Intercooler Fans??????
09-12-02, 07:20 PM
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Intercooler Fans??????
I know a few guys who run a fan on their intercooler (AnthonyNYC) and say it's a MUST! What a difference it makes!
It makes sense but my question is with my Greddy FMIC, the fan would now be between the intercooler and the rad. But which way would the fan point......into the intercooler?
I think that would only make the AUX fans on the other side of the rad work harder since they pull air thru the radiator.
if it's pointed away from the intercooler, then I think more air would get drawn thru everything but I could of sworn I've seen it pointing into the intercooler..........i dunno.
Jeff G
It makes sense but my question is with my Greddy FMIC, the fan would now be between the intercooler and the rad. But which way would the fan point......into the intercooler?
I think that would only make the AUX fans on the other side of the rad work harder since they pull air thru the radiator.
if it's pointed away from the intercooler, then I think more air would get drawn thru everything but I could of sworn I've seen it pointing into the intercooler..........i dunno.
Jeff G
09-12-02, 09:17 PM
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That's what I thought.......i would think more air movement in general (turbulent or flowing) still would have effect of helping get the heat off of the intercooler itslf........
09-25-02, 12:15 PM
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I have a fan mounted on my SMIC, inspired by Max Cooper, I think. I also shrouded it, to increase efficiency. Once I get a pyrometer, I'll be able to determine its effect. No question, it draws serious air through the PFS duct. Most noticeable is the rapid recovery from heat soak.
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09-25-02, 02:56 PM
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I just finished Intake temp cooling my project today, it was pretty involved.
I have PFS Intake and IC. My project roughly included the following:
1) cut out the ducts between then and sealed them up. Seperating the two.
2) made a custom duct that comes down from the bottom of the Intake next to the radiator (like M2, but it goes deeper, and seals off more)
3) ordered weather strip from McMaster-Carr for the IC duct
4) 8" fan from Summit (2 - 12v relays too)
5) an adjustable, calibrated, temp switch from Omega Instruments. (68-180 degrees)
6) LED indicator, 3-way switch, diodes, etc. from Jameco.
I mounted the fan on the inside of the IC, pulling. I mounted the temp switch in open air above the fan (not in it's path), also behind the IC.
I created a relay control box that mounts to the side of the IC duct, and two wiring harneses - one for hte car and hte other for the IC, so that everything can come appart. I used molex connectors that sit inside the protected relay box, but after I started I found good weather resistant automotive connectors at Summit Racing.
The relay box has a 3-way switch
1) constant on
2) constant off
3) Auto - IC fan turns on when the rad fans are on, or when the temp in the engine bay >x
So far it looks great and seems to work well. I made one mistake in wiring the temp switch that prevents it from working, I need to fix that tonight, then I will really know if I can keep temps down.
To sense whether the radiator fans were on I spliced into the wires off the driver's side radiator fan. There are 4 wires there. One is ground and the other three are each positive, for different speeds. I put a 12V diode in-line on all three positive splices, then joined then togheter to create one signal wire for the IC fan relay.
As I use if for awhile I'll report on intake temps.
I have PFS Intake and IC. My project roughly included the following:
1) cut out the ducts between then and sealed them up. Seperating the two.
2) made a custom duct that comes down from the bottom of the Intake next to the radiator (like M2, but it goes deeper, and seals off more)
3) ordered weather strip from McMaster-Carr for the IC duct
4) 8" fan from Summit (2 - 12v relays too)
5) an adjustable, calibrated, temp switch from Omega Instruments. (68-180 degrees)
6) LED indicator, 3-way switch, diodes, etc. from Jameco.
I mounted the fan on the inside of the IC, pulling. I mounted the temp switch in open air above the fan (not in it's path), also behind the IC.
I created a relay control box that mounts to the side of the IC duct, and two wiring harneses - one for hte car and hte other for the IC, so that everything can come appart. I used molex connectors that sit inside the protected relay box, but after I started I found good weather resistant automotive connectors at Summit Racing.
The relay box has a 3-way switch
1) constant on
2) constant off
3) Auto - IC fan turns on when the rad fans are on, or when the temp in the engine bay >x
So far it looks great and seems to work well. I made one mistake in wiring the temp switch that prevents it from working, I need to fix that tonight, then I will really know if I can keep temps down.
To sense whether the radiator fans were on I spliced into the wires off the driver's side radiator fan. There are 4 wires there. One is ground and the other three are each positive, for different speeds. I put a 12V diode in-line on all three positive splices, then joined then togheter to create one signal wire for the IC fan relay.
As I use if for awhile I'll report on intake temps.
09-25-02, 02:57 PM
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I have an M2 - Medium with a 12" aftermarket transmission cooling fan attached to the back of the IC pulling in fresh air from the M2 duct. In order to make this setup work the duct was altered to create enough room for the fan.
As for your question does it work? When the car is idling (even during warm up while engine bay is cool, no heat soak) and the fan running you can feel the warm air coming out of the fan. It is especially useful at the auto-x while staging and after runs you can reduce / eliminate heat soak to the IC. At my last auto-x the wire from the fan came off and I could barley touch the IC because it was so hot. After reconnecting the fan and 5 minutes (while the car idled) the IC and piping (down wind side) were able to be touched without burning your hands.
In addition, there is an added benefit, however slight of cooling the engine bay.
As for your question does it work? When the car is idling (even during warm up while engine bay is cool, no heat soak) and the fan running you can feel the warm air coming out of the fan. It is especially useful at the auto-x while staging and after runs you can reduce / eliminate heat soak to the IC. At my last auto-x the wire from the fan came off and I could barley touch the IC because it was so hot. After reconnecting the fan and 5 minutes (while the car idled) the IC and piping (down wind side) were able to be touched without burning your hands.
In addition, there is an added benefit, however slight of cooling the engine bay.
09-27-02, 04:57 PM
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After fixing my wiring mistake I drove it for a couple of days, with some nice long traffic snarls.
The IC fan is not enough to keep intake temps from rising at a standstill. My temps still go up when gridlocked. My gut level impression is they go up slower, and come down a little faster, but not a lot faster. The bennefit of my current setup is that after I leave the car, the IC fan runs until the temps under the hood go back down below 130 degrees (I can set that). However now I'm worried that under a really hot day, this could take forever, and run my battery down. I can adjust the temp threshold, but then I don't get the bennefit of the fans comming on at a lower temp. I'm thinking about rewireing the power to a switched source.
But for some numbers. When I let my car properly heat soak, after a congested drive, I can come back to it 30 mins later and the intake temps will be 80-90 degrees celcius. They cool down from there pretty quickly. With my IC fan and logic, they now stay at 62 degrees C or so.
With the PFS IC, I could have squeezed a 10" fan on, it turns out, or went with a higher CFM. As i is the engine just makes too much heat to really keep things cold.
It's also be little bit noisy.
The IC fan is not enough to keep intake temps from rising at a standstill. My temps still go up when gridlocked. My gut level impression is they go up slower, and come down a little faster, but not a lot faster. The bennefit of my current setup is that after I leave the car, the IC fan runs until the temps under the hood go back down below 130 degrees (I can set that). However now I'm worried that under a really hot day, this could take forever, and run my battery down. I can adjust the temp threshold, but then I don't get the bennefit of the fans comming on at a lower temp. I'm thinking about rewireing the power to a switched source.
But for some numbers. When I let my car properly heat soak, after a congested drive, I can come back to it 30 mins later and the intake temps will be 80-90 degrees celcius. They cool down from there pretty quickly. With my IC fan and logic, they now stay at 62 degrees C or so.
With the PFS IC, I could have squeezed a 10" fan on, it turns out, or went with a higher CFM. As i is the engine just makes too much heat to really keep things cold.
It's also be little bit noisy.
