Fan Cooling on Oil Cooler
03-01-06, 04:55 PM
#1
Fan Cooling on Oil Cooler
Ok so I am going to hook up a couple 120mm computer case fans to my oil cooler to help in cooling it. They move 79 CFM which would help some ... I would hope atleast.
Anyways so anyone know if I should use a fused link with a thermo control unit (if so any suggestions what to use) and wire them fused link to another thing someplace on the car, or direct to the battery?
I wasn't thinking of wiring it to someplace that is connected to the ignition somehow. Prolly through the fuse box someplace.
I plan on using coat hangers as brackets so to speak and mount them that way.
Anyone know the operating temp of the oil cooler?
Should I be concerned and why?
Anyways so anyone know if I should use a fused link with a thermo control unit (if so any suggestions what to use) and wire them fused link to another thing someplace on the car, or direct to the battery?
I wasn't thinking of wiring it to someplace that is connected to the ignition somehow. Prolly through the fuse box someplace.
I plan on using coat hangers as brackets so to speak and mount them that way.
Anyone know the operating temp of the oil cooler?
Should I be concerned and why?
03-01-06, 06:27 PM
#2
Engine, Not Motor
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Those fans will last about 3 hours on the road. They're very delicate. Just as an example I used to use computer style fans to cool the controller on one of my electric scooters. I was replacing them on a weekly basis due to broken blades, failed bearings and just general random failures.
You don't need fans on your oil cooler. Why would you be even considering this if you don't know the operating temp of the cooler?
You don't need fans on your oil cooler. Why would you be even considering this if you don't know the operating temp of the cooler?
03-01-06, 06:40 PM
#3
well I know the oil temp is prolly someplace close to 200F and so I figured since it does a major part of cooling the for the engine that you would help with any extra cooling you can provide. Especially since I do a lot of city-ish driving.
03-01-06, 07:09 PM
#4
Haven't we ALL heard this
Your wasting your time with this one. Your time would be better spent flushing the cooler and spending an hour straighting the bent fins on it. Then making sure your underpan is in place with foam stuffed everywhere so the air has no choice but to go thru the heat exchangers.
James
James
03-01-06, 07:13 PM
#5
ok cool, I don't have some of the foam on it because it came off due to time and heat/oil/dirt. I think the bottom piece is on it and the oil cooler has been flushed and all fins straight (altho it was in suprisingly good condition). I managed to notice while flipping through the FSM that I had my hoses mis-alighned and so I rectafied that problem but broke off a stud on the mounting bracket and am waiting for a new one.
Thanks for the help
Thanks for the help
03-01-06, 08:11 PM
#6
03-01-06, 10:29 PM
#7
I'm a boost creep...
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There are a bunch of reasons why this is waste of time.
You have no idea what the oil really temps are, so you don't even know if you have a problem and nor will you know what effect these fans actually have.
Computer fans are not weatherproof, so they won't last long even if they didn't just fall apart like Aaron said.
160cfm is nothing in automotive cooling terms, not to mention that when pulling air through a restriction like an oil cooler they'll be lucky to do half that airflow.
Unless you build a shroud of some type, your two fans will only be pulling air through about a quarter of the core. You would need five fans to adequately cover the core.
You have no idea what the oil really temps are, so you don't even know if you have a problem and nor will you know what effect these fans actually have.
Computer fans are not weatherproof, so they won't last long even if they didn't just fall apart like Aaron said.
160cfm is nothing in automotive cooling terms, not to mention that when pulling air through a restriction like an oil cooler they'll be lucky to do half that airflow.
Unless you build a shroud of some type, your two fans will only be pulling air through about a quarter of the core. You would need five fans to adequately cover the core.
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03-01-06, 11:56 PM
#8
What's said above.
Don't bother with the fans, they won't last. If anything, I'd expect them to raise the oil temperatures due to being a restriction in flow while at speed.
If you're really having oil temperature problems (not likely unless you're tracking the car on hot days, and even then I don't think a NA will put out enough heat to cause problems unless something's wrong), some people have used dual oil coolers.
For a NA, on the street, you're really trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. For that matter, you *want* the oil to be around 200 degrees - much cooler, and it won't boil out water/gas/other crap in it. This is why idling a car "until it's warm" doesn't do squat for getting water out of the oil - it takes some sustained hard running to get 5+ quarts of oil up to 200F.
-=Russ=-
Don't bother with the fans, they won't last. If anything, I'd expect them to raise the oil temperatures due to being a restriction in flow while at speed.
If you're really having oil temperature problems (not likely unless you're tracking the car on hot days, and even then I don't think a NA will put out enough heat to cause problems unless something's wrong), some people have used dual oil coolers.
For a NA, on the street, you're really trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. For that matter, you *want* the oil to be around 200 degrees - much cooler, and it won't boil out water/gas/other crap in it. This is why idling a car "until it's warm" doesn't do squat for getting water out of the oil - it takes some sustained hard running to get 5+ quarts of oil up to 200F.
-=Russ=-
