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Electric Cooling Fan CFM Rating Tests - DirtBound Offroad

WebDog said:
Was the fan that came apart the one closest to the old fan pulley?
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no it sits to the left of the old pulley. i was thinking my motor hit it but i would have heard that before it came apart.
 
jmaxj said:
ok after 4 days in the dunes with this fan setup i have great news, good news and bad news.

first the great. the fans cooled excellent, running hard in the dunes the motor stayed around 200-220 the whole time when all 3 were running, when 2 were going it stayed around 220-240 but that was running high RPM'S playing in sand. when i was normal driving or wheeling they kept it around 210-220

my overall performance report. they worked great when all 3 were working properly and when i was doing the rock crawling thing 2 were working very well. it was nice having that option of being able to turn the 3rd on when it was needed.
Click to expand...


What transmission are you running? Just querious as to wether are not the added heat of the AW4 would have made a difference.
 
your temps were between 220-240?? Anything over 218ish id say your already overheating. I've run my jeep pretty hard for 8 hrs of rock crawling with no overheating, i do have my aux fan wired to a switch and keep it on most of the time but even with it off (cpu controlling the fan) it hits 215 and the fan comes on and brings it back down.

I do have a worn out fan clutch at the moment but still it does not ever overheat. My aux fan always comes on when needed and brings temps down, it just creeps up a bit easier and more often since the clutch is on its way out. I'm looking into an e fan replacement for my mech fan but if the temps are climbing to 220+ I will have to look somewhere else. Hopefully we can get more comments on your setup, I have no experience with your fans yet but I'm interested in your fan setup I just don't think hitting those temps is good at all.
 
shouldnt 4650 cfm be enough air to keep temps below 210? from what I'm gathering the taurus fan pulls around that on high which rarely comes on..
 
XGarfX said:
your temps were between 220-240?? Anything over 218ish id say your already overheating. I've run my jeep pretty hard for 8 hrs of rock crawling with no overheating, i do have my aux fan wired to a switch and keep it on most of the time but even with it off (cpu controlling the fan) it hits 215 and the fan comes on and brings it back down.
Click to expand...

comparing crawling to running in the dunes is a joke as far as cooling goes...
 
XJLI said:
comparing crawling to running in the dunes is a joke as far as cooling goes...
Click to expand...

I understand that but from what I'm getting is that the reason to go to e fans is so that you have a much better control over your temps regardless of rpms. So if crawling at 2000rpm with a mech fan vs running high rpms with 3 e fans covering the entire rad pulling 4600cfm I figured the e fan would do a better job since the coverage area is much better. IDK the only experience i have with e fans is how mine works and having it run to a switch that I only use once in a while.

I'm interested in dirtbounds setup but hitting 240 isn't something I ever want to see on my temp gauge. I get how being in the dunes running high rpms and hot weather would get that engine and the bay real hot, but i doubt that the guys running xjs during races and prerunning hit those temps during a race on a consistent basis am i wrong? ill let the prerunner guys touch base on their engine temps.
 
techno1154 said:
What transmission are you running? Just querious as to wether are not the added heat of the AW4 would have made a difference.
Click to expand...
i'm running the AW4 and it was running between 200-210
XGarfX said:
your temps were between 220-240?? Anything over 218ish id say your already overheating. I've run my jeep pretty hard for 8 hrs of rock crawling with no overheating, i do have my aux fan wired to a switch and keep it on most of the time but even with it off (cpu controlling the fan) it hits 215 and the fan comes on and brings it back down.
Click to expand...

first it was not just 10 min here and there, it was non stop high RPM runing in the sand. trying to keep a 4.0 at 200 in those conditions would be hard. and two fans running 220-240 was fine as long as i would slow down and let it cool for a min before i got on it again. it worked much better with all 3 going but i didn't have all 3 the whole trip. if you would have read my post then you would have seen the jeep was doing good until i lost the 3rd fan.

and the 2 fans worked fine for crawling but i wasn't doing that my entire trip.

XGarfX said:
I understand that but from what I'm getting is that the reason to go to e fans is so that you have a much better control over your temps regardless of rpms. So if crawling at 2000rpm with a mech fan vs running high rpms with 3 e fans covering the entire rad pulling 4600cfm I figured the e fan would do a better job since the coverage area is much better. IDK the only experience i have with e fans is how mine works and having it run to a switch that I only use once in a while.

I'm interested in dirtbounds setup but hitting 240 isn't something I ever want to see on my temp gauge. I get how being in the dunes running high rpms and hot weather would get that engine and the bay real hot, but i doubt that the guys running xjs during races and prerunning hit those temps during a race on a consistent basis am i wrong? ill let the prerunner guys touch base on their engine temps.
Click to expand...

maybe you should re read my post, then maybe you'll understand something. and when i'm running fast down high speed dirt rds the jeep cools great, but when in sand your tires and motor are spinning faster than the jeep is moving so it's not pulling as much air as it would if i was going fast.
 
If it weren't for the noise I would switch back to an engine driven fan and stock late model electric with the stock shrouds. I just can't stand the noise and a setup like Dirtbound's comes real close to factory airflow.
 
jmaxj said:
no it sits to the left of the old pulley. i was thinking my motor hit it but i would have heard that before it came apart.
Click to expand...
So if you are looking from the front it is the fan most towards the passenger side? Did you replace the fan pulley studs with bolts? and how are your engine mounts?

I am just trying to figure out if it failed from contact or just fell apart, as this would be the first case out of 50+ fans of a failure.

Possible to send me some photos of it in the engine so i can see how close things are and then one of it removed?



XGarfX said:
your temps were between 220-240?? Anything over 218ish id say your already overheating. I've run my jeep pretty hard for 8 hrs of rock crawling with no overheating, i do have my aux fan wired to a switch and keep it on most of the time but even with it off (cpu controlling the fan) it hits 215 and the fan comes on and brings it back down.

I do have a worn out fan clutch at the moment but still it does not ever overheat. My aux fan always comes on when needed and brings temps down, it just creeps up a bit easier and more often since the clutch is on its way out. I'm looking into an e fan replacement for my mech fan but if the temps are climbing to 220+ I will have to look somewhere else. Hopefully we can get more comments on your setup, I have no experience with your fans yet but I'm interested in your fan setup I just don't think hitting those temps is good at all.
Click to expand...


Sand will push any cooling system to the limits, I used to run Pismo in my other jeep with stock cooling and it would get to 240 within 10 minutes of hard dune driving but would do hours of rock crawling no issues.

I have not taken my current jeep on sand yet, but lots and lots of rock crawling. It has had some heat issues but my motor was also bad.

With my current motor and electric fans with AW4 tranny, I run 180 on the freeway and 190- 200 around town depending on what my fan controller is set to. Up long hills it will get to 210 or 220. I wish It would run hotter on the highway as I see better MPG at 200 - 210.

I don't see 220 over heating, I would worry if you went over 240.


XJLI said:
comparing crawling to running in the dunes is a joke as far as cooling goes...
Click to expand...

Yup! Two different worlds.

XGarfX said:
I understand that but from what I'm getting is that the reason to go to e fans is so that you have a much better control over your temps regardless of rpms. So if crawling at 2000rpm with a mech fan vs running high rpms with 3 e fans covering the entire rad pulling 4600cfm I figured the e fan would do a better job since the coverage area is much better. IDK the only experience i have with e fans is how mine works and having it run to a switch that I only use once in a while.

I'm interested in dirtbounds setup but hitting 240 isn't something I ever want to see on my temp gauge. I get how being in the dunes running high rpms and hot weather would get that engine and the bay real hot, but i doubt that the guys running xjs during races and prerunning hit those temps during a race on a consistent basis am i wrong? ill let the prerunner guys touch base on their engine temps.
Click to expand...

If you read his other post he got close to 240 only when the one fan stopped working.

The biggest advantage to the fan kit in my mind is for slow moving times, crawling.



The biggest thing is if the cooling system is not in good condition they will not help much, going to electric fans no mater who's they are will not fix a poor cooling system. So that means if you have a bad radiator, water pump or thermostat causing you to over heat the fan kit will not be a magic cure for it.
 
jmaxj said:
ok after 4 days in the dunes with this fan setup i have great news, good news and bad news.

first the great. the fans cooled excellent, running hard in the dunes the motor stayed around 200-220 the whole time when all 3 were running, when 2 were going it stayed around 220-240 but that was running high RPM'S playing in sand. when i was normal driving or wheeling they kept it around 210-220

now the bad. one of the fans motors decided to come apart the second day of the trip. i'm not sure exactly what happened but i can tell it separated and fell into the motor, i was just cruising down the dunes back to camp when it happened. so far all i can tell is there was a metal plate with 2 screw holes in the back that is now missing. i'll have more info when i pull it all out and inspect the damage but i am gonna need a new fan now thats all i know at the moment.


alas the good. the 2 fans kept it cool well enough that i could still play and have fun, just had to do it intermittently they couldn't keep it cool for long periods but kept it cool enough.


my overall performance report. they worked great when all 3 were working properly and when i was doing the rock crawling thing 2 were working very well. it was nice having that option of being able to turn the 3rd on when it was needed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the follow-up.

And just to add to the sand debate... I run a 5.3L/4L60e and in the woods/rocks I rarely hit 195-200* (that's at the end of a long day, it starts out at 185*). When I am on the sand I don't even consider slowing down until I hit 235* and I will regularly push it to 240-245* (I have seen 250* when having too much fun). Sand is one of the harshest environments for cooling.

Thanks again Dirt Bound, I will be doing the upgrade before summer heat gets here.
 
I think your fan setup did great.They should be a perfect replacement for anyone who want to replace their mechanical fan and still retain a backup option incase of failure (see thread jmaxj) verses the single Taurus fan. I have had the Derale # 16928 since 2004. They are rated at 4000 CFM. I have had no cooling problems with them so far. The tripple fans in addition to having a higher CFM rating also have more backup in the event of failure.

Great job. I love the way Dirtbound Offroad stand behind their product and go the extra mile to prove that they deliver what they promise to deliver. :cheers:
 
Here are a few photos of the very rough prototype shroud, I am not happy with my sheet metal brake on the bends. I plan to have them bent at my metal suppliers press brake tomorrow.

But like everything else this prototype will end up on my jeep probably...

5551240600_81ec3272e5_b.jpg

5550657721_46ea3cde7f_b.jpg
 
Looks good. Feel free to post up some installed pics. I'm curious what kind of clearance it leaves at the front of engine.
 
I'm glad you guys are doing a shroud. I have gone through several different electric fans on my high HP street car. I had a dirt track racing company make me a cake pan style shroud similar to the one you' re doing. It did help. I believe they recommended a minimum of a 1/2 inch clearance between the radiator and the fan. It should also be sealed for maximum effectiveness.
Tom
 
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