Viscous to elec fan change

[Thunder]

Where would I be able to get a electric fan to replace the viscus?

 

[Gizmo]

You don't need 2 electric fans, the stock aux fan is all you need to cool the car.

 

[Doomsdaya]

You are around the corner from Gizmo so get him to do it for you.

+1,000,000

Gizmo did a fan delete mod on my 328i a few weeks ago and as he says, the motor is quieter, better throttle response and if you do long distance driving like me, the engine doesnt feel lethargic when taking off from toll gates/ traffic lights/ stop signs...

How much was it more or less and how long did it take?

Well I bought the following parts from bmw

318is 80/88° fan switch - part no: 61318376440 (+/- R450)
325i 80/88° thermostat - part no: 11531713040 (+/- R560)

Took Gizmo about 2/3 hours to get it done, during that time I was playing with his friendly dogs

With regards to difference between having a viscous and electric fan, no doubt viscous fan was pulling a lot of power from the motor, I can feel the difference when taking off from traffic lights and stop streets. The electric fan will only kick in when sitting in traffic or at a standstill and that too it will run for a few seconds and switch off, on the open road its off.

 

[danieljames]

You are around the corner from Gizmo so get him to do it for you.

+1,000,000

Gizmo did a fan delete mod on my 328i a few weeks ago and as he says, the motor is quieter, better throttle response and if you do long distance driving like me, the engine doesnt feel lethargic when taking off from toll gates/ traffic lights/ stop signs...

How much was it more or less and how long did it take?

Well I bought the following parts from bmw

318is 80/88° fan switch - part no: 61318376440 (+/- R450)
325i 80/88° thermostat - part no: 11531713040 (+/- R560)

Took Gizmo about 2/3 hours to get it done, during that time I was playing with his friendly dogs

With regards to difference between having a viscous and electric fan, no doubt viscous fan was pulling a lot of power from the motor, I can feel the difference when taking off from traffic lights and stop streets. The electric fan will only kick in when sitting in traffic or at a standstill and that too it will run for a few seconds and switch off, on the open road its off.

The electric fan u are referring to...would that be the aux fan?

 

[GPGrobler]

2c

Has anyone that's done this mod experienced a decrease in fuel consumption?(daily driven). Is so then forget the science behind it.....In the real world it translates to more power...or better a decrease in engine load. If not.....Useless mod I suppose

I have found that the electric fan works better than the viscous on my E30's, when the viscous coupling packs up on my other E30, I am also going to convert it to an electric fan. :thumbs:

 

[Gizmo]

Viscous fans are needed for automatics which need a constant flow of air over the air cooled heat exchangers. It was easier/cheaper to make one part for all. On the E46 they got it right as the auto has viscous whereas the manual has electric. So why not take a newer tech to an older car?

---

Since BMW changed to water cooled transmission fluid the viscous is moot bar turbo applications where the intercooler will benefit from constant airflow.

 

[kcmwinga]

You don't need 2 electric fans, the stock aux fan is all you need to cool the car.

Quick question.. Could I then take the viscous off my car (E46 320d auto) and let the aux fan do the cooling? Is there any mods e.g. temp switch that needs changing for this option to work?

 

[Liquid Ice]

Viscous fans are needed for automatics which need a constant flow of air over the air cooled heat exchangers. It was easier/cheaper to make one part for all. On the E46 they got it right as the auto has viscous whereas the manual has electric. So why not take a newer tech to an older car?

---

Since BMW changed to water cooled transmission fluid the viscous is moot bar turbo applications where the intercooler will benefit from constant airflow.

---

e46 M3 manual transmission still have viscous fans.

 

[Sankekur]

You realise that the M3 has an oil cooler that other manual e46's don't have?

 

[Liquid Ice]

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=267974&highlight=viscous

 

[Doomsdaya]

You are around the corner from Gizmo so get him to do it for you.

+1,000,000

Gizmo did a fan delete mod on my 328i a few weeks ago and as he says, the motor is quieter, better throttle response and if you do long distance driving like me, the engine doesnt feel lethargic when taking off from toll gates/ traffic lights/ stop signs...

How much was it more or less and how long did it take?

Well I bought the following parts from bmw

318is 80/88° fan switch - part no: 61318376440 (+/- R450)
325i 80/88° thermostat - part no: 11531713040 (+/- R560)

Took Gizmo about 2/3 hours to get it done, during that time I was playing with his friendly dogs

With regards to difference between having a viscous and electric fan, no doubt viscous fan was pulling a lot of power from the motor, I can feel the difference when taking off from traffic lights and stop streets. The electric fan will only kick in when sitting in traffic or at a standstill and that too it will run for a few seconds and switch off, on the open road its off.

The electric fan u are referring to...would that be the aux fan?

Thats right, at the moment my car is running with the aux fan.

Reason why I opted for the mod, many years ago when there was a lot of e36 owners on the forum, many had issues with their viscous fans and one member had his imploding not once but twice, the fan blades took out his radiator, shroud and well everything it made contact with. After that he did a fan mod delete and all was well...

 

[Gizmo]

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=267974&highlight=viscous

Your link only strengthened our case, go read the 16 pages before you post a link like that. Its the same argument we having here, the difference being the USA experiences much higher temps than we do, as I stated earlier this mod is not for the hotter states unless you add an extra fan.

 

[GPGrobler]

I also now really do suspect that my 320i lost its electric fan somewhere in its life, because I believe that it is impossible that the viscous fan will provide sufficient cooling for both the car and the aircon unit. ALL the E30's have both a viscous and electric fan - viscous for the engine and electric for when the aircon is on. Also, most cars with electric fans run a Twin setup, either two fans running at different speeds at different temperatures, or a single two-in-one fan running at different speeds at different temperatures. I do not see how a belt-driven fan with a viscous coupling can be more effective than one or more electric fans that have been set up correctly to match the engine's cooling requirements under different conditions, even the detection and measurement of the engine's temperature is more accurate with an electric fan and fan switch setup. :thumbs:

 

[ntuthuko]

Viscous fans are needed for automatics which need a constant flow of air over the air cooled heat exchangers. It was easier/cheaper to make one part for all. On the E46 they got it right as the auto has viscous whereas the manual has electric. So why not take a newer tech to an older car?

---

Since BMW changed to water cooled transmission fluid the viscous is moot bar turbo applications where the intercooler will benefit from constant airflow.

---

So basically this mod can only be done on manual cars?what if you replace the viscous fan with an eletric fan to keep the airflow constant and have the aux fan running when needed

 

[Fordkoppie]

all that you effectively doing with the fan conversion, is converting from one form of energy to another, but ultimately, the energy factor (in joules) demanded from our source (the engine) in order to produce the same cooling factor from both types of fans will be exactly the same.

the electric fan will rely on the alternator which in turn relies on the engine to convert rotational force into electrical energy.

Your argument might possibly be true if you were to idle 100% of the time while stationary.

However - there is this thing you automatically get while moving at speed(for argument's sake >60km/h)that goes through the radiator faster than any fan could ever imagine. Its called airflow. In this scenario, the radiator will be cooled sufficiently negating the constant operation of an electric fan (as determined by the temp switch)

A viscous constantly saps power even when it is supposedly "freewheeling"

 

[XCELIR8]

I guys just a question.
Where could I have the vicus to electric fan mod done on my e30 318i in the cape?

 

[Nikhil]

I guys just a question.
Where could I have the vicus to electric fan mod done on my e30 318i in the cape?

Diy im sure someone can document the procedure or walk you through it step by step :thumbs:

 

[XCELIR8]

I guys just a question.
Where could I have the vicus to electric fan mod done on my e30 318i in the cape?

Diy im sure someone can document the procedure or walk you through it step by step :thumbs:

I can do it myself however still want to know what fan to get.
and how I would connect the temp switch

 

[GPGrobler]

+1,000,000

Gizmo did a fan delete mod on my 328i a few weeks ago and as he says, the motor is quieter, better throttle response and if you do long distance driving like me, the engine doesnt feel lethargic when taking off from toll gates/ traffic lights/ stop signs...

How much was it more or less and how long did it take?

Well I bought the following parts from bmw

318is 80/88° fan switch - part no: 61318376440 (+/- R450)
325i 80/88° thermostat - part no: 11531713040 (+/- R560)

Took Gizmo about 2/3 hours to get it done, during that time I was playing with his friendly dogs

With regards to difference between having a viscous and electric fan, no doubt viscous fan was pulling a lot of power from the motor, I can feel the difference when taking off from traffic lights and stop streets. The electric fan will only kick in when sitting in traffic or at a standstill and that too it will run for a few seconds and switch off, on the open road its off.

The electric fan u are referring to...would that be the aux fan?

Thats right, at the moment my car is running with the aux fan.

Reason why I opted for the mod, many years ago when there was a lot of e36 owners on the forum, many had issues with their viscous fans and one member had his imploding not once but twice, the fan blades took out his radiator, shroud and well everything it made contact with. After that he did a fan mod delete and all was well...

The Viscous Fan on my E46 literally exploded yesterday making to nasty dents in the bonnet, and who knows what else was messed up, too angry to check yet ... but I am definitely NOT buying another VISCOUS fan!!! :angry:

 

[GPGrobler]

Electric fan for E46 confusing:

G-Drive is selling one for R2800.00 for all petrol models with sensor, Grand Mark selling one for 4-cylinder models for R2500.00.

My question: please help, is there a difference on the electric fans for the 4 and 6 cylinder E46 models?

Thanks to all for your valuable help :thumbs: