Cooling Fans

I need some cooling fans for the RAV4. Specifically, 2 for the radiator in the 12-14" range and one a little smaller for the charge cooler. Some type of temperature or pressure control for the charge cooler one would be nice, but if I had to, I suppose I could rig something up. And they need to be THIN. Real thin. What are people using these days? Suggestions?

electric cooling fans are on my list for my disco.. I would like to ditch the big mechanical one to see if I can pick up an empeegee or two

Spal fans have always been a top name, but is there a private label at half the cost or something? I would rather not blow five bills on fans.

I use dodge intrepid fans. Integrated shroud and thin. About 2 inches total.

Aforementioned Dodge Intrepid fans:

Main shroud 15.25x26.375x3.5"
Ears 2.125"
Fans 12.5"

Not sure if they fit but nearly every topic when I searched this very subject for my v8 swap lead to ford contour/mercury mistake. Apparently it's an upgrade for the fox body 302's

Police car fans are nice and heavy duty.

I might have 3.5" on one side, but I don't think it would clear the turbo. If it did clear the turbo, it would still probably melt from the heat. Those are interesting fans, though, and at two for $75 on ebay, it is hard to go wrong.

You can cut the integrated shroud down at least an inch or so....

How thick are they from the fan blade face to the back of the motor? If I had about 2 inches, I think that might fit in there. Might melt, but might fit. And I assume these are sucker fans.

I'll measure both sets in the shop in the morning.

1. Thin fans have small motors and thus less torque. This means they're not as good at pulling through multiple heat exchangers. You want fans with the biggest freakin' motors you can package.

2. You want a shroud that's well sealed to the core. No point in having big burly fans if they just suck air in from the sides.

3. You want the shroud to sit as far off the core as you can manage, to promote airflow through the entire core.

4. Look at your post-radiator pressures. Venting the hood is an excellent way to improve cooling overall.

I have not been impressed with SPAL fans at all. Same low flowing aftermarket junk as everything else, but with better marketing.

I absolutely love the LH-body fans. They are phenomenal for airflow. I mounted them to my RX-7 by cutting the mounting tabs off and making little U-brackets that bolt the the radiator's Mazda fan shroud points and rivet to the top and bottom face of the Dodge shroud. Plus four access holes for bolting the mess to the radiator. Works awesome. Only downside is the fans draw about as much current as the alternator can make, at full power. But that is just a sign that it is moving AIR.

Pretty much any OEM e-fans that fit are good units. Aftermarket ones, less so.

In reply to rslifkin:

Yeah, that's what I was hearing from the V8 S10 swap guys. The Ford Taurus (forget what year) 2-speed single fan moves a LOT of air, but at heavy amp price. The LH body fans move almost as much, at much less amp draw.

In reply to RealMiniParker:

That Taurus fan is basically what my Jeep has stock (same motor, just a slightly different blade and shroud). It does draw a good chunk of power, but it moves air like a hurricane. High speed is pretty much unnecessary in most cases. Low speed draws somewhere in the 20 - 30 amp range with a big hit at startup. High draws 40+ amps, IIRC.

Yep, I run the Taurus fan on my turbo E30. Works great, but yeah, it's a big current draw. Enough that the sudden alternator load would stall the engine before I fixed some of the idle tuning.

I used Lexus ES300/ES330 fans and shroud on the Caprice. Same size shroud as the radiator, and nice, quiet, efficient fans. Relatively thin, but maybe not enough so for that application.

Crap. I forgot to measure before leaving for work.

I always thought the 90's Thunderbirds and MK VIII electric fans were the conversion of choice...

Dr. Hess wrote: How thick are they from the fan blade face to the back of the motor? If I had about 2 inches, I think that might fit in there. Might melt, but might fit. And I assume these are sucker fans.

Back of motor to front of hub (sticks out farther than blades) is 3".

Something to keep in mind, is that it's not a block that's 3.5" thick. That measurement is at the widest point, over the four braces for the motor.

If you want more pictures, I can get some later.

Contour fans. I'm telling ya....

In reply to RealMiniParker:

Thanks!!!!

I was feeling pretty bad about forgetting.

In reply to Dusterbd13:

No worries, mate! I got you covered.

For the right half of the radiator, it is really tight. I don't think that would fit. I will have to measure where that motor would wind up.

Man, 40 amps? That's a half horsepower. Is that for both fans on at the same time? I need to look at what the OEM fans draw, as I want to use the same wiring harness/control, at least for the radiator fans.

Oh, I plan on cutting a hole in the hood. Need to to feed air for the charge cooler. I am debating between finding/cutting out a factory Toyota hood scoop, like from a Taco or something at a junk yard and just going with a Vato Zone Boys' super cheap "looks real" glue/tape-on scoop over the hole. I would like to not draw attention to the actual functionality. You know, a fake looking hood scoop to go with the fake BOV, camouflage for real hood scoop and BOV.

40 amps is for the Taurus single fan on high. The Intrepid duals pull less, but I don't remember how much. IIRC, it is about the same as the the Taurus on low, but moving much, much more air.

Rig it up with a relay off of the stock harness.