viscous fan

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
B

Bobs110

New Member
Posts
38
Location
Shropshire
Can anybody tell me the correct operation of the viscous fan on my 300tdi. With the engine at any temperature the fan always seems to be "locked", I can only get it to move very slightly with a lot of force - is this right or should it be running reasonably free when the engine is cool/warm. If the viscous unit needs replacing is it any easy job ? thanks
 
There seems to be mixed feelings on this forum about taking the electric fan route, I initially thought an electric fan was a safe and easy option as supposedly in normal conditions a defender doesnt really require the permanent cooling of the viscous fan ..... I don't know ! I've just checked my manual and it looks like I need to buy a special wrench to remove the viscous. Does anyone have any thoughts about a kenlowe.
 
an electric fan is a far better option than a viscous fan. in fact you can drive your landy all day without any fan at all, (esp in winter), providing you dont get stuck in traffic.
with no fan you get better mpg and more power. a bonus is that the car heats up much quicker, nice on winters mornings.
the special spanner can be found on ebay for about a fiver.

if you cant afford a kenlowe, use summat like a ford fiesta electric fan from a scrappy.
 
I drove my landy on and off road all summer, and the fans came on once, that was on what was probally the hotest day, (struggling to stay outside hot) I was heading to a job which entailed a fairly long climb up a pretty steep rutted hill, lowrange, 2nd gear job, got to the top of the hill, and then along the top to where I needed to go, and the fans came on for a bit. That was after travelling from another city on the motorway.

I would be fairly confident that I could take my fans out now, and not need them until next summer.

They save you fuel, and reduce noise, also with electrics you can wire in an overide switch so you can have them on when you feel like it. i.e. stuck in traffic, offroading etc...
 
looks like its an electric fan then ! Some people have seem to have fitted all sorts of different fans from the scrappy but it would still need some kind of thermostat to switch it on or do you reckon a switch on the dash is sufficient if you all think the fan won't be needed very often. Or would I better saving up and getting the Kenlowe complete kit ? Thanks for all your advice.
 
The viscous fan is not supposed to spin when the engine is cold or cool. This helps warm the engine up faster. One the engine is warm teh viscous coupling in the fan then allows the fan to start spinning to cool the radiator down.
Electric fan... lots of money that will never make it's cost back in fuel if the viscous part of the mechanical fan works.
 
my viscous fan seems to be permanently locked, whether it is hot or cold its impossible to move it more than a few mm by hand, I was originally thinking of changing the viscous unit which costs around 50 squid until people started singing the praises of going electric.
 
Yes you will need a thermo, not a problem though. For reference if you look in the defender gallery, you will see I have posted a picture called "twin sabbs" these are 2 sabb fans, really simple setup, one live comes from a live on a relay up on the bulkhead, through a 10amp fuse, then into the fans, then the wire comes out, and through a thermoswitch the other side of which is decked.

You can get the wee 92degrees jobs for about £4, simple as; when they get hot they are on, when they cool a bit they turn off! Mine is screwed into the top drivers side of the radiator.

Find any fitting on your radiator which has a blanking plate in it at the moment, or on water pipes etc and bung it in there.
 
a switch is ok as long as you remeber to keep an eye on the temp guage. esp in traffic jams or on long uphill treks. also very important to check when off road.
 
Yea, if your not scatter brained then a switch would do, as soon as you hit traffic or are offroad or towing, or long uphills on motorways, fling it on.

When/if you come to sell it, make sure the new owner knows this, as it could lead to catastrophic failure if it got to hot without the fans being switched on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P38Seb
P38A Viscous fan woes
Replies
8
Views
918
kermit_rr
kermit_rr
mad85
Disco 2 AC fan not kicking in
Replies
10
Views
627
sierrafery
sierrafery
Clayrr
TD5 air con cooling fan
Replies
2
Views
994
Clayrr
Clayrr
M
19J timing case on 12L discovery engine
Replies
4
Views
854
lynall
L
N
Engine Fan
Replies
6
Views
807
lynall
L
Back
Top