Viscous fan oil

[shokenore]

OOPs
finally got the viscous fan apart to stick in some more oil in just looked at the oil and I have got 6000 wt oil I thought I had ordered 60000 wt oil

Will this 6000 wt oil be ok or do I stick in some silicone grease or stick the fan back together and order the 60000 wt oil
slightly confused as to how it works with regards to oil "thickness" surely having a 2.4 and the inherent overheating issues I would be better off having thicker oil ?

Any ideas?

[Rustinho]

If you search the forum there are quite a few threads debating the merits of various oils for the viscous fan and a pretty good explanation of how it works...

This is a pretty good thread on the subject.

Not done the job myself as yet so hopefully someone else will be along shortly with a better idea of what to suggest...

[shokenore]

Thanks for the link,yes I was being lazy not using the search button but I was hoping for someone to reply who had done this recently.

Right what I understand now is silicone FLUID gets "thicker" as it gets warmer,unlike like OIL that gets thinner as it gets hotter.

When the Fluid is cold it should be liquid and slippy.The Fluid in my coupling is thick and sticky.

Silicone grease will be a waste of time,and 3000cst Fluid should be used.



Back to the Hobby shop Monday......

[GRASSMAN]

Hi mate,

I did mine a short time ago and used ST10,000 grade,
and it's fine, noise levels are OK, does not over cool
the engine, so gear box changes are fine, fuel cons is
great at 24 MPG. Not been home long from Avalanche,
and no temp probs at all during the day.

Hope this helps.

Gman

[shokenore]

I think after reading all the posts about viscous fan I might be looking at a stay in med ward nine.

Just to add to the fun she who must be obeyed has just let me know that I am doing the airport run Monday afternoon,and yes the viscous fan is in bits in the garage and I ordered the wrong oil off the internet,so I am waiting fingers crossed that the local hobby shop has some of the right grade in stock but tbh at this stage I think I will just be chucking in anything that looks about right.
Not really that happy about the blast down the M4 to catch a plane being the test drive after doing the viscous fan oil.
Fail to plan ,plan to fail
ho hum.

[Ploddit]

I also put in 50ml of 10000 - all good.

I don't think it makes much difference anyway.

[shokenore]

WHOOSH goes the fan!!!!

I would suggest this mod/repair to all 2.4 owners unless you know that it has been done.All in including taking the fan off,cleaning all the old yellow fluid out refilling and refitting took about 2 hours and £6.
2 x 50ml bottles of 10000 wt silicone diff oil
I reckon that there was about 20 ml left in the housing,the remaining junk cleaned out with white spirit and a quick blast with some compressed air left the innards all nice and clean,new oil dribbled in , I used about 75ml.
The slack "o" ring cut to length and glued and some rtv sealant on the mating face just in case.All the screws put back in and fan popped back in.

Although I could not feel any difference turning the fan by hand the noise of the air being pulled through the rad was considerably louder.

Test drive included a "blast" up and down the dual carriageway to get the engine up to temp and then lots of low speed stops and starts around the local streets.
Temperature gauge not going past the last "wave" icon before the thermometer.


She who must be obeyed could hear the sound of the fan as I pulled into the street.

[ROMEROTECH]

Has anyone converted from viscous to Kenlowe type fans yet?

[TonyN]

The reason I havn't is cos when the viscous fan is working you get a smoother heat level on the motor, it shouldn't get really hot, them cool right down, then get hot again, etc... like you'd get with a 'normal' electric fan switch system. The viscous fan should dynamically cool the motor all the time, untill things get really hot then the electric fan behind the grill will cut in anyway.

Also the big bonus of the viscous fan is it will stop spinning under water, an electric one will either spray water everywhere, or could bury itself in the rad when you dunk it underwater.

The first is a technical reason, but in the real world not normally a problem, the second is more important on a 4x4, so worth thinking about.

[ROMEROTECH]

So potentially an electric fan in conjunction with the viscous fan, perhaps fixed to the front of the radiator and to a manual switch might be useful for if and when the motor starts to get really hot?

I wondered if it would fit behind the grill attached to the slam panel somehow.

[Sancho]

So potentially an electric fan in conjunction with the viscous fan, perhaps fixed to the front of the radiator and to a manual switch might be useful for if and when the motor starts to get really hot?

I wondered if it would fit behind the grill attached to the slam panel somehow.

Haven't you already got an auxiliary electric fan or is that just a 2.4 thing?

[shokenore]

IMHO I really can not see the point of going to the grief of getting rid of the viscous fan and going all electric.
My viscous fan needed about £6 worth of maintenance in twenty years.

An electric fan will need plenty more set up costs than that,fuses extra relays,wiring,etc,etc.

If it ain't broke why go to the extra grief?

[ROMEROTECH]

I have no idea if i have an aux fan. Before i ask any more stupid questions i should take a look. Perhaps as shokenor says, if it ain't broke leave it as is.

Unless i get any overheating grief (and it's already been driving around in 36C ambient temps during the day on my recent Spain road trip) there's maybe no point seeing as the OEM system is doing a sterling job so far.

But i haven't been off-road yet.

[Albannach]

Haven't you already got an auxiliary electric fan or is that just a 2.4 thing?

It's a 2.4 thing.

[TonyN]

s'not, its an any Surf thing.