Good Cooling Fans

Author
Discussion

neal1980

Original Poster:

2,574 posts

239 months

Monday 20th July 2015
quotequote all
Hi,

I currently have some slim 12v SPAL fans and they were the highest CFM I could find at the time but there still not great at bringing the temperature down (will have to try and dig out the full spec)

I can see AXIAL fans which are 5 blade and seem to have much more cooling, worth changing??

Or can anyone point me in the direction of some powerful fans from another vehicle which would be suitable.

Thanks

Neal

stevieturbo

17,262 posts

247 months

Monday 20th July 2015
quotequote all
Pics/details of the setup.

And are the fans installed correctly..ie push/pull ?

And is it ok when driving etc ? Or problems both driving and stationary ?

Unless you're going to a proper shroud and OEM type fan, the likes of Spal are about as good as they get, but they also do many many models

PaulKemp

979 posts

145 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
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I can't remember the make but there is an aftermarket fan with twin speeds
Advertised as a turbo boost facility that should provide that extra whoosh when you need it

Richyvrlimited

1,825 posts

163 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all

How is the ducting to the rad? is it sealed to the nose/mouth opening of the car?

If it's not then it's not working effectively.

Also how close are the fans mounted to the rad? if they're tied very closed to the rad then they won't be as efficient as they would be a CM or so away from the core - however there needs to be ducting to seal the gap between the fan shroud and the rad.

neal1980

Original Poster:

2,574 posts

239 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
Sorry should of put more details was a rush post on my phone.

Its got 2 spal Suction fans on an alloy rad (biggest I could get in) there is a 4" thick intercooler in front of the rad and basically zero space anywhere. Will get some pics later.

The temp just keeps creeping up when stationery, car is not on the road yet. I am just starting it and getting it to idle.

Its only just off keeping under control but I need reduction in temp. My thought were more poweful fans to compensate for the intercooler in place or re-do the front with a charge-cooler setup to allow space for the rad (major change and £££)

Oh and the temp climbs up and up slowly over 100 to the above poster who is clearly having a bad day hehe







Edited by neal1980 on Tuesday 21st July 10:17

Richyvrlimited

1,825 posts

163 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
I see lots of gaps between the rad and the nose, seal them up.

neal1980

Original Poster:

2,574 posts

239 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
Richyvrlimited said:
I see lots of gaps between the rad and the nose, seal them up.
Would this make much difference when the car is stationery ??

neal1980

Original Poster:

2,574 posts

239 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
guzzler4 said:
Me having a bad day? If you class me as having a bad day due to my asking the obvious, I have wasted my time trying to be of help and yet I do hope you solve the problem, it now looks a complicated task that you are facing and the above poster that mentioned shrouds and other fixes has definitely given the issue some thought and pointed you in the right direction

I like the look of your car. What are those 2 green things?

Edited by guzzler4 on Tuesday 21st July 10:59
Cheers almost complete after 3 years!!

Space is tight as you can see...Green things are the air filters for the turbos - again not an ideal place but with the intercooler they are fine.

Maybe Im not seeing things correctly here but shrouds and sealing for the front will only help when Im moving ??

When im stationery im only relying on the fans to cool - so the power of the fans or the way there mounted (with the 4" intercooler im surely restricting them pulling in fresh air) hence my idea of more powerful ones or losing the intercooler and going chargecooler as an absolute last resort.


Richyvrlimited

1,825 posts

163 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
neal1980 said:
Would this make much difference when the car is stationery ??
even more so, as it forces the fans to only pull air from the mouth rather than around the rad.

Steve_D

13,747 posts

258 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
When you say 100 degrees are you making the mistake of believing the TVR gauge? If so, shame on you as you should know better.

As well as the ducting and making sure all the gaps between the rads are sealed that install may benefit from using a blow set-up not least from having more space twixed rad and grill.

Steve

neal1980

Original Poster:

2,574 posts

239 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
Hi Steve,

No I dumped the TVR gauges years ago, got a capillary one direct in the waterpump. Going to check some temps tonight with an infrared thermometer.

Its very slow to climb but just keeps climbing to over a hundred then I shut it down. There is a small gap between intercooler and rad which I can seal up tonight and try again.

thumbup

100SRV

2,134 posts

242 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
What is the temperature of the inlet air at the air filters when the engine is "hot"?

You mention that the intercooler "helps" with this; problem is that the intercooler is warming the air and also masking the radiator (reducing airflow) while the air filters can happily ingest the radiator / intercooler exhausted/heated air.

Relocate the air inlet and repeat your experiment.

Does the hot air from the radiator have a clear exit path? It is as important to exhaust hot air as it is to get cold air into the radiator, if this path is obscured then fan flow rate is largely irrelevant.

What temperature do the cooling fans start operating? Can you run them as a two-speed and bring a slow (series) speed on earlier and fast (parallel) speed when you approach a higher temperature threshold? Are they controlled by the LS3 ECU?


stevieturbo

17,262 posts

247 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
Question time.

What stat is fitted ?

Are the fans placed so as to cover as much as the core as possible...ie staggered if need be ?

Ducting/shrouding is always sensible to ensure only cold air gets drawn through the core, and no hot air is re-circulated.

I see some lines, and what looks like it may be a remote header tank ? Layout looks a little confusing ?

neal1980

Original Poster:

2,574 posts

239 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
stevieturbo said:
Question time.

What stat is fitted ?

Are the fans placed so as to cover as much as the core as possible...ie staggered if need be ?

Ducting/shrouding is always sensible to ensure only cold air gets drawn through the core, and no hot air is re-circulated.

I see some lines, and what looks like it may be a remote header tank ? Layout looks a little confusing ?
Hi Steve,

This is the engine with your forged crank and rods in thumbup

It has an LS3 pump with a 71 degree Stat from summit. 2 X Spal Fans mounted directly to an Aluminium Griffin Rad. It has a remote header tank (also a cap on the rad which is not used)

I used this diagram for the design.




Does it matter on top and bottom hose configuration they appear to be the other way around on my radiator.

Neal

stevieturbo

17,262 posts

247 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
quotequote all
You arent reading temp via the ecu off the normal sensor on the cylinder head ?

That drawing is tiny, cant make any of it out ?

Most rads will be hot water in the top, colder water out the bottom.

ie on your car, the bottom of the rad will go to the stat housing. I havent a clue where the top hose goes there....it and the water pump just merge into a turbo lol

I see a pipe near the rad cap going into a black box with other hoses ?

But there also appears to be a header tank type object over by the alternator ?

ch427

8,951 posts

233 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
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What an absolute beast!
Im sure there is a simple answer but if not is it possible you could run 1 fan on reduced speed all of the time?