Anyone sandwich a 12" fan between the condenser and transmission cooler?
Pusher Fan Between Condenser and Trans Cooler? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Dissent
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
You thinking about running two fans? One Aux fan (triggered by trinary switch, the other manual or with manual bypass)?
inkpot
SILVER Star
I know it has been done and documented here, maybe a year ago? Maybe more then once. Thinkin one of them was a diesel, for what it’s worth.
- Thread starter
- #4
Yes. I can move the transmission cooler towards the grill a bit to sandwich a low profile 12" SPAL fan in between, not sure about the airflow doing it this way. I want maximum A/C condenser efficiency on the trail.
- Thread starter
- #5
Thanks...I'll keep searching. Haven't found anything yet.
richardlillard1
SILVER Star
How many threads do you need at one time related to AC? Like at what point are you satisfied?
I recently used some foam strips from Home Depot to seal the condenser to the core support. Since my rad is also sealed, all the air that goes through the rad also goes through the condenser. This significantly improved the A/C performance with no effect on the engine temp, which was something I was concerned about. @richardlillard1 also did this, took him about 20 minutes including R&Iing the grill, and reported the same results. We both have upgraded fan clutches. One package of this 1.25" foam for the sides and two packages of this 2.25" foam for the top and bottom, quick and dirty, no adhesive, just a tension fit, under $10 total. I used to have a pusher fan, which gave marginal improvement, this mod blows that away. I'll never put a pusher on again.
- Thread starter
- #8
Sorry, I didn't realize there was a thread limit.
My apologies. I'll close them all out now.
Thanks for helping out!
- Thread starter
- #9
Thanks for the info @-Spike-. I know airflow is king! I have foam ready for just that purpose.
I have @LandCruiserPhil's 100 series fan on the OEM condenser and it is noticeable but my vent temps are still garbage right now so I'm swapping in a parallel flow condenser, dryer, expansion valve and cleaning up the evaporator. While I'm waiting for some things to arrive, I'm staring at a SPAL 12" fan sitting in the garage trying to line up what I'm going to integrate when the new condenser arrives. I'll start with the new condenser (and other parts) and the foam and see how things look. My alternator is now 150A so I'm not worried about the fan load but if I don't need them that would be great! If I do, I'm just trying to figure out how to maximize them.
Different 'subjects' (though related to a parent thread) are sometimes necessary to keep a single thread from going off on too many tangents. Perfectly understandable and makes a 'search' for certain information much easier.
So...that's 'like' the reason for it.
^^^^^ I think that is a good plan. If for no other reason...when you replace/alter more than one component at a time... it can be difficult to attribute the gain(s) to one or the other. We learn little.
With respect to adding a fan behind the Trans cooler..it might be beneficial but you have to be careful at the front of the vehicle to avoid adding or moving things that will result in 'turbulent' air. For instance: The reason your condenser is mounted CLOSE to (but not touching) the radiator is to ensure good straight-line airflow through both components. Too much gap and you have turbulent air build up between them.
The same could hold true for having the Trans cooler in front of a pusher fan. The trans cooler will probably benefit from it (not that they need it)...but the fan's function (peak efficiency) might suffer. Not saying don't do it or that it wouldn't help... but I'd rig it up temporarily and try it out before making permanent mounts.
- Thread starter
- #12
I wish I could try one thing at a time. I'm really good at troubleshooting and root cause analysis and I hate changing more than 1 thing at a time but I need to get back to a solid baseline. Really the only new addition will be the parallel flow unit, then after I collect some data, I will add the foam strips.
My gauges should be here Wed. and I can at least troubleshoot the existing system.
Good point on the gap and airflow. I saw a guy who removed the trans. cooler and had a fan there and it got me thinking. It would be great to not have any pushers but that slow trail work may benefit from at least one. I may rig up Phil's fan there and see what it does.
Not to mention that there will be a dead spot in the air flow through the tranny cooler if a fan motor is directly behind it. It may be worth considering just extending the cooler lines and moving it somewhere out of the way with its own fan.
- Thread starter
- #14
Yeah, that was the concern. I had read about people doing it on other trucks but thought I'd investigate. If the new condenser works as I expect, I won't need it.
Alternate possibility: The air exiting a heat exchanger is going to be extremely turbulent, no matter the distance from the core due to the turbulators between the rows. The proximity of the condenser to the radiator is not to promote laminar flow between the cores, but to prevent air from flowing around the condenser thus reducing it's efficiency. Fab up a simple sheet metal baffle or ducting between the condenser and radiator, and you can position them however you'd like in relation to each other. This is why the foam between the radiator and the condenser helps improve the condenser efficiency- it forces the air the fan is pulling to go through the condenser, rather than around it.
So i have a question, have you pulled your grill, removed the trans cooler, and done a good cleaning of your AC condenser. You might be surprised at how much crap can be plugging up your condenser fins reducing your systems performance that you can't see. One of the services i did for my customers to improve their AC cooling, was to do a good cleaning of their AC condenser.
When i cleaned a customers condenser I'd use a thin tool to clean all the stones, bugs, grass, and mud out between the fins. Next I'd comb out the bent fins, and last, I'd use a chemical spray to wash the Aluminum condenser to remove all the dirt, and oil stuck to it. It took a few hours of labor to perform this type of cleaning, but for the performance gains it was money well spent.
- Thread starter
- #17
Yes, I did an extremely through cleaning, even rigged up a 90 degree setup to really blast out from the inside of the shroud. I straightened the fins and cleaned out the bug parts with a toothbrush. It helped but even after the dealer charged it, its very lacking.
- Thread starter
- #18
I had considered mounting Phil's fan ON the trans cooler to blow through both because its smaller. Then I would put the SPAL on the passenger side. May not need any of this with the changes coming.
SmokingRocks
hopelessly addicted to Cruisers
The trans (at least the A442F) does not need any help cooling. If anything they need help warming up. On 100 degree days I never see above 170 degrees on the HOT line going into the cooler.
That said, you would see better result adding the pusher (preferably puller) to the AC condenser. This is what the 100, 200 and many other vehicles do. Take your time and find a good efficient fan, preferably one with a progressive start which reduces the initial demand (commonly referred to as variable frequency drive VFD's).
Having a 30-40 amp draw because of a aux fan does no favors for the 80 series alternator that puts out maybe 80 amps above 1200 rpms and less at idle. Keep in mind some cheaper (non VFD) can have start up demands of 50+ amps.
I'd wire the fans to click on when the compressor does, with a termostat mounted somewhere outside of the engine bay. That way if you hit the AC in the winter time to defrost the windows the electric fans won't come on as they aren't needed.
Also have you considered hood vents?
That said, you would see better result adding the pusher (preferably puller) to the AC condenser. This is what the 100, 200 and many other vehicles do. Take your time and find a good efficient fan, preferably one with a progressive start which reduces the initial demand (commonly referred to as variable frequency drive VFD's).
Having a 30-40 amp draw because of a aux fan does no favors for the 80 series alternator that puts out maybe 80 amps above 1200 rpms and less at idle. Keep in mind some cheaper (non VFD) can have start up demands of 50+ amps.
I'd wire the fans to click on when the compressor does, with a termostat mounted somewhere outside of the engine bay. That way if you hit the AC in the winter time to defrost the windows the electric fans won't come on as they aren't needed.
Also have you considered hood vents?
Last edited:
SmokingRocks
hopelessly addicted to Cruisers
I know you are chasing a problem and have replaced your fan clutch. But have you swapped the oil out for heavier?
I got the blue clutch, swapped out the stock 3k oil with 20k oil and advanced the engagement by maybe 1mm. This DIDN'T solve my cooling issue.... But you know what did?
FAN BELTS
The belts looked OK but they were slipping. Once I replaced them with OEM new ones and properly tensioned them the rig cooled down so well that it was actually cooling from 185 to 178 on a 10 mile climb up to 10,000 ft fully loaded at full throttle.
Check your belts.
I got the blue clutch, swapped out the stock 3k oil with 20k oil and advanced the engagement by maybe 1mm. This DIDN'T solve my cooling issue.... But you know what did?
FAN BELTS
The belts looked OK but they were slipping. Once I replaced them with OEM new ones and properly tensioned them the rig cooled down so well that it was actually cooling from 185 to 178 on a 10 mile climb up to 10,000 ft fully loaded at full throttle.
Check your belts.
Last edited:
