1996 Jaguar XJS 4.0 liter- Original electric stock fan has 11 blades. Sacramento weather gets very hot. Temperature creeps up but all systems work well. Is there a better fan out there? Are there any tricks that help keep the engine cooler in 100 degrees plus. I do turn the AC off.

 

two elelctric fans , as big as can be made to fit!

also something about twin fan kits from Aus.

the ultimate setup, check craig-davis again aus.

they have some of the largest deserts in the world,(i think).

 

I went with a deralle primary fan. OEM aux still good, I left it in service. Worked well for me this summer in NC. This winter, I put the primary on a switch. Rarely run it in cool weather. She stays cool as a cucumber unless it’s hot out. Aux kicks in if I forget the primary and get in a jam.

 

As Ron stated, our 1996 onwards, Ford Falcon (Aus car not the US one) had a twin thermo fan pack. That is what I used.

Sadly they are NLA from Ford, and the Chinese are junk.

45c, V12, a/c ON of course, city style traffic, NO problems, ever.

The LH was a/c only and the r/h was thermo controlled.

Some "claim" the X300 fan pack fits, dunno, never tried.

Others have used Ford Mondeo with success I believe.

Almost all cars since the Mid 90's have thermo fans, so a days outing to a wrecking yard, and wander around should be fruitful.

 

More familiar with the V12. Does the 4.0 have just an electric fan, or one on the engine with a clutch as well?

 

Creeps up.....how high? And does it keep creeping with no end in sight? Or creep up and then stabilize?

Does it creep up only in traffic and then drop down again when driving along?

Do you feel there's an actual problem to be resolved or are you just looking for extra cooling on general principle?

How long have you owned the car? If you've owned it for some time is the behavior you're seeing now differ from that of the past?

Are you tired of all these questions?

Cheers
DD

 

Yes, the 96 6 cyl 4.0 liter has only one electric fan.
It runs beautifully for the two years I've had it. The temp DOES creep up in traffic but DOES stabilize at speed, so I am just looking for extra cooling.
I'll look into the Derale fans.
Thanks all.

 

After 2 years, and no idea before, maybe the thermostat and pressure cap could be due for renewal.

Stats wear out, fact, and get lazy, fact also.

TAKE CARE when doing the stat, some AJ6/16 engines have a paper style gasket on the cover, some cars have an o/ring. Always replace what came out, NO MATTER what the books say.

 

On a paper gasket, a little non-setting gasket compound on both sides.

 

Other thing to think of is there is a tendency for debris to collect in-between the condensor and radiator. It's only visible when the radiator is removed. I have pulled out rads and found them to be at least 1/3 blocked.

If the radiator has never been out on your car I'd start there and make sure the rad and condenser is clean before changing the fans.

The PO of my V12 obviously liked to go to the beach, as my radiator was plugged with sand. I took it out and held it up to the sun and I couldn't see anything through it. After cleaning (where I must have got 2 lbs of sand from the fins!) the car ran nice and cool and the temp gauge didn't budge no matter what. Previously it went into the read on a hot day.

 

I believe that to improve on the OEM fan, you will need a 25 amp-motored electric. My car is a V12; but anything less than that does not do the job in traffic. I used a 27 amp Pacet until it gave up after 14 years, and now I have a 25 amp SPAL. I bought an 18 amp SPAL and it was OK but marginal in serious heat and standstill traffic.
If you go the electric fan route, controlling it is the key to success, and fitting a good controller is key to it all working well. In addition, even the right fan will not be that wonderful at tickover revs in traffic after a few minutes, as the alternator will not be doing much charging, and certainly not 25 amps. So a fast tickover solenoid (the V12 has one as standard linked to the aircon condenser activating) linked to the fan is a great plan too. I do not know if the 6 cylinder cars have this OEM or not.
Jagboi's tip to pull the rad and clean it is VERY important, and Grants's advice to renew the stat is too. I would do these things and see what happens, before changing the fans. In general, the 6 cylinder cars do not have anything like the heat dissipation problems the V12 has, so I would be surprised if you really needed an electric.
What IS a good idea though, is to check if the OEM electric fan is working properly, and changing that one for a modern high capacity electric fan is a great idea and it is just a swap, fixing it in place and connecting the wiring that is there already.

 

With a new fan clutch, and the rest of the cooling system in good shape, my V12 does not go past halfway between cold and N.

I suspect most V12 overheating problems are due to weak fan clutches. The electric fan makes only a small contribution, and the main fan does most of the heavy lifting.

The best way to test them is with a laser tachometer, $10 on EBay, and this test procedure :

http://fanclutch.com/PicsDocs/BorgWa...ives_Only).pdf

The "spin it and see how far it turns" test is effective at detecting only the very weakest clutches.

 

Mark
The advice to replace the fan clutch is also a very good idea and relevant to the OP!
As to the v12, I agree that the OEM setup if all 100% is fine on the V12, but in slow moving traffic a big, repeat big, electric I found to be better. I replaced my OEM main fan with a 27 amp electric for traffic cooling reasons, but additionally I got these benefits:

• Extra space to get at things
• Less noise, a lot less
• Lose a belt
• A measurable improvement in fuel consumption

When I came to live in France the car ran hotter than I liked (nowhere near overheating, mind) so I also improved airflow to the radiator which made a HUGE difference in cooling. Particularly after a traffic stop with a hot engine, water temps fell almost instantly once on the move. I did a number of things to remove airflow obstructions (move the horns, moved the second coil, and cut an extra airflow slot in the front bumper). I cannot rate these changes too highly!

 

Yup. It's easy to tell if the clutch is blatantly defective or blatantly OK. 'Tis the borderline cases that make me take on the "when in doubt, change it out" philosophy!

Cheers
DD

 

What's interesting is that the fan clutch goes about 30% faster than the engine. It's easy to see how old, cracked fans explode when a siezed clutch tries to turn the fan at 8,500 rpm, when the engine redlines.

 

I wonder how many rpm that fan turns?

 

The electric? No idea but the SPAL website might tell you. The point of electrics is that, given enough current, their speed is independent of the engine RPM.

 

And not turning at all when needed, which would be nice for noise and fuel economy. To add insult to injury, my electric fan turns whenever the heater is on, despite the fact that the A/C doesn't work. So on a cold winter day when the engine is trying to warm up, I've got two fans trying to stop it. Must put in a switch for that.

 

Depending on year of your car the easiest way to interrupt that signal is to cut the green/brown compressor signal wire behind right hand console extension and fit a switch in ashtray.

 

I have a '91 ('92MY) facelift and am still not sure when my electric fan should come on. Some seem to come on with the A/c some not. some runon after shut down.
My car has boiled twice. Once when nearly new on a long upwards climb in hot summer stop start traffic and once in hot summer very slow stop start traffic and was very lucky both times there was a lay-by (Whatever that is in Yankspeak ....an area at the side of a road where usually 1 or 2 vehicles may pull off the road and stop.) and could wait until it cooled down.