And a good thing! Where ya been?
And if you remember, I am a bit of an 'enthusiast' (er, about as enthusiastic as you can get with an 1800 and a 3-speed AT...)
But because of where I live and how I drive, I usually manage better than usual mileage anyway.
Like Prius drivers?
Why does everything have to be fun?
Definitely not the dipstick heater. Waste of money.
A freeze plug heater is pretty good for most people, but make sure you don't punch the freeze plug back into the block. On vehicles where you can specify a block heater when you order it, usually it is a freeze plug type. This is one of the options that cost less to buy initially than to have it done in a shop after you buy the car. That & they're a pain in the butt to install due to lack of space. My old (2005) Chevy full-size van was ordered with one, and GM now sees fit to install every block heater with a thermostat on the power wire. The heater won't work above 0 F. If you get one without a t-stat and have it on all night, you'll have warm air coming out of the vents in short order. With a t-stat, it's just "warm enough to start".
The one that's a metal sleeve in the radiator hose sounds like a tank-type circulation heater, which is for Arctic conditions. That's an industrial-strength heater. Unlike the freeze-plug heater (which relies on convection), this one has a little heater & pump that runs all the time you're plugged in.
I would use the dipstick or freeze plug kind. The kind that installes in the radiator hose is not warming up the coolant that will circulate when the car is cold started.
Aren't you the same guy who always want people to get a life?
Getting a life doesn't mean wasting resources. I also suggest they take the subway, bus or other public transit, walk or take a bicycle, too.
Jeff
Um, you're kidding, right?
That's why I drive cars that get better than average fuel economy.
Maybe your subaru may get better mpg and power once you switch to a electric fan. Belt driven fans uses the engines power, I'm not sure if the alternator would work much more when you use an electric fan
There probably is not much of a difference in parasitic loss between a belt or engine driven fan and electrically driven cooling fans. Electric fans cost more to install than one mounted on the front of the engine, but they are pretty much the only choice for vehicles with transverse-mounted engines, since a fan at the side of the engine compartment wouldn't do much.
On my previously owned BMW E34, it had the belt driven fan and 2 auxiliary fans. I hear the auxiliary fans turn on many times that's why I assume that the aux fans do most of the work. The aux fans had a normal and high speed. I do remember replacing my fan clutch years ago. I was thinking the fan connected to the engine didn't work as much so as not to draw power from the engine. My aunt had a Toyota with a 4Y engine many years ago. I'm pretty sure it had both belt fan and aux electric fans but I'm not sure which fan did much of the cooling. However since they are called "auxiliary" I would assume they are just for supplemental cooling.
It would probably make a generation A1 VW Golf/Rabbit GTI overheat in Manitoba in January.
Obviously, designers use auxiliary electric fans if the engine-driven fan doesn't move sufficient air through the radiator and/or air conditioning condenser. You would probably see this arrangement if the radiator and air conditioning condenser has a relatively small surface area, like when the front opening is small, especially in cars with air conditioners.
I believe that in the U.S., the Toyota 4Y engine was used in the first generation vans and is still used in forklifts. I doubt if your aunt owned a forklift, so I'll assume that she had the first generation van. The first generation van had a mid-engine layout mounted behind the front wheels, under the front passenger seats. The location meant that an engine-mounted fan would not draw air through the radiator, so additional electric cooling fans were mounted on the radiator to draw air through it.
Most of the auxiliary fans are there to provide better airflow over the AC condenser unit than the engine driven fan can provide at lower speeds. They are also used in vehicles that have poor airflow characteristics due to the body design or aerodynamic styling. On vehicles with small engines they are also used to save some engine power.
Hmmmm...I mentioned before this is the only 'beater' I have that has a working R-12 A/C.
It's also the only beater I have that won't see roads in the summertime (the plate will be coming off it and going back on the Supra...)
So, it's a Winter-only car. I really don't need a fan running all the time, and when you stop the car for a while and leave the engine running, it really draws down the engine temp...almost to cold. So losing the belt-driven fan won't really be too hard to take. I bet the thing hasn't 'turned on' for at least two weeks...
That's what the clutch on the engine-driven fan is for.
Then fix the THERMOSTAT instead of spending all the money for an electric fan. The fan isn't what's making the engine get too cool, its a bad thermostat.
But even with the clutch, the fan is always spinning. It never completely stops. And with the weather here being in the single digits, air movement other than from driving is not required.
Thermostat's cool. When the car is running at a constant speed, or even stop and start driving, the temp satys rock-steady. Only if I park for more than 2 minutes does the temp drop.
At these temps, it seems even airflow from the fan idling is enough to cool the engine.
Ahhh yes, but when you are forcing air through the radiator in excess of what the fan draws when not moving, the fan is not drawing much power, it is more like a windmill at that point. Again, if you have a properly operating viscous clutch, the fan isn't going to draw significant power. There is a certain amount of drag from the clutch that causes the fan to rotate, but the power draw is tiny. If you want to get into diagnostics, you'll need a variable strobe light. You adjust the strobe until the fan appears to be not moving and then compare that rpm to the engine rpm.
It still seems to me that there is a problem with the thermostat. Have you verified operation of the fan clutch? One possibility is that the clutch is frozen. There really should not be much difference between idling and driving at moderate speeds as far as cooling is concerned. I am surprised that the fan over-cools the car at idle, but you don't experience over-cooling car when cruising at a steady 35 mph. Have you actually tested the thermostat, or are you just assuming it is OK because it seems OK when the engine is under load. It is possible that the thermostat does not completely close so it cannot regulate temperature at the low end. For the cost of a thermostat, I'd try a new one before going overboard and installing an electrically operated cooling fan.
Ed
The proper and working thermostat will 'close' and force the engine to stay at it's setting of say 195F when you slow down the engine so you keep the heater working, a broken thermostat will allow the engine to cool down so you lose internal heat.
I just changed one like that in my Jeep and in a friends car, they were broken 'open' so we couldn't keep heat up.
Thermostats are backward to what some think, they set how 'cold' an engine can run, not how hot.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos:MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.