Cameron02 Member 164 Member For: 12y 2m 23d Posted 10/01/13 11:02 PM Share Posted 10/01/13 11:02 PM Intercooler thermo fan......why not?This is my first turbo car, so I'm still learning about whats good and whats not. But it strikes me as odd that we dont have thermo fans on our intercoolers. Maybe some of us do? I have not seen anything on this forum about the topic other than a throw away comment under the Water spray thread.1. Thermo fans work great on our radiators, so we know they work.2. Once we hit 60kmh the natural air flow will probably do the job but below that thermo fans should reduce temps and ensure we have cooler air for launch at the lights or track.3. I notice that quite a few 4x4 drivers are fitting a thermo fan to their intercoolers with great success (so they say). I guess their turbos are working hard but the car is moving too slow for natural air flow to do the job.4. A thermo fan is cheap, especially when compared to a bigger intercooler. Or if you already have a massive intercooler, just make it more effective when idling?5. I guess space would be a possible restriction?Pro's Con's any body? Am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willo88 Member 700 Member For: 13y 1m 8d Gender: Male Location: Newcastle Posted 10/01/13 11:16 PM Share Posted 10/01/13 11:16 PM I don't think I could fit a fan behind my plazmaman cooler, don't see why it couldn't work if you had the space however Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratter Member 6,793 Member For: 18y 9m 6d Gender: Male Location: @ my laptop Posted 10/01/13 11:31 PM Share Posted 10/01/13 11:31 PM your engine fan will pull the air through the intercoolerA fan in front of the cooler will restrict air flow to some parts of the cooler 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbotrana Member 2,586 Member For: 21y 11m 3d Gender: Male Posted 11/01/13 01:53 AM Share Posted 11/01/13 01:53 AM (edited) Its a good idea but you need the space also. When designing an intercooler setup its best to keep the intercooler as far away from the radiator as possible. that's what I try and do and I cringe at those setups where the intercooler heat soaks alot from the condenser and radiator.I was thinking of this a while back in my ED Turbo where there is some distance between the intercooler and hot bits. In this setup the intercooler stays pretty cool but the pipes in the engine bay get hot and where most of the heat soak happens.But what I was going to do is have a fan on the intercooler to suck there and blow onto the radiator. Due to my new setup the radiator is being shifted closer to the engine so no room there to have a suck thru on the radiator and it has to be a pusher. Edited 11/01/13 01:57 AM by turbotrana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panda Eyes flame magnet Gold Donating Members 5,674 Member For: 16y 9m 17d Gender: Male Location: adelaide hills- 'race air' central Posted 11/01/13 03:48 AM Share Posted 11/01/13 03:48 AM why not route a duct from the aircon system in the car to the front of the intercooler? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameron02 Member 164 Member For: 12y 2m 23d Posted 11/01/13 05:02 AM Author Share Posted 11/01/13 05:02 AM your engine fan will pull the air through the intercoolerA fan in front of the cooler will restrict air flow to some parts of the coolerMaybe. I think there is about 20mm between my rad and intercooler. Since I believe the air will travel the path of least resistance, I'm pretty sure the rad will pull most of the air from the 20mm on the edges rather than through all the intercooler fins.I was thinking that for most people a cooler on the front would be the only available option due to space constraints. Whilst I agree that it would block a small part of the cooler I think that it would be more than made up for by extra air being forced through. At least in a street application. In a track situation it would be (IMO) better without the fan as the car is always moving at speed. In my situation the upper part of the intercooler is blocked from direct airflow by the bumper etc anyway. If I can get the fan on the top half and keep the bottom half clear I might get the best of both worlds. why not route a duct from the aircon system in the car to the front of the intercooler Errrrr....serious? (just in case you are) the air would be cold but I dont think there would be enough of it and it would still need to be pushed through the fins, also the aircon being on might offset some of the powwer gains. Would be easy enough to test and see though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRK Member 361 Member For: 13y 2m 20d Gender: Male Location: Perth Posted 11/01/13 07:16 AM Share Posted 11/01/13 07:16 AM The engine fans would be enough to do what you want. They are very efficient things and actually are well designed on the Ford in terms of blade strucure and shrouding around the radiator. If you are concerned about heat gain in the I/cooler at very low speed, simply lower the turn-on temp for the fans. The thermostat setting ( be it an 82, 90 or 95 etc) will still keep the block at the desired temp, the fans just respond to what ever is programmed. Anything sandwiched between the radiator and the I/cooler will very likely affect airflow - and that is something you do not want.If you are really serious about it all , then get some thermocouples and some guages and stick them into the intercooler air paths - and really have a look at the hotspots. I have done some very basic tests with this and I can say that the results were interesting. On the dyno during tuning with the engine fans running plus workshop dyno fan, airtemps at the I/cooler under-battery outlet started to rise sharply( using a factory BF F6 type cooler and making a measly 288RWKW) after three power runs. However, road usage was/is a different story. Without a lot of detail as to where and how it was done, the results showed intake temps are lower ( about 30+%) with hard road usage simply because the huge airflow around the base of the car and the front air dam seems to me to have a positive effect on air movement out of the engine bay. I did not test this viewpoint - no equpiment to do so - but the I/cooler temp results lead me to this conclusion. It was not the best test gear and certainly a bit amateurish in terms of scientific standard but a few days worth of driving showed consistent results. Hope this helps. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panda Eyes flame magnet Gold Donating Members 5,674 Member For: 16y 9m 17d Gender: Male Location: adelaide hills- 'race air' central Posted 11/01/13 09:51 AM Share Posted 11/01/13 09:51 AM (edited) course im not serious... there have been 30 hundred threads on intercooler performance and wog cooler this and dry ice that.... :headbang2:do a search if you want to see if a monza cooler can perform (spoiler- it cant) Edited 11/01/13 09:52 AM by Panda Eyes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never had any say Panda I <3 Floods Silver Donating Members 11,198 Member For: 13y 7m 4d Gender: Male Location: South West QLD Posted 11/01/13 09:53 AM Share Posted 11/01/13 09:53 AM 30 hundred..Is that a precise number? Or are you not being serious about that either? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panda Eyes flame magnet Gold Donating Members 5,674 Member For: 16y 9m 17d Gender: Male Location: adelaide hills- 'race air' central Posted 11/01/13 10:02 AM Share Posted 11/01/13 10:02 AM more like 73 dozens... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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