wimpus Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 Hi, This evening noticed something missing on my viscous fan.. Then noticed a little bit of play on the coupling itself. Now what to do.. Fit another non viscous waterpump and fixed fan Or.. Go electric ? Already got an alloy wide rad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 Hello Wimpus, I had a viscous fan on my Daimler - nothing wrong with it apart the weight, but swapped it as I prefer electric fans........... purely personal choice. Regards. Richard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 a little play is fairly normal but a lot is a no no . fans are available but quite pricey https://www.jamespaddock.co.uk/fan-blade-viscous-type https://www.canleyclassics.com/?catalogue=triumph-spitfire-mkiv/1500&diagram=triumph-spitfire-mkiv/1500-water-pump-fan-all-markets-except-home not a fan !! of electric you need a good air flow under the bonnet ,especially when stuck in traffic not just coming on when hot Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 Conversly, I favour electric fans, however I note that few are properly shrouded to direct the flow across the whole of the matrix. (as on most "moderns"). With a wide rad; I would even consider a twin fan setup?. Fans are rarely needed anyway out of traffic?, most often never even cut in in normal use in the UK, many only coming on after the vehicle stops!. Back "when" some fitted Radiator Blinds for use in winter, or us "po boys" a piece of card board!!, otherwise the old "smiths" round heater (in posh cars) never got up to heat!. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimpus Posted January 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 2 hours ago, Pete Lewis said: a little play is fairly normal but a lot is a no no . fans are available but quite pricey https://www.jamespaddock.co.uk/fan-blade-viscous-type https://www.canleyclassics.com/?catalogue=triumph-spitfire-mkiv/1500&diagram=triumph-spitfire-mkiv/1500-water-pump-fan-all-markets-except-home not a fan !! of electric you need a good air flow under the bonnet ,especially when stuck in traffic not just coming on when hot Pete When I checked for play I could see it move. But not a lot 1mm or less. So still dont know what to do. Im thinking to fit a fixed one for now and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Truman Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 A friend with a Stag had his viscous fan fail on a club run, fortunately it missed his rad and he got home using the electric fan, he replaced the viscous, the bearing had failed. I have as standard a viscous on the Dolly Sprint and must admit it works very well controlling the very high temperatures experienced here in Melbourne (up to 40C, 37 net Monday) the gauge normally runs just under the mid point of the gauge, in traffic on a hot day just over no where overheating, but if I have problems with it I'll go electric sucker fan, would love to shroud it. The Spit runs only electric temp controlled but they are pushers where shrouding wouldn't be effective? Originally the elect fan operation was manual and there were times our oversight saw the temp get hot it took quite a while to pull the water temp down, now there auto the temp is maintained well and there's no overheating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 4 hours ago, wimpus said: This evening noticed something missing on my viscous fan.. Then noticed a little bit of play on the coupling itself. When I noticed "something missing" from the viscous fan on my Stag, it was caused by the play in the bearing. Mind you, that was bad - at least a couple of centimetres at the tips of the blades - easily enough for them to hit the radiator. I unbolted the fan and drove on, then converted to electric once I got the chance. Contrary to popular opinion, a Stag engine will not instantly self-destruct if driven with no fan, even when you encounter traffic lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglefire Posted January 7, 2021 Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 If I remember correctly from a couple of friends who had them back in the 80's/90's the overheating and general water issues were sorted by the enthusiasts and basically was a bigger slightly taller radiator header so the top of the heads remained flooded with water. I would have loved one back then - and would love one again today - but the prices of a good one are way past my budget Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted January 7, 2021 Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 Hi Shrouded fans. I had comunication with a guy on E-Bay ( from York I think?) a month or two back, over a pair of fans he had on offer fully shrouded can`t remember they car they came off. Eventually I decided they where too wide for the (Non Car, Air-con cooling) application I wanted. But for a wider Radiator they may have modified?. EDIT:- Had a look on E-Bay messages. 67x36x12cm. ex Mazda RX8. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted January 7, 2021 Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 55 minutes ago, Anglefire said: basically was a bigger slightly taller radiator header That was certainly a common mod but wasn't actually needed. Just build the engine right and keep the cooling system in good condition. A friend of mine put his completely standard Stag through Rover's mid-90s "towing" test in the hot room, and it performed better than the then current Rover 820. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted January 7, 2021 Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 a fixed fan will make a bit more noise and sap a little more power thats all the basic viscous units give as an improvement the early ones are not temperature sensed , yes the goo and paddle drive responds to temperature but they are not exactly temperature controlled pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted January 7, 2021 Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 13 hours ago, PeteH said: Fans are rarely needed anyway out of traffic?, Due to dodgy electrics in my ancient Peugeot 306 I put in a toggle switch to operate the fans. Regularly ran 360 miles to Scotland without turning them on. They were only necessary when stuck in a jam for 10/15 minutes. As for our cars, the mechanical fan works fine in the UK climate, IF your engine is in good condition. Don’t be tempted to go electric because you’re overheating. Flushing the block and radiator is easy and makes a noticeable difference. Doug 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimpus Posted January 7, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 My car has very good temp and never had it overheat. Do got an alloy wide rad. So just need a fan for standing in traffic really and that happens daily as I work not far from Brussels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted January 7, 2021 Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 Assuming that the Cooling system is clean and working to spec; of course. Then fan assistance should only be needed in more extreme conditions. Under way the ram air through the rad is more that adequate, occasionally even too much. Now, those of us who remember the early mini`s will be aware that the radiator was placed "East West", where the flow of cooling air came only from the Fan. which (if I am right) expelled air to the nearside wheel arch?, drawing air from the front grill. with little or no "ram" effect. The later "copyist(s)" fitted the Rad to the traditional Front of the car, which required the fitting of Electric fans. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted January 7, 2021 Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 4 minutes ago, PeteH said: Now, those of us who remember the early mini`s will be aware that the radiator was placed "East West", where the flow of cooling air came only from the Fan. which (if I am right) expelled air to the nearside wheel arch?, drawing air from the front grill. with little or no "ram" effect. That's right - there was a hefty grille in one wheel arch... must find a pic. It was passenger side / NS. That takes me back a bit! I suppose you could argue that air entered via the front grille and exited via the radiator into the wheelarch, propelled by the fixed speed fan but it worked perfectly well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bfg Posted January 7, 2021 Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 On 07/01/2021 at 19:19, PeteH said: Assuming that the Cooling system is clean and working to spec; of course. Then fan assistance should only be needed in more extreme conditions. Under way the ram air through the rad is more that adequate, occasionally even too much. I agree with Pete on this matter, but also add that at car speeds above 30 mph / 50 KPH, the ram air's angle of attack on a fixed blade fan means it takes hardly, if any, engine power at all to turn. Certainly things like the alternator or dynamo, and the water pump consume considerably more. Although I do like viscous fans, I've chosen to stick with a fixed blade fan on my Triumph because it's the ultimate in reliability and maintenance free. I have however swapped the original and crudely shaped aluminium 4-bladed fan, with its steel hub, to a much better shaped and very much lighter-weight 6-bladed plastic fan (from a later model of Triumph, so it was a straight swap). Indeed the plastic moulded fan is 1/5 the mass of the car's original fan. And it is of course also very much lighter than a viscous fan. Personally, I'm not in favour of adding an additional power drain on the battery, nor of an electric fan buzzing away when the engine is turned off. Usually the bracketry and extra wires are ugly, and then there's more to go wrong with its thermal switch, a timer, and the manual override of an electric fan. Those situated in front of a radiator core are said to block the air flow to some degree, and some cars don't have the space to fit an electric fan behind it. The electricity it consumes does of course need to be replenished via the generator, so quite possibly they're not quite the power saver they are made out to be. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bfg Posted January 7, 2021 Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 16 hours ago, PeteH said: those of us who remember the early mini`s will be aware that the radiator was placed "East West", where the flow of cooling air came only from the Fan. which (if I am right) expelled air to the nearside wheel arch?, drawing air from the front grill. with little or no "ram" effect. The ram effect (high pressure) works in conjunction with a lower pressure ..of where the air is extracted from. In the case of the mini, the air pressure under the wheel arch was lower than that just behind the frontal grill - so, even without a fan, the air is still sucked through the shrouded radiator core (..at least it would be ..if its shroud was fitted much closer than that of the red mini !, seen in the piccie). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglefire Posted January 7, 2021 Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 Modern viscous fans are quite a thing. Both thermo- controlled and electrically controlled by a PWM signal which (99% sure) heats the core of the fan so it stiffens up and draws more air through - this part of the system is to pull air through largely for the AC condenser which doesn't affect engine temperature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted January 8, 2021 Report Share Posted January 8, 2021 we had a a hub and fan test rig for truck warranty ,upto a 32" unit a whopping great motor fan cage heat gun for the valve bimetal coil and a plotter add to that ear defenders , it would often break loose from its rawl bolts in the floor and try to chase you around , violent noisy , and took so long to run through its temp range of tests and plot air hub rpm etc we just accepted the claim ....much the simplest option not as much fun as rejections Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daverclasper Posted January 8, 2021 Report Share Posted January 8, 2021 On 06/01/2021 at 19:18, PeteH said: us "po boys" a piece of card board!!, otherwise the old "smiths" round heater (in posh cars) never got up to heat!. In winter I use a "posh" piece of that black plastic, sort of corrugated sheeting, that builders use to protect floors. Less visible than That "common" cardboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 8, 2021 Report Share Posted January 8, 2021 Tinfoil for me (double layer!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daverclasper Posted January 8, 2021 Report Share Posted January 8, 2021 19 hours ago, Bfg said: which (if I am right) expelled air to the nearside wheel arch?, I remember on Austin/Morris 1100/1300's, the offside wings seemed to rot out a lot more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted January 8, 2021 Report Share Posted January 8, 2021 yes all down to less ventilation the 1100/1300 had the same radiator air exit via the NS inner wheel arch add the 1800 and others Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted January 9, 2021 Report Share Posted January 9, 2021 16 hours ago, daverclasper said: I remember on Austin/Morris 1100/1300's, the offside wings seemed to rot out a lot more. There was a huge mud trap in the inner wing, especially on Minis, that always rotted through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68vitesse Posted January 9, 2021 Report Share Posted January 9, 2021 Had a few Mini's, seem to remember the later ones had less shrouding around the fan. Regards Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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