Best automotive engine fans according to redditors
We found 52 Reddit comments discussing the best automotive engine fans. We ranked the 39 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 52 Reddit comments discussing the best automotive engine fans. We ranked the 39 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
What about a car bubble? No idea how these work outside but I find them hilarious.
You oil and beat to get your motor off? Ok that did not sound right lol but anyways, I would suggest that you invest in a wheel puller.
https://www.amazon.com/Blade-Wheel-Puller-Original-Version/dp/B001CGFQDW/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1PF6TH183QH2Z&keywords=hvac+wheel+puller&qid=1565732781&s=gateway&sprefix=hvac+wheel%2Caps%2C184&sr=8-3
I use one all the time and I never have any troubles. It is like God blesses me every time I have to pull a motor off.
First off, 70°C is a very low cooling temperature. You should only be concerned when your coolant temperature reaches 100°C. Cooling your bike to a lower operating temperature than recommended by the manufacturer will result in premature wear of parts. Your engine is designed to run at a certain temperature, normally around 90°C. Think of it as constantly running with a "cold" engine. I've had numerous bikes run over 100°C for a few minutes without any problem. Coolant is designed to only boil beyond 100°C so no worries. Second a pc fan does not nearly have the airflow needed to cool your engine by say 10-15°C. (if that would be necessary) You would probably need a fan out of a server or a small motorbike. Some small radiator fans deliver an airflow of 2000 cfm (cubic feet of air per minute), a pc fan delivers 100 cfm. You'll need probably something like this. Wiring is straight forward. Ground the black wire of the radiator fan to you chassis, add a wire from positive terminal of your battery to 1 pin of the switch, add another wire from second pin of the switch to fan. You could also add a fuse between wire from battery to switch with the correct amps stated by the manufacturer of the fan.
My only issue with it is that it’s only one speed so I had to get an adjusting knob as well. I think it will be plenty powerful.
Fan
Okay, take all this for what it's worth (your mileage may vary, I am not a lawyer, I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, yada yada yada).....
I bought an '02 WJ in Feb (to replace my '01 XJ) and had similar issues like you're describing. Based on my experiences with my XJ previously, when it comes to the cooling system I tend towards doing a complete overhaul in one go rather than addressing one component at a time.
For your rig, you've got 4 main components to deal with (in my opinion) when it comes to the cooling system:
If you've already replaced the fan & relay/controller, you should be able to (mostly) rule that out. If you need to check and see if it's running, physically pop the hood and look. It should also be on full time when you switch the AC on.
You've replaced the waterpump, but you say it's "steaming". From where? Grab a flashlight and see if you can figure out where the steam is coming from. It might simply be that you either didn't torque the bolts down enough and it's leaking under pressure, or the surfaces the gasket sandwiches between weren't cleaned resulting in a poor seal, or a combo of both. If it's visibly coming from anywhere around the gasket, you might need to pull the pump and re-do it with a fresh gasket & gasket sealant. Make sure the surface of the block is scraped clean of all the old gasket material and use a good gasket. I have a low opinion of the ones that come with the water pumps and will spend the $$$ on a Fel-Pro (Fel-Pro 35629 water pump gasket).
Check your coolant for debris, particles, any fines or silts that you can see, etc. If the radiator has never been replaced, odds are good that in the 16 years your WJ has been running the radiator is clogged. If you replace the radiator, a good flush of the cooling system will get rid of most of that junk so you don't end up clogging the new radiator and get a fresh 50/50 mix of coolant in there. Top it off with a new Stant radiator cap while you're at it.
Same deal with the thermostat, it may simply be time to get a new one. Consider getting a new housing & gasket while you're at it. Not necessarily a requirement, but I tend towards replacing the housing when I do the thermostat "just because".
Stick with the OEM 195° thermostat - I ran my 4.0L XJ with the 180° thermostat during the summer in Vegas (100°+ routinely for months) and it noticeably helped but I went back to the 195° thermostat after summer temps ended. If that's your climate, the 180° thermostat might be good for a while but I don't recommend it as a straight replacement.
Is replacing nearly everything in the cooling system overkill? Maybe so, but I take into consideration my WJ is 16 years old (like yours) and I have no idea what kind of maintenance the previous owner has done. So it may cost a little bit, but it's worth it to me knowing all the main parts to the cooling system are "like new" which should eliminate overheating issues.
For a little bit of perspective on why I think that way (ie- total overhaul) this is what the thermostat on my '01 XJ looked like when I replaced it a few years ago: https://imgur.com/a/FvZQi9E
The extra ring looking piece to the right of the thermostat is piece of another thermostat that was inside the block.
When I replaced the radiator on my WJ, I pried off one of the end tanks the core was clogged like you wouldn't believe.
Once you've gone through all that, you also have the option of installing a mechanical clutch fan. This thread on JeepForum gives some good info and links. The tl;dr for that is to go grab this Hayden 2787 fan clutch and this Dorman 620-602 fan and spin it onto the threaded nose on the water pump.
I've got the Torque app with a bluetooth OBD-II scanner so I can check the real numbers vs what the dash gauges are showing. Trust me, you can be running hot before the temp gauge starts to creep past the halfway mark.
After replacing all the bits & pieces I talked about above, and installing a mechanical clutch fan, my WJ is running cold. Yesterday was high 90s here in Vegas, and idling in a parking lot w/ the AC on the temp never broke 200°. Creeping through traffic on the freeway w/ AC on hit 206°-210° but didn't get higher. Driving about 75-80mph for a while, and it was in the 190°-195° range.
These are the same temps I was seeing with my XJ after I did the cooling system overhaul, so I have no doubt when it starts breaking 100° here in Vegas I won't be seeing any overheating issues with the WJ.
They can be adjusted with the power supply.
https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Radiator-Cooling-Assembly-Universal/dp/B01MSIRFPC/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1504458359&sr=8-16&keywords=12v+fan
https://www.amazon.com/QUANS-Universal-Regulated-Switching-Lighting/dp/B00UHI3NGS/ref=sr_1_7?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1504458418&sr=1-7&keywords=12v+power+supply
Don't run an extension cord into your shower.
I'd suggest cutting a piece of coroplast to fit the open window, and then make a round hole in the coroplast to fit something like:
A USB fan run from a phone-recharging battery-pack
An O2COOL battery fan with rechargeable batteries
An automotive aux cooling fan run from a 12v battery pack (such as a pack for radio-control model cars)
You can get DC fans the same size ranges as box fans for about the same price. Heck typical electric radiator fans on cars are DC. See this quick example.
The bigger the fan, the less it has to work to move the same amount of air. See this study. This generally means better efficiency. This gets brought up a lot when people talk about cooling things like server rooms, computers, warehouses and such. It's why those massive giant fans sell so well. This also means they generally make less noise.
That same study above mentions the dynamics of flow and how slower bigger fans help with creating a better flow.
As for difficulty of installation, I can't see that it would be any more difficult than any other fan. You need to seal the overly large hole and set up electrical either way.
Honestly, I feel like you're post is the perfect example of what I'm trying to avoid, and what these companies bank on. Convenience at a cost. Both fans start at the 200 range or so, and there is no doubt in my mind that I'd spend at most half that trying to get any other fan to work in the hatch.
Thanks for the post though. It good to hear from others to think this stuff through.
This all depends on how much work you want to do, how you are with basic electrical connections and how much you want to spend up front vs how much you'd rather spend in electricity. Not that I've looked into this in any way.....
If you just hook up a standard gable fan like this it will run well enough and probably cool your shed a fair amount. You can also include a thermister like this which will give it a high and low threshold for operation. These can get pretty noisy though and if you leave it running all the time you'll probably see it on your bill.
For a bit more up front you can go with a full solar gable fan. Some models also allow connection to your 120v system so you can run them at night or during low sun conditions. These are great for situations like yours (or like my detached garage) where there isn't electrical yet or where you don't necessarily want to pay to have a fan run 10+ hours a day.
Vehicles run on the same output as solar panels (for the sake of this discussion) so you could easily cobble something together for less than $100 that would push as much air as one of those larger gable fans but also charge your cordless batteries, run low voltage lights, etc. You can also DIY a solar kit. I can get into the product details if you want, but overall you'd need:
If the fan is too noisy or moving too much air (in extreme cases, depressurization can be an issue) you can control fan speed with something like this and I'm sure there are 12v temp controllers as well.
You might have some luck that way, but overall I've found stock replacement designs (even cheap import ones like TYC or Spectra) to be both more reliable and more powerful. You can grab a new one of those off Amazon in about two days tops.
This is the V8 one from that year, and probably available by Friday for you:
https://www.amazon.com/Spectra-Premium-CF15010-Radiator-Assembly/dp/B00Q64R94Y
That actually moves a smidge more sure than the V6 one. You'd need to adapt the wiring a bit more vs the V6, but it's quickly available.
Of course, if there's a local one at a yard, that may be your fastest bet for one just to test.
For my WJ, I removed the electric fan entirely because the relay kept failing, even after replacing it with a brand new relay four times. I still don't know why that kept happening. I replaced the electrical fan with a beast of a mechanical fan, an 11-blade viscous-clutch fan. The only way to remove the fan shroud (which is what the electric fan mounts to) is to also remove the mechanical fan, sadly, as far as I know. To make things easier, I only have the fan shroud attached by the top two bolts, and it stays on absolutely fine with no vibration or anything. It's nice not needing to worry about electronics failing now... the fan just always runs when it has to, and worst-case, the clutch is the only thing that can fail, and if it does then it will just be stuck on full blast all the time which is literally fine lol.
If you're interested, here's the setup I have for the mechanical fan, which is guaranteed to keep the engine even cooler than the electrical fan ever could:
The fan blades
The fan clutch
You'll need to get from your hardware store: four m10x1.5x12mm bolts. My hardware store didn't have any of that exact length so I had to get 25mm length and just cut them down to 12mm. Pretty easy with a Dremel and cutoff disk.
If you have any other questions, feel free to respond to this comment. I highly recommend upgrading to the proper mechanical clutch fan setup if you're having issues with cooling the engine. For under a hundred bucks you can make the upgrade using the Amazon links above. Hope this helps!!
I installed Dirtbound's old e-fan kit which had fans similar to OP's and two of them died, so I replaced them with SPAL 10" puller fans rated at 802 real-world CFM. Coolant temp sits rock-solid at 205ºF, I might have to put them on switches to turn one off in the winter.
The generic fans did fine except when flogging it uphill at highway speeds and struggled when using AC during the hotter days during summer. No problems with the SPAL units though. 90ºF+ with the AC on and I never got over 212ºF.
well, if you have a traditional vent, there is the fan insert that is about $45 on Amazon. A PWM speed controller is about $8. Comes w reverse.
will look up the parts.
as far as 'rain proof', install a vent cover.
The Fantastic series has a rain sensor model that will close the vent. About $300+
https://www.amazon.com/Hengs-90043-CR-Replacement-Vortex-Fan/dp/B002N1J5IM
https://www.amazon.com/Pixnor-Controller-Adjustable-Reversible-reversing/dp/B01H1W79S0
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Camco-40421-RV-Aero-flo-Roof-Vent-Cover-White/29764356
so, $45+8+22, or $300+
I've ragged out that one. Now I use--- https://www.amazon.com/Sensible-Products-Ultimate-Blower-Puller/dp/B001CGFQDW
I've been sent back on too many other tech call backs because they shook the blower wheel off the shaft and ruined its balance.
Based on how big of a space you need you probably will need a pretty heavy duty fan.
I chose the Endless Breeze that has been discussed endlessly (haha!) for oversized swamp coolers (2.6 amps for 920cfm):
https://www.amazon.com/Fan-Tastic-01100WH-Endless-Breeze-Stand/dp/B0000AY2Z6
Also, this one is a new one that I don't know how effective it is but moves a good amount of more air (2.8 amps for 1700):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JI0KOWG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Or window cooling fans? A better version of this would push air out through the vents.
I don't think your needs are great. I would generally look for a laptop with the following specs:
- Quad core 8th gen "U" model CPU like the Core i5-8250u. Less powerful than the "H" model CPUs like the i5-8300h or i5-9300h, which can sustain higher clock speeds, but generate more heat and consume more power. These "H" CPUs are generally not used in thin & light laptops, with the exception of some thin and light gaming laptops
- 16GB of RAM. Probably a bit overkill, but lots of Chrome tabs can eat a lot of RAM.
- A SSD of any size you wish to have. I generally recommend at least 256GB.
- With regards to being able withstand "baking in a car"; I generally recommend a laptop that has passed the Dept of Defense's MIL-Spec requirements for electronics operating under harsh environments. Dell Latitudes and Lenovo ThinkPad T and X series would be at the forefront with ThinkPads ahead of Latitudes. If you plan on leaving the laptop in the car for an extend period of time when you are not driving, then I recommend you purchase a car window ventilator so that hot air does not build up in the car. An example is linked below. The laptop would need to be in the passenger cabin for this to work;, not the trunk or glove compartment. Stow the laptop under the driver or front passenger seat to keep it out of sight.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T9F38P5/ref=psdc_15725361_t1_B07BPV59BP
i know i'm late. but those are aftermarket radiator fans. I recognize them because i bought 2 for my car.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079NJ5X9W/ref=twister_B07P6YJFWW?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Best place to buy AD-BLUE/DEF online by the jug https://www.amazon.com/Sinopec-F-DEF32-CJ2AVE-Diesel-Exhaust-Fluid/dp/B0723B3G6S/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&qid=1496666113&sr=8-26&keywords=def+2.5+gallon
Fan: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MSIUNX9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_6v-SBbMPNXREV
Panel: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018BMGTTO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_jz-SBb8B39CK8
Mc4 wires: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D7VBICM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_JA-SBbH90VFP5
On the inside there's an off switch that interrupts only the + wire. I ran regular Romex to the fan from the switchbox.
Yea, this didn't smell at all, just keeping stuff from growing. Splash of bleach, good to go.
Going to try this Electric Radiator fan. 12VDC, 2.8 amps, 1700 CFM @ 2800 RPM
So I ended up buying this fan (against all advice of not buying aftermarket). It was 1/3 of the cost of OEM and the reviews are very positive, it arrive in 2 days and fit like OEM. we will see - https://www.amazon.com/URO-Parts-17-561-757/dp/B00BQS7BJS/ref=pd_rhf_yaod_p_img_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7JQKZCJXG606A0SC4NJS
Replacing a 12v battery is incredibly easy. Assuming you have a 3rd gen you can get this battery for $150, I'd imagine one for the 2nd gen would be similarly priced and maybe even the same battery. Dealers overcharge like crazy for mechanic service. I'm sure you can find some for the 3rd gen as well, but for the 2nd gen there's this cooling fan assembly for $250. No idea how easy it is to swap that out, but I'd imagine it's not impossible to do on your own, and I think it'd be worth the $490 difference.
I added Sumosprings to mine combined with a 6k wdh.
Mine has factory tow package.
Avg 10-12 mpg on hilly terrain.
Under 65 mph hwy.
Here is fan
Heng's 90043-CR Replacement Vortex I Fan https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002N1J5IM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_G8q0BbHRYQ15J
The frequently bought together link shows PWM speed control. Read fan reviews for how to.
Fridge fan was an ebay kit I found for $20ish.
12v computer fan and wiring with switch.
Mounted fan with zip ties on inside of top vent to pull hot air out.
Had room for 2nd battery alongside first on tongue. Bought battery from Costco, cables and battery box on Amazon.
Starcraft screen is a roll up style that retracts.
Keeps bugs out, more natural light and nice cross breeze.
Have considered ramp door as a potential deck, but with little ones and no railings like bigger models I passed.
Yours have roof or side A/C?
If roof, then the odd counter space above fridge makes a great place for a 3 drawer Sterlite plastic shelf. We put one up there when onsite.
Without much storage it helps for longer getaways.
Enjoy!
https://www.amazon.com/UPGR8-Universal-Performance-Electric-Radiator/dp/B00T3TQLKW/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1538269338&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=radiator+fan&dpPl=1&dpID=6122dfNPmwL&ref=plSrch
Say something like the above?
I got one of these to put in my sunroof. I will take it out while driving.
Heng's 90043-CR Replacement Vortex I Fan https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002N1J5IM/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_SiPvzb19T5VKR
I’ve heard nothing but problems with the so-called heavy duty aluminum welded radiators.
I solved my problems with three Spal 10” fans on a Dirtbound Off Road shroud with a Flex-a-lite PWM fan controller.
It's worked great for me. I also swapped the binary HP A/C switch with a trinary from a 1997-01 XJ and bypassed all the ECU control functions for the fans, both for engine temp as well as A/C demand. It will screw in where the normal switch is and allow the fans to run only when there is high enough refrigerant pressure to needed, not whenever the A/C clutch is engages, like driving over 35mph.
I threaded the sensor into the thermostat housing.
Some other pics: here & here.
either bar end weights or perhaps a throttlemeister type cruise control. can you use the bolt that came out to put the mirror on? if not, try using a socket the same size as the handlebar and threading the bolt through that to use it like a puller