Intercooler Fan

[Jezza61]

Hi. New to the Forum, thanks for having me😀
My question is, I have just recently had a brand new Cross Country Premium Top mounted Intercooler fitted to my GQ in Perth. On picking up my car, I found a wire harness sitting on my passenger seat, when I enquired about it, I was told by the manager, that it was for my fan for the Intercooler and they hadn’t wired it up because most people don’t like it wired up and the Intercooler doesn’t need the fan. Well, I thought that would be the whole point of having a fan, to help with the cooling??
It would be great to get some feed back anyone regarding this.
Cheers

[jff45]

There are situations where a top mounted IC definitely needs a fan. When you stop for any reason with a hot engine, the bonnet scoop acts like a chimney and funnels the engine heat through the IC to escape. The IC just becomes a big heatsink and the vehicle will need to get moving in air before the IC can start functioning as intended.
The heatsink effect will also happen in slow moving traffic.

I followed the example of many and use a Jaycar 50C temp sensor to earth the fan relay. The fan will come on automatically if you've just done a short stop for any reason and will start pulling cooler ambient air in through the scoop until you get running.

I also use an override switch to turn on at will.
In my opinion a fan is a "must have".

[10G]

I have a fan fitted to the underneath of the IC that sucks air in and through the IC. It does make some difference in to the touch temperature of the IC in hot weather but not as much as I was hoping, the IC still gets darn hot, not sure the slight drop in air temp through the IC actually makes any difference performance wise.

[the evil twin]

I/C fans are very efficient for low speed slogging.
Once you get above about 50 KPH depending on scoop (factory/aftermarket) they do bugger all and can even start to impede air flow at highway speed unless they are a huge CFM and 'slim' mounting.

In short if you are a rock climber, soft sand or steep track user they are excellent at increasing power (more oxygen in cooler air) and reducing EGT.
If you are using the vehicle as a tug at road speeds etc the effectiveness is greatly reduced.

I have had I/C fans on ZD30, TD42T and Chevy 6.5 and the above is pretty much true for all those engines so I would put a bigger scoop on before a I/C fan if it was a choice between the two options for a daily driver/weekender or a tug.

I agree with jff45 in they do their best work when the vehicle is stationary (obviously) but if you are back up to road speed quickly (say 60 KPH or higher) then no biggee but if you are off at 10/15 KPH on the next section of track then yes they sure help

[Dhuck]

Welcome to the forum mate.

[Jezza61]

Thanks John. Makes sense.