Pusher Fan Between Condenser and Trans Cooler?

[inkpot]

I finally found the post that I 'thought I saw' a few days ago. @sea bass did this on his!
JDM aux fan
"I bought 2 12" fans off Amazon for 100 bucks each don't know the name but they have a 2000 cfm rating I tied them into my rear defogger relay since I don't need that here in Arizona the relay is located in the driver side kick panel"
https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/1464826164501-2073075432-jpg.1267990/

That’s ONE of the ones I was thinking about. There are a couple of older threads on the subject also.

I don’t remember you mentioning what vent temps you get/how much improvement over ambient.
My A/C system is butting out between 50 to 55 degrees lower than ambient even when it was 114 yesterday.

 

[Dissent]

My vent temps are a mixed bag. I've had this truck 6 years, bought it from the original owner who babied it and literally 'soccer mom'd' it between Palm Springs and San Diego exclusively. She was very happy with the A/C. Since I've owned it in Phoenix, it's not too bad on the highway (especially starting from a shaded garage) at about 50F vent temps. I do have to turn it down on freeway trips. Now in town and even worse, on the trail, it's horrible. Slow moving is about 75F vent temps. Before the 150A alternator that puts out 13.7-14.4v and all the amperage at idle, I was running the blower and 100 series aux fan at 10.7-11.4v sitting/sweating in traffic and the air was quite humid. I did the blue fan clutch mod with 23K fluid and tuned it to 100F (if I recall correctly, maybe less) per @landtank's instructions. Even with the crap alternator performance, the engine was quite happy but the A/C was marginally better at about 65F-70F. Prior to taking into CBT for an evac/charge last July because I found a leaking Schrader valve thinking it was causing a low charge condition, I cleaned the condenser and evaporator and installed the 100 series fan. They charged it, it was 45F in their 75F shop and they called it good. Same performance this year as last. The wife's RX100 literally blows mine away, it's 4 years newer and 1000% better. Idling in traffic is a solid 45F and the freeway is sub-40F's. I know that her parallel flow condenser is the only real difference and am putting one in mine.

This morning I drove from a shaded garage, in 100F ambient, and it was 49F all the way. After parking for 1 hour, the vent was 100.6 (ambient was 101), I started it and it idled down to 69.5. I revved to 1500RPM and locked the hand throttle and waited about 5 min for it to get to 54.1. This was all with the doors CLOSED, on Max at the Center vent. I drove down the freeway, ambient was 101 still, and it returned to 49F. It never gets better than that.

I suspect the condenser is to blame for some of it but I suspect there's a drier, TXV, too much oil, etc. issue that is giving me grief. I'll be base-lining it by removing/cleaning the evap, replacing the drier and TXV, and recharging the system. The only NEW addition will the a true parallel flow condenser. I suspect I'll still need an aux fan and have a 12" 24v SPAL sitting in the garage I'm planning on cramming in there and running at 12v and compare it to the 100 series fan. I'm betting my highway temps will be 40F and I'm hoping my low speed/sitting temps will be close. The fan should push it over the edge.

 

[Speedytech7]

My vent temps are a mixed bag. I've had this truck 6 years, bought it from the original owner who babied it and literally 'soccer mom'd' it between Palm Springs and San Diego exclusively. She was very happy with the A/C. Since I've owned it in Phoenix, it's not too bad on the highway (especially starting from a shaded garage) at about 50F vent temps. I do have to turn it down on freeway trips. Now in town and even worse, on the trail, it's horrible. Slow moving is about 75F vent temps. Before the 150A alternator that puts out 13.7-14.4v and all the amperage at idle, I was running the blower and 100 series aux fan at 10.7-11.4v sitting/sweating in traffic and the air was quite humid. I did the blue fan clutch mod with 23K fluid and tuned it to 100F (if I recall correctly, maybe less) per @landtank's instructions. Even with the crap alternator performance, the engine was quite happy but the A/C was marginally better at about 65F-70F. Prior to taking into CBT for an evac/charge last July because I found a leaking Schrader valve thinking it was causing a low charge condition, I cleaned the condenser and evaporator and installed the 100 series fan. They charged it, it was 45F in their 75F shop and they called it good. Same performance this year as last. The wife's RX100 literally blows mine away, it's 4 years newer and 1000% better. Idling in traffic is a solid 45F and the freeway is sub-40F's. I know that her parallel flow condenser is the only real difference and am putting one in mine.

This morning I drove from a shaded garage, in 100F ambient, and it was 49F all the way. After parking for 1 hour, the vent was 100.6 (ambient was 101), I started it and it idled down to 69.5. I revved to 1500RPM and locked the hand throttle and waited about 5 min for it to get to 54.1. This was all with the doors CLOSED, on Max at the Center vent. I drove down the freeway, ambient was 101 still, and it returned to 49F. It never gets better than that.

I suspect the condenser is to blame for some of it but I suspect there's a drier, TXV, too much oil, etc. issue that is giving me grief. I'll be base-lining it by removing/cleaning the evap, replacing the drier and TXV, and recharging the system. The only NEW addition will the a true parallel flow condenser. I suspect I'll still need an aux fan and have a 12" 24v SPAL sitting in the garage I'm planning on cramming in there and running at 12v and compare it to the 100 series fan. I'm betting my highway temps will be 40F and I'm hoping my low speed/sitting temps will be close. The fan should push it over the edge.

I'll be curious to hear how it works for you, I do okay with the heat in general but I'm in Chandler and I'm all to familiar with the 80s air conditioning short falls and even though j can tolerate it I wouldn't mind better performance.

 

[-Spike-]

I'm betting my highway temps will be 40F and I'm hoping my low speed/sitting temps will be close. The fan should push it over the edge.

Your low speed temps won't ever match highway speeds. I doubt that you can push a 60 mph wind through the entire condenser, and the compressor isn't turning as fast. It seems to need about 1800+ rpm engine speed to really work properly.

I adjusted my idle up to about 1100 rpm in neutral, which helps. I use the hand throttle if the truck has to sit for awhile on the trail. With the amped-up fan clutch and other air flow improvements it keeps the truck comfortable.

I've done some experiments using a high velocity shop floor fan and can't get noticeably better performance at idle no matter how much more air I blow at the condenser. You might want to try that before going down the road of making the system overly complicated.

 

[Dissent]

Your low speed temps won't ever match highway speeds. I doubt that you can push a 60 mph wind through the entire condenser, and the compressor isn't turning as fast. It seems to need about 1800+ rpm engine speed to really work properly.

I adjusted my idle up to about 1100 rpm in neutral, which helps. I use the hand throttle if the truck has to sit for awhile on the trail. With the amped-up fan clutch and other air flow improvements it keeps the truck comfortable.

I've done some experiments using a high velocity shop floor fan and can't get noticeably better performance at idle no matter how much more air I blow at the condenser. You might want to try that before going down the road of making the system overly complicated.

Solid points. I use the heck out of my hand throttle to maintain comfortablish conditions. It may not appear this way, but the goal is to simplify the existing setup. Phase 1 - Baseline, PF condenser, foam to block side drafts. Phase 2 - Augment condenser cooling if needed.
The goal is to mimic the RX sitting next door. I know Toyota instituted the PF condenser starting in 98 so the 'tech' is solid. I think it will be very simple...if I can wait until the dang parts get here...this is the worst part of this project!

 

[Rivman1243]

Just a thought for you ponder, when my coolant temp is around 194°F is when my A.C. blows the coldest. My thought is by keeping the coolant at a lower temp the fan clutch doesn't pull enough air for the A.C. system. I just filled my blue fan clutch with 10K oil and set the temp at 95°F.

Solid points. I use the heck out of my hand throttle to maintain comfortablish conditions. It may not appear this way, but the goal is to simplify the existing setup. Phase 1 - Baseline, PF condenser, foam to block side drafts. Phase 2 - Augment condenser cooling if needed.
The goal is to mimic the RX sitting next door. I know Toyota instituted the PF condenser starting in 98 so the 'tech' is solid. I think it will be very simple...if I can wait until the dang parts get here...this is the worst part of this project!

 

[Dissent]

Just a thought for you ponder, when my coolant temp is around 194°F is when my A.C. blows the coldest. My thought is by keeping the coolant at a lower temp the fan clutch doesn't pull enough air for the A.C. system. I just filled my blue fan clutch with 10K oil and set the temp at 95°F.

That's good info. My coolant is pretty much always 193F. I'm sure my current setup has a few issues. I agree with @-Spike- that one of the biggest issues is the gap between the condenser and radiator. My temp modded/23K oil fan is powerful enough to satisfy the radiator but not pulling enough over the condenser.

 

[Jgrauman]

That's good info. My coolant is pretty much always 193F. I'm sure my current setup has a few issues. I agree with @-Spike- that one of the biggest issues is the gap between the condenser and radiator. My temp modded/23K oil fan is powerful enough to satisfy the radiator but not pulling enough over the condenser.

I just installed the foam @-Spike- recommended today. I saw immediate results, no numbers, just tangible, but it was hot today and I actually was able to take my blower down to the second speed, usually have to run on high all the time. The AC was colder to me

 

[mingles]

I just installed the foam @-Spike- recommended today. I saw immediate results, no numbers, just tangible, but it was hot today and I actually was able to take my blower down to the second speed, usually have to run on high all the time. The AC was colder to me

I did the same (thanks for the tip @-Spike-) and had immediate improvement as well. I also added foam along the top edge of the radiator (between radiator and core support) as it looked like airflow could enter radiator through there and bypass the condenser. I found removing the grill and the horn bracket made inserting the foam a bit easier on the top edge.

1. Before Foam - ambient temp of 91F, running 40-50mph for 20 minute run, engine temp 195-198F, AC center vent temp on high fan 65-70F
2. After Foam - ambient temp of 91F, running same 40-50mph run for 20 minutes, engine temp 188-193F, AC center vent temp on high fan 55-60F

I know I have other airflow and AC issues (fan clutch is weak and AC charge is low) but the above exercise demonstrated to me that airflow over the condenser is key to low AC temps.

As an aside - I actually showed the link in @-Spike- 's post to the Home Depot associate and said I want this exactly . At this point in the exchange, an associate will usually (and did today) say, "what are you trying to do with it?", to which my typical response is, "it's a non-standard application. Just show me where the stuff is please" .

 

[-Spike-]

Glad you guys found the tip useful.

I also added foam along the top edge of the radiator (between radiator and core support) as it looked like airflow could enter radiator through there and bypass the condenser.

Next time you have the radiator out, seal all four sides to the core support. It's not critical- I wouldn't pull the rad just to do this- but it should help. I can't remember off the top of my head what thicknesses to use, but this method was originally showed to me by @Tools R Us and maybe he can. You do need some adhesive in this application, aerosol works well, rubber cement would probably work, or find foam with adhesive on it.