Fan For GU III Intercooler ??

Do you have a plastic bonnet protector fitted i believe these can deflect some of the air over the intercooled scoop

i have considered it mate, and someone has done it to a 3.0l....did see a pic...think it was an 8" thermo, and it did fit snuggly inside the scoop....although i was thinking of mounting one underneith to draw the air through it.....i think you right though....they get sweet fa air!!! even the hilux scoop is larger than the patrol one, but i still believe front mounting it would be a better option although much more work.

g'day Pete,
We were advised by a well known diesel specialist to fit a fan onto the IC.
I listened to what he said and did what he suggested. That was to cut short lengths of string , about 100mm long and use some blue tack to stick them all over the bonnet. In particular, in front of and around the intercooler scoop, then go for a drive at various speeds.
I expected the string to be blown back along the bonnet with the wind but instead, the bits of string showed that there was a lot of turbulance across the bonnet and not a 'clean" stream of air over the scoop.
In short what the diesel guy said was exactly right, that is , there is next to no flow thru the IC while moving and none at slow speeds such as sand and low 4x4.
I fitted the fan and now there is a LARGE difference between the temperature of the casings at the inlet and outlet sides of the intercooler.
The fan was fitted at the same time as a tune was done so I have no way of knowing what difference, if any it made to performance. Although the GU is running much smoother and seems(seat of the pants) to have more power.
At least now I know the IC is working.
I can email you some pics if you are interested.

Cheers
Nifty

Yep - the removal of the intercooler fan from GUs has always amazed me. The 1998 2.8 gu has a fan mounted under the intercooler that sucks air through. This could have been directly transferred to the 4.2 intercooled engine as the intercooler is exactly the same as the 98 2.8 minus the fan.

Peter,

I had consulted a reputable diesel mechanic and they suggested and ultimately installed a fan on top of the intercooler of my 2001 3.0lit patrol. They advised that in tests they has conducted that the air flow was very poor and in some circumstances air had flowed out of the air scoop instead of into it. The system they installed was not a thermo fan, instead it is always on when the ignition is on. Their reasoning was not to rely on another device to turn the fan on because by this time the intercooler was most likely too hot and the system then has to work hard to cool it down. Far better to have the fan running all the time in order to maintain a lower temp. I believe the intercooler fan is a good idea as the setup on the patrol apears not to be very effective as I believe you have discovered.

Regards

Bob on Patrol

if at all possible I too would like to see the pic's

malcolm.poes@gsjbw.com

thnks

If you have a 4.2, there is not much room above, and none below...

We (me and awill4x4) have a 2.8 intercooler and fan (love u bilbo) we are working with on a project at moment. we are going with a bigger longer core and using the std end tanks. there is plenty of area to go longer towards the grill end..

but the fan from the 2.8 wont fit in there on top or below. I wouldnt be a fan of putting a fan on top it would block the natural air flow from the scoop, so in the end you would gain 0, maybe even loose some.

Tryin to get more air flowing through, if your doing 40-100k's I dont think you will get any more air flow than thru the scoop...

If your unsure, maybe an Water to Air intercooler maybe better for your application. But you need a radiator for it, pump, etc.. Great results from it, but expensive to setup.

Good luck

Hi All.
Seems to me ,that any air in contact with the IC would naturally want rise as it gets warmer (lighter) therefore going against the supposed intake flow of scoop !
Makes me think back to Torana A9X days when some people questioned the rearward facing bonnet scoop. Believe GMH engineers worked out there was good air pressure to be used from the air hitting the windscreen.
Cheers Boldjack

Peter Both myself and my mate Chaz have fitted fans on top of our intercoolers with a thermostat and relay to contol when the fan comes, if you go to Chaz'z web page you will find photo's of what we have done www.conody.com
I have found like many others that the combination of bull bar and bonnet protector the amount of air actually going in through the bonnet scoupe is almost zero but since fitting the fan I have found that the intercooler is cool and the torqu is there all the time.

Cheers
Treker

I think you see a lot more bugs and crud in your air cleaner becuase your engine and turbo are pumping a lot more air in from a much more exposed location. Airflow at the IC will be more affected by the things in front of it and because of its position down on a surface (the bonnet). Plus the IC can shed bugs and stuff out of the scoop area where the air filter case is hopefully sealed with the snorkel fitted.

I have had plenty of bugs in mt IC area on occassions so I guess there is air getting in as well. I have a light alloy flywire over my IC (and the radiator) to keep the bugs out of it so mabe it traps more than yours does. The radiator temps have nevr been a problem despite the wire either.

Not sure if all of the effort for fitting a fan to a smallish IC will make a big difference but if it does let us all know.

JamieMac