: I installed the fan from the e-Bay guy, with my variable speed controller. So far, so good. It barely starts, runs for 10-15 seconds and then stops. I'm sure the fan is going to be great for normal driving and it may even be OK for towing. But then the temperature outside was mid 60s... Couple thoughts: - the fan shroud is smaller than our 20x20 radiator. Its more like 18x18, edge to edge. Which is not a show stopper but I expected a fan with a shroud as big as the radiator. ![]() ![]() - the brackets it comes with: it has some guiding brackets on the top which is cool. You're supposed to use a pliers and secure it to the upper lip of the radiator, which I didn't (made my own brackets - read below) . It also comes with that plastic tide-ons that any e-fan comes with, this junk: ![]() The shroud has some holes made in it where you're supposed to insert the plastic ties. I personally try to stay away of stuff like this, don't trust them as I trust a metal bracket. I'd expected a shroud to include some metal brackets in this price. The shroud though has a nice finish. I ended up making my own brackets that I secured the shroud where the plastic fan cover used to be mounted: ![]() ![]() Was thinking to make some other one for the guides under, but the fan shroud is so rigid, I dropped the idea. Those are the upper brackets the shroud comes with: ![]() This is where I installed the probe from the variable speed controller, don't like the idea of pushing it through the fan fins... ![]() And this is the fan controller: ![]() Which once I find the "sweet spot" for when I will have it start, ill move it inside the air box, away from dust and humidity. Overall, I'm happy so far with the purchase, but I paid 260 for the shroud and fan only, plus another 105 for the variable speed controller, plus solder, couplings etc. For some people may be too pricey... Jeep feels a little bit more responsive, but may be just my mind playing games... On the highway, I have confirmed about 2+ MPG increase, the best I got before was about 27, now I best get 30. City drive, I maybe got about 1+ mpg, but city drive is not a good indication since sometimes you are stuck in traffic, or stop lights, or stop and go traffic. |
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| Author: | crdjoe [ Sat Jan 04, 2014 5:57 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
I like the electric fan I put one on my Ford Ranger it worked great 3-4 mpg gain in winter and your setup looks good to but I thought I should say something I talked to an engineer that helped put the Diesel Liberty together The manual fan setup pulls 4500 cfm, spikedcollardog says his setup pulls 3500 cfm heres the problem Hayden and Flexalite don't have a fan setup that pulls more than 3300 cfm also the red fan looks exactly like a Hayden 16" Super Duty 3712 red fan with a ffdynamics tag on it! It only pulls 1500 cfm I wrote to spikedcollardog twice asking these questions I am now banded from buying anything from him and he ridiqued me as well! (I wasn't harsh with my questions) I wrote FFDynamics and haven't heard from them but I read some articles on there site FFDynamics is good smart people! I just had anew long block installed at the dealer under extended warranty (cracked block) and I would love to have that electric fan (I live by Detroit) but I can't take any chances I hope it works but as it gets warmer keep an eye on your temp gauge! FFDynamics said they wouldn't sell to a guy in Vegas because it wouldn't work. Personally I have noticed that unless the turbo is spooling up or under a load it doesn't get very hot. I have thought of just putting it in late fall and remove in April. More work. Heres the Ebay email. I guess I won't getting one. Dear spikedcollardogs, I'm not trying to be rude but the engineers told me it needed 4500 cfm and the housing looks a lot like the hayden and not because just its red also because of the mounts and grille is similar my other question is if hayden and flexalite cannot do what ffd dynamics than how did they do it and I'll buy one. - joeo8370 Dear joeo8370, just so you know i have blocked you from buying any of my items,way to much headach with someone like you as i am sure i would have to hold your hand and walk you through every part of the install,i dont have time for it and i got a bunch of other buyers that will scoop these kits up just the same without the headach.sorry - spikedcollardogs |
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| Author: | thermorex [ Mon Jan 27, 2014 12:33 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
Sorry to hear your issues. I can tell you for sure, the motor is not hayden. The spacers between shroud and fan motor are adjustable. I'm not defending spikecollardogs, I'm just sharing my knowledge. Also, the mechanical fan I think has 5,500 cfm if I remember correctly, but that's in max engine rpm. Towing is done at about 2200-2800 rpm normaly. This red ff dynamics fan seems to have 3,000 cfm easy, looking to how much air it pulls (look up summit racing for ex, there are few 16'' fans with over 3,000 cfm) . And it's not impossible for a good 16 inch fan. Plus they come with lifetime warranty. |
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| Author: | omaharacer [ Thu Jul 17, 2014 3:43 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
Sorry for the huge post of pictures. I finished installing the same kit from eBay. Unfortunately I bought the normal auction w/ the relays, then the variable speed controller on top of that from Summit so my overall price was a little higher. Gas V6 fan w/ Hayden HD clutch, lower half of shroud removed "stock" ![]() Mechanical fan/shroud removed ![]() FFD Fan mounted ![]() I used the push-through universal zip-tie things to mount the fan. I also mounted it as far to the driver side as possible to help clear the mechanical fan pulley/mount (barely cleared by 1-2mm anyways). I had previously removed the factory air box and made a "warm" cold air intake w/ 3" exhaust pipe and an AEM dryflow filter so I had plenty of mounting room for the control box. I used 12v key on signal wire from the pink/white MAF sensor pigtail, and pulled the low-speed relay (keeping high-speed relay in) to check to see which blue wire (two identical blue wires from a/c condenser pigtail) went to the front a/c condenser fan (front fan gets high coolant temp for low, and a high speed for a/c use) and used that for the signal wire for a/c on. (This allows the radiator fan to turn on when the A/C is on) I then re-inserted the low-speed relay - to which it isn't going to anything any more. For ground I just used an upper radiator support bolt next to the fender. ![]() Everything all taped up. I re-installed the top half of the factory fan shroud to hide the power wire from the fuse block (inline 30A fuse). Also to help keep airflow flowing through the condenser/intercooler/radiator since it covers the top gap. Helps hold down the coolant overflow as well. ![]() HUGE empty area where the front A/C condenser fan used to be. Factory fan bearings decided to fail, thus pulling more than 40A through the factory wires and blowing the $5 fuse. Front fan hasn't worked for some time, no overheating issues prior to this fan install and a/c seemed to work ok despite that - at least while moving. Having that fan out of the way will definitely open up air flow, and a functional puller fan when the a/c is running will probably give colder temps too. I removed "broke out" all of the thin plastic divider/mini-grille sections - this was mainly because I couldn't get the grille out since the ARB bumper/winch was in the way and I didn't want to break out the engine lift to take it off. I think it gives the front end a little cleaner look now - except for the trans cooler. ![]() I have the controller set to the coldest position right now and in the 75* weather with "spirited" driving, the temperature gauge never went past normal/half mark. The fan will also run for a little bit AFTER you shut off the engine. My EGR/cooler is removed along w/ the cooler lines. That should help a little with coolant temps allowing a slightly less CFM fan to be used (unknown exactly how much removing cooler lines from system will help though). |
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| Author: | thermorex [ Thu Jul 17, 2014 8:56 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
cool, I thought about keeping the top part of the shroud, the reason I didn't is because I should have kept the top half plastic shroud to secure it on the intercooler, and I wanted to use that spot for the efan brackets. I really don't like the zip ties, I know they work, but I just don't like them, especially if you have to remove the efan for additional front end work such timing belt. I guess though both fan brackets and top 1/2 shroud could be mounted on the intercooler, using a bit longer bolts if the existing ones are too short to hold both efan brackets and top part of the shroud. Keeping the top part of the plastic OEM shroud would help keeping the ac lines a bit better organized, and let you put some tools over without the fear of dinging the radiator top. BTW, you may be able to zip tie a 10 inch fan on the passenger side of the condenser (as a pusher), on the side of the trans cooler, I think it would fit pretty good. In my case, I added a button in the jeep to manually start the FF Dynamics fan when I use the AC or when I feel it needs more cooling. There are also ports on the variable speed controller for the AC, which I did not use. Since you have that ARB bumper and lift mods, you may want to get a 3 way button (off - use controller thermostat for on/off, manual on override, manual off override - for when you go in water), since I am not planning on going offroad with the CRD, I only have a manual on override. Just remember the flex-a-lite controller requires ground (-) on the overrides, not positive (+). Have you notice any mpg positive changes? |
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| Author: | mass-hole [ Fri Apr 29, 2016 3:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
Sorry to resurrect this thread but I just wanted to clarify about the spacing between the FF Dynamics fan and engine? It sounds like its an extremely tight fit? Is there any play whatsoever? |
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| Author: | Mountainman [ Fri Apr 29, 2016 6:20 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
there is a good amount of play with the mech fan mount removed, or you can imagine with the hub pressed out that it would fit ok. If you look at my Avatar, you'll see how much space is possible. I built my own shroud with a $20 piece of aluminum sheeting I bought, and it's great how it protects the radiator when I'm working under the hood. I just replaced the head and 20 other things and it was never in my way. I run the same controller as Thermorex, and the HDS gen 2 works really nice for the sender unit. I start testing this on big grades any day now. Thanks Thermorex and others for pioneering this! I think I started another thread about this, because I forgot about this thread (installed mine about two years ago), but I'll try to post the part numbers here of the sender and controller, they are both flexalite and work great with the HDS. |
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| Author: | thermorex [ Fri Apr 29, 2016 7:13 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
Here you go: ![]() ![]() If you get the fan and shroud, you'll need to move the fan motor towards the radiator, the fan comes with thinner brackets that mount the motor on the red fan shroud. Leaving it as it comes, will touch the mechanical fan pulley. |
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| Author: | thermorex [ Fri Apr 29, 2016 7:15 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
Mountainman wrote: there is a good amount of play with the mech fan mount removed, or you can imagine with the hub pressed out that it would fit ok. If you look at my Avatar, you'll see how much space is possible. I built my own shroud with a $20 piece of aluminum sheeting I bought, and it's great how it protects the radiator when I'm working under the hood. I just replaced the head and 20 other things and it was never in my way. I run the same controller as Thermorex, and the HDS gen 2 works really nice for the sender unit. I start testing this on big grades any day now. Thanks Thermorex and others for pioneering this! I think I started another thread about this, because I forgot about this thread (installed mine about two years ago), but I'll try to post the part numbers here of the sender and controller, they are both flexalite and work great with the HDS. Please do that, Jeff told me about the probe but I didn't have time to look it up. I currently use the probe zip tied on the radiator fins. |
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| Author: | Mountainman [ Sun May 01, 2016 12:47 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
Ok, good news, I didn't start another thread, I posted it in Jeff's thread about the extra port. Anyhow, the 32050 Flexalite fits great, and the length of the wire is pretty good, unless you want to mount the controller all the way on the drivers side, which I don't have any idea why anyone would want to... I didn't see an easy way to solder the wires to the connectors that fit on the controller being my only real complaint. You might be able to force the ferruls out of the plastic cover and solder it, and then slide it back over, but I didn't try very hard. I haven't tested function yet, but hopefully I'll get that done today. I don't expect any problems. Just need to finish flushing the coolant system and get some antifreeze in there so I can bring it up to full temp. About $28 at Summit Racing. Oh, I used the exact same 33054 controller also. I've used a few different ones over the years on different vehicles, and they were all crap. My advice is don't be cheap, and get this controller, it can handle the load. |
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| Author: | thermorex [ Sun May 01, 2016 1:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
Mountainman wrote: Ok, good news, I didn't start another thread, I posted it in Jeff's thread about the extra port. Anyhow, the 32050 Flexalite fits great, and the length of the wire is pretty good, unless you want to mount the controller all the way on the drivers side, which I don't have any idea why anyone would want to... I didn't see an easy way to solder the wires to the connectors that fit on the controller being my only real complaint. You might be able to force the ferruls out of the plastic cover and solder it, and then slide it back over, but I didn't try very hard. I haven't tested function yet, but hopefully I'll get that done today. I don't expect any problems. Just need to finish flushing the coolant system and get some antifreeze in there so I can bring it up to full temp. About $28 at Summit Racing. Oh, I used the exact same 33054 controller also. I've used a few different ones over the years on different vehicles, and they were all crap. My advice is don't be cheap, and get this controller, it can handle the load. Thanks for the model #. On the 33054 controller there are 2 ports, #10 and #11 where you connect the probe wires (those will tell controller when temp is high enough to start the fan), are you saying that the wires cannot be soldered on the electric crimping female connectors? Because theoretically you can either crimp them on custom female connectors without plastic cover and put some shrinking tube over to insulate them, either cut the plastic, solder them and then put shrinking tube over. I wonder if I misunderstood you... PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6zYc2 ... sp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6zYc2 ... sp=sharing Link to the picture for 33054 terminals: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6zYc2 ... sp=sharing |
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| Author: | Mountainman [ Sun May 01, 2016 5:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
Yup, you got it. You might be able to force the plastic off, but I was in a rush. If not, I think I'll do exactly what you mentioned, and cut the plastic away, and solder and heat shrink it. For the time being I doubled the wire over, and the crimp held well, but it's ridiculously dry where I live, so I could probably get away without solder for 10 years, but I don't want to chance failure with my cooling system. |
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| Author: | thermorex [ Sun May 01, 2016 8:39 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
I didn't solder either, and if it's crimped properly I don't believe it is necessary. I did add a bunch of dielectric grease though, so far so good. |
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| Author: | jrsavoie [ Tue May 31, 2016 10:08 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
crdjoe wrote: I like the electric fan I put one on my Ford Ranger it worked great 3-4 mpg gain in winter and your setup looks good to but I thought I should say something I talked to an engineer that helped put the Diesel Liberty together The manual fan setup pulls 4500 cfm, spikedcollardog says his setup pulls 3500 cfm heres the problem Hayden and Flexalite don't have a fan setup that pulls more than 3300 cfm also the red fan looks exactly like a Hayden 16" Super Duty 3712 red fan with a ffdynamics tag on it! It only pulls 1500 cfm I wrote to spikedcollardog twice asking these questions I am now banded from buying anything from him and he ridiqued me as well! (I wasn't harsh with my questions) I wrote FFDynamics and haven't heard from them but I read some articles on there site FFDynamics is good smart people! I just had anew long block installed at the dealer under extended warranty (cracked block) and I would love to have that electric fan (I live by Detroit) but I can't take any chances I hope it works but as it gets warmer keep an eye on your temp gauge! FFDynamics said they wouldn't sell to a guy in Vegas because it wouldn't work. Personally I have noticed that unless the turbo is spooling up or under a load it doesn't get very hot. I have thought of just putting it in late fall and remove in April. More work. Heres the Ebay email. I guess I won't getting one. Dear spikedcollardogs, I'm not trying to be rude but the engineers told me it needed 4500 cfm and the housing looks a lot like the hayden and not because just its red also because of the mounts and grille is similar my other question is if hayden and flexalite cannot do what ffd dynamics than how did they do it and I'll buy one. - joeo8370 Dear joeo8370, just so you know i have blocked you from buying any of my items,way to much headach with someone like you as i am sure i would have to hold your hand and walk you through every part of the install,i dont have time for it and i got a bunch of other buyers that will scoop these kits up just the same without the headach.sorry - spikedcollardogs Yep, me too. LOL What a Richard Head that guy is. I just went to buy one for our Jeep and found out I was blocked also. Goes back to when I told him that his method of mounting to the radiator coils was crap. Apparently he took offense, I also thought that for the price you should not have to fab anything up to mount the fan. I ruined 2 radiators mounting transmission coolers with those cheesy ties. I don't need to learn a 3rd lesson. |
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| Author: | thermorex [ Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:52 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
In theory, you can use the plastic tide-ons that the kit provides. But I don't like the idea. Think outside the box, you want something, but it's not exactly what you want. Then you need to get creative a bit. Summit racing has a bunch of aluminum shrouds in various sizes. None of them, from what I've seen, comes in the exact size that would allow the fan to be mounted on the shroud without clearance issues. You can either fab your own shroud, either get the shroud that comes with the kit, which is smaller, but in my experience works good enough to not have overheating. Best is to have a shroud made, with the same depth as the one in the kit but larger, to cover the whole radiator. Btw, fabing the brackets is really easy and you need a metal saw, drill and sheet metal screws. |
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| Author: | jrsavoie [ Wed Jun 01, 2016 12:08 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
Has anybody used the Volvo fan? Will it fit? http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=200028 |
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| Author: | Mountainman [ Wed Jun 01, 2016 12:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
jrsavoie wrote: crdjoe wrote: I like the electric fan I put one on my Ford Ranger it worked great 3-4 mpg gain in winter and your setup looks good to but I thought I should say something I talked to an engineer that helped put the Diesel Liberty together The manual fan setup pulls 4500 cfm, spikedcollardog says his setup pulls 3500 cfm heres the problem Hayden and Flexalite don't have a fan setup that pulls more than 3300 cfm also the red fan looks exactly like a Hayden 16" Super Duty 3712 red fan with a ffdynamics tag on it! It only pulls 1500 cfm I wrote to spikedcollardog twice asking these questions I am now banded from buying anything from him and he ridiqued me as well! (I wasn't harsh with my questions) I wrote FFDynamics and haven't heard from them but I read some articles on there site FFDynamics is good smart people! I just had anew long block installed at the dealer under extended warranty (cracked block) and I would love to have that electric fan (I live by Detroit) but I can't take any chances I hope it works but as it gets warmer keep an eye on your temp gauge! FFDynamics said they wouldn't sell to a guy in Vegas because it wouldn't work. Personally I have noticed that unless the turbo is spooling up or under a load it doesn't get very hot. I have thought of just putting it in late fall and remove in April. More work. Heres the Ebay email. I guess I won't getting one. Dear spikedcollardogs, I'm not trying to be rude but the engineers told me it needed 4500 cfm and the housing looks a lot like the hayden and not because just its red also because of the mounts and grille is similar my other question is if hayden and flexalite cannot do what ffd dynamics than how did they do it and I'll buy one. - joeo8370 Dear joeo8370, just so you know i have blocked you from buying any of my items,way to much headach with someone like you as i am sure i would have to hold your hand and walk you through every part of the install,i dont have time for it and i got a bunch of other buyers that will scoop these kits up just the same without the headach.sorry - spikedcollardogs Yep, me too. LOL What a Richard Head that guy is. I just went to buy one for our Jeep and found out I was blocked also. Goes back to when I told him that his method of mounting to the radiator coils was crap. Apparently he took offense, I also thought that for the price you should not have to fab anything up to mount the fan. I ruined 2 radiators mounting transmission coolers with those cheesy ties. I don't need to learn a 3rd lesson. With two reviews of that guy being a I would have just fit a Taurus fan in and saved some cash, but I installed mine about two years ago. I made a shroud out of a sheet of higher end aluminum, so the fan ties to that, and no ties through the radiator, as I agree, that's a sure fire way to make our cheapo radiator leak, and they aren't cheap! The controller his kit comes with isn't the quality of the flexalite one that Thermorex and I are running, so I think his kit isn't great. I only bought the fan.
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| Author: | Mountainman [ Wed Jun 01, 2016 12:20 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
jrsavoie wrote: Not sure, but just in case you didn't know, you can press the bearing/hub assembly out of the mech fan mount, and that will give you a lot more room. |
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| Author: | mass-hole [ Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
Yeah that guy sounds like a clown. I'd like to fab up my own shroud that actually fits and buy my own fan elsewhere. I mean the fact that he sells a kit specifically for the crd and it doesn't even fit right says a lot. Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk |
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| Author: | thermorex [ Sat Jun 11, 2016 11:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Electric Fan alternatives for mechanical fan |
mass-hole wrote: Yeah that guy sounds like a clown. I'd like to fab up my own shroud that actually fits and buy my own fan elsewhere. I mean the fact that he sells a kit specifically for the crd and it doesn't even fit right says a lot. Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk Let me know if you need depth measurements for the shroud, I have the kit shroud. As an idea, if you could make it only 1/4 inch deep, it would be perfect. But seriously, the shroud that comes with the fan in the kit is sufficient. And you already have the hds thermostat. I had no issues in 100F city drive with overheating. |
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