Fan on intercooler??
Fan on intercooler?? Has anyone ever tried putting a fan on a fmic in a ta? I know that cutting out the front bumper is prob more effective but not wanting to do that... The intercooler is getting some air thur the fog light holes but what if I stuck a fan on the intercooler also... Would this work?
Unfortunately the fan will work when you really don't need the IC to be working, low speeds, off boost, etc. When you are on boost you need lots of air flowing through it and the way to get it is not to try to use a fan to direct air where it doesn't want to go already. The right way is to present air to the IC so it wants to flow through in large quantities under speed. So you really need to cut, or get creative and look at some of the horizontal mounts with an air deflector under it.
Jim
Jim
Unfortunately the fan will work when you really don't need the IC to be working, low speeds, off boost, etc. When you are on boost you need lots of air flowing through it and the way to get it is not to try to use a fan to direct air where it doesn't want to go already. The right way is to present air to the IC so it wants to flow through in large quantities under speed. So you really need to cut, or get creative and look at some of the horizontal mounts with an air deflector under it.
Jim
Jim
My point is that a fan will not compensate for poor airflow through the IC, it will just help you have some flow when the car is not moving, which is generally not when you are boosting, right?
An option might be to do the cut but paint the IC black so it disappears. Some people don't like a big, silver lump up there.
Jim
An option might be to do the cut but paint the IC black so it disappears. Some people don't like a big, silver lump up there.
Jim
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8 sec potential, 12 sec slip
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I tried some fans on mine (horizontal kit) but they didnt really help at all so I took them off. I get enough airflow thru the IC how it is from the airdam, so no need for fans. I can't speak from putting a fan out of an airpath tho and using a fan to compensate, but it just doesnt seem to me that that method would work too good considering there is limited 'fresh' air for the fan to pull thru, and recycling hot air thats already in the cavity where the IC is won't do much for ya.
I think someone mentioned it but when your under boost the IC is a heat sink. It doesnt transfer heat away as fast as it absorbs it. So for the few seconds your under boost your increasing the temp. A 1:1 coolinr ratio for an A2A would be awesome but highly unlikely. Like in between runs a fan would certainly help to bring the IC back down to ambient. I used my radiator fan and left it on while in the staging lanes and what little it pulled through the IC in the 30 min I sat there helped a lot.....as I was not driving around but sitting still in the staging lanes at the track. A fan ON the IC at the time would have been awesome. Motorcycle fans would probebly work great im guessing.
My Yamaha R6's fan is small and seems to blow a good amount of air. Ebay has them cheap. They are small, shouldnt hinder air flow much.
My Yamaha R6's fan is small and seems to blow a good amount of air. Ebay has them cheap. They are small, shouldnt hinder air flow much.
I know this is an old thread but I disagree with the thoughts that the fans would become a restriction at speeds while boosting, my argument would be then how do you explain how engine radiator fans work and why aren't they a restriction to cooling the radiator at speed?
Because of this I believe fans mounted in a draw through setup shouldn't restrict airflow through the intercooler at speed anymore than engine cooling fans restrict the radiator at speed.
Because of this I believe fans mounted in a draw through setup shouldn't restrict airflow through the intercooler at speed anymore than engine cooling fans restrict the radiator at speed.
That’s like saying a remote trans cooler with a fan won’t work. Sure it will work but it won’t be as efficient. Everything is a compromise. I have a 87 TA and my front bumper is solid and flat, only air comes from underneath and it doesn’t really get any air dead on. Been driving it like this for like 4years and my IATs are 100*F in 80*+ days during my logs. I have sensors pre intercooler right after the turbo and then right before the water meth nozzle. Without the meth the IATs were always in the 100-120*F range and they would drop alittle during a pull, the wiper fluid helps drop temps 10*F or so during a pull and helps with detonation running 15psi on cheap 93 pump gas.
I’ve tried a 12” slim SPAL fan before When I was trying out an A2W setup with heat exchanger which my IATs were wayyyy hotter than with the A2A and that’s why I went back.
if you have it setup right it should get enough air under from the air dam creating a negative void causing the air to pull through the radiator area. I would suggest keeping it closer to the rad for this reason, otherwise getting direct airflow would be better and fans if you have no options. They would have to be pretty serious fans tho. You could do a test with and without fans and my guess would be high heat during a pull and if you don’t do pulls too close to each other you would see temps stabilize quicker with fans than without.
I’ve tried a 12” slim SPAL fan before When I was trying out an A2W setup with heat exchanger which my IATs were wayyyy hotter than with the A2A and that’s why I went back.
if you have it setup right it should get enough air under from the air dam creating a negative void causing the air to pull through the radiator area. I would suggest keeping it closer to the rad for this reason, otherwise getting direct airflow would be better and fans if you have no options. They would have to be pretty serious fans tho. You could do a test with and without fans and my guess would be high heat during a pull and if you don’t do pulls too close to each other you would see temps stabilize quicker with fans than without.
What happens if you blow air on a fan? It turns. What happens if you blow more air on a fan? It turns faster. Does anyone really believe that a running fan is going to cause a real restriction? Instead of anyone guessing, go try it.
I think this stemmed from the thought of how a clutch fan works and how electric fans cut off at speed. I think people think they disengage them because its blocking flow. The truth is the clutch fan causes parasitic loss=less fuel mileage. The electric fans do the same with a drag on the charging system. I've tried turning the fans off at different speeds, no difference in cooling.
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Why would you think that? because internet professionals said so? I have a fan on my intercooler and it helps in traffic and does not hinder anything at speed. people just make stuff up I think, and never try it themselves. When you sit in the staging lanes at the track...what happens? Heat soak. So this BS of you need the intercooler to only be cool at speed...is BS. Would you not want it to be as cool as possible at the start of your run?
What happens if you blow air on a fan? It turns. What happens if you blow more air on a fan? It turns faster. Does anyone really believe that a running fan is going to cause a real restriction? Instead of anyone guessing, go try it.
I think this stemmed from the thought of how a clutch fan works and how electric fans cut off at speed. I think people think they disengage them because its blocking flow. The truth is the clutch fan causes parasitic loss=less fuel mileage. The electric fans do the same with a drag on the charging system. I've tried turning the fans off at different speeds, no difference in cooling.
What happens if you blow air on a fan? It turns. What happens if you blow more air on a fan? It turns faster. Does anyone really believe that a running fan is going to cause a real restriction? Instead of anyone guessing, go try it.
I think this stemmed from the thought of how a clutch fan works and how electric fans cut off at speed. I think people think they disengage them because its blocking flow. The truth is the clutch fan causes parasitic loss=less fuel mileage. The electric fans do the same with a drag on the charging system. I've tried turning the fans off at different speeds, no difference in cooling.
I personally spray plain water onto the front face of mine with an aeroponics watering nozzle and a cheap *** pump I scavenged from a greenhouse irrigation system just on a toggle switch. Blasts a super fine water mist into the IC, radiator and transcooler. It will drop the temps of them all 80degrees in a couple seconds. I'll hit that thing while coming back down the return lane and by the time I'm back in the pits the temps under the hood are substantially lower and i can get in there a lot more comfortable like to check things and make changes.
You just used probably the only example where the fan would actually give you a gain...the staging lanes. And if your on the brake to build boost at the line. Unless you plan on smashing the pedal down in traffic the high temps while crawling in traffic don't matter. As soon as you move up to 25mph or more for just a couple seconds the temps drop back down very fast in mine. Its not like your going to get knock or anything in 10-20mph traffic crawl.
I personally spray plain water onto the front face of mine with an aeroponics watering nozzle and a cheap *** pump I scavenged from a greenhouse irrigation system just on a toggle switch. Blasts a super fine water mist into the IC, radiator and transcooler. It will drop the temps of them all 80degrees in a couple seconds. I'll hit that thing while coming back down the return lane and by the time I'm back in the pits the temps under the hood are substantially lower and i can get in there a lot more comfortable like to check things and make changes.
I personally spray plain water onto the front face of mine with an aeroponics watering nozzle and a cheap *** pump I scavenged from a greenhouse irrigation system just on a toggle switch. Blasts a super fine water mist into the IC, radiator and transcooler. It will drop the temps of them all 80degrees in a couple seconds. I'll hit that thing while coming back down the return lane and by the time I'm back in the pits the temps under the hood are substantially lower and i can get in there a lot more comfortable like to check things and make changes.
I say try it as is and see where your IAT's end up.
Mine is a little different since its an 02 Camaro but when I was running lower boost 5-7 lbs the IAT's never got more than 10 degrees over ambient.
Once I started turning it up into the 13-14 lb range did I start to notice higher IAT's but only in the 15-20 degree over ambient range so still not bad.
To be honest though cutting the front of the fascia out only helped a little, even with the drastic increase in air flow.
I/C is a CX Racing 4" thick unit btw.
Mine is a little different since its an 02 Camaro but when I was running lower boost 5-7 lbs the IAT's never got more than 10 degrees over ambient.
Once I started turning it up into the 13-14 lb range did I start to notice higher IAT's but only in the 15-20 degree over ambient range so still not bad.
To be honest though cutting the front of the fascia out only helped a little, even with the drastic increase in air flow.
I/C is a CX Racing 4" thick unit btw.
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everyone has their own way of doing things. Personally I think spraying water on my intercooler is silly, having to remember to do it and keep it filled is another hassle i prefer not to have. Not to mention if I have water dripping off my car, they arent gonna let me run at the strip. My fan comes on with my radiator fans. I dont have to remember to do anything, it does it for me. Sitting in traffic with cooler iats and not having to wait for temps to come down is something I prefer. Think of it this way, I dont have to remember to do anything to have my iats lower, I dont have to wait, its just there. Not sure what the downfall to this could ever be?
My intercooler is shrouded to the radiator so my rad fans pull quite a bit of air through it while not moving and I have those fans on a toggle to run them with no key in the ignition in the staging lanes.
So for cooling in staging and while under brake+pedal or the transbrake building boost, the fan is absolutely a good idea. But thats why i said it's also the only time and place I can see it being useful at all. Because you're hammering on it right off the bat and starting off with scorching high air temps. Though if you run water/meth im not sure how much that all would matter for the whole 1 second before the meth pump turned on and dropped the temps anyway.
Last edited by LetsTurboSomething; May 5, 2020 at 06:08 PM.