Converting Hydraulic Fan to Mechanical Fan

[Lextreme II]

Do you guys think its more effecient using mechanical fan then hydraulic fan? I think this conversion would be pretty easy just to change the hydraulic pump to fan bracket. It would be interesting to know the effeciency and longivity of the conversion. What do you guys think?

Additional pages that might help with deleting the hydraulic fan and converting to an electric one:
Main article here: How to Convert a Lexus LS400 Hydraulic Fan to an Electric Fan - Lexus-Toyota UZFE V8 Performance Engine Forum

How to convert hydraulic clutch fan with electric fans.

Lowboy NZ - That is what I thought a peice of cake.... Well check this... First off you need to remove the radiator and fan assembly, hose lines etc..., no biggie, then you need to remove the serp belt and all that plastic crap around the engine bay...Way over kill on the plastic stuff by...

www.lextreme.com

Clean Hydro Fan & AC Delete

Just finished this up today so thought I'd share. Cut the original idler pulley bracket off the hydro fan pump and welded on a small piece for support. Used a 61.5" belt and it fit perfect.

www.lextreme.com

Hydraulic Fan pump removal

Hi, I've just bought a 1UZ engine(rear sump) for a project, The engine has the Hydraulic fan pump ,with a high pressure line and large bolt holding it on, i would like to remove the complete unit, coz i want to run Electric Fans, and ideas on the best way to remove it? Thanks

www.lextreme.com

hydraulic fan pump removal, possibilities

so im wondering if its possible to just remove the hydraulic fan pump from the front of the motor alltogether. im not running power steering or ac so im thinking i can just run a belt from the crank to the tensioner to the alt. im concerned with the bolts that would be missing tho cause i...

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Hydraulic Fan

Hey can anyone of you guys tell me the best way to bypass or disable the hydraulic fan oil driven pump? Loop and bridge the in and out lines to the hydraulic pump or disable and plug? I have my car apart now and trying to figure out what to do with this pump. If looped does the fan oil still...

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Hydraulic FAN

We use the original Hydraulic fan for cooling water radiator. The trouble is - It works constantly, all the time when the engine is running. Is someone having documentation for this? Or What make the fan works all the time? Where we can control the operating method? Please...

www.lextreme.com

 

[stevechumo]

I'd prefer electric fan. It's powerful quiet because it's electric.

 

[Lextreme II]

Electrical is good for space saving and great cooling. However, I found them to be very noisy and messy looking especially with electrical wires and temperature sensor. I like either hydraulic or mechanical but I am not sure about effeciency between the two.

 

[WeasyS2S]

Electrical > Hydraulic > Mechanical

 

[cribbj]

Either the electric or the hydraulic will allow more control than the mechanical fan. Can't beat a mechanical fan for simplicity, however.

 

[stevechumo]

The noise doesn't actually come from the fan motor. It's more likely from the structure of the blades, the air flow, and the speed. The electric fan is squeezed to be flat, so it needs to be fast with a lot of air movement.

 

[Smitherz]

electric fan is awesome... i've run them on race cars, offroad stuff, and i've never had one failure. streetbikes all use electric of course... and race/offroad trucks. it doesn't get any better. i saved info of a company that makes a fan controller that spins the fan only fast enough to cool for the temp you set. i'm ordering one of those when the time comes. i think the Adaptronic has a fan out for the radiator fan as well.... i need to check up on the subject....

of course hydraulic fan wins over the mechanical by a long shot. those mechanical fan clutches go out every now and then and they are much louder.

 

[duza]

The problem I see in converting the hydraulic fan pulley to mount a mechanical fan is not in the actual adapting of the pulley to mount the fan, but in finding a mechanical fan which will work. The hydraulic pulley spins in the opposite direction to the mechanical fans from most other cars, so locating the correct direction fan proved impossible for me. The V8 Landcruiser of course has one, but there were none available secondhand in Sydney at a decent price and new was even worse of course. I think there is also an Aussie Soarer or LS400 which run a mechanical fan, but all the wreckers here only sell Jap imported 1UZs. I'd stay Hydraulic.
Ric

 

[Smitherz]

Now that sounds a little more complicated.

With my 2.7L motor I run in my truck right now I don't even use a fan at all =] I have an electric that I mounted and wired on a switch. The only time I have to use it is offroad because the wind speed is slower and I hold the throttle down 100%. The deleting of the mechanical fan lets the engine rev a whole lot quicker and it's nice and quiet =] I don't even have to use it on 100 degree days in traffic. The Tacoma radiator is huge stock.

For my 1UZ swap I'm getting an all aluminum radiator to put in a custom beefed up front grill/wall I'm going to make. I want one of the race radiators that come with an aluminum fan shroud and fan built in. They have dual fan radiators that are more wide and not as well which would be an awesome conversion. Back on the subject, sorry.

You would be nuts to change out that hydraulic. They didn't use it on their best car and engine for nothing!! It's a great system. Get back to work on the super charger and stroker engine.

 

[Death By Bass]

electric fans are MASSIVELY worse than hydraulic!

they will move like half as much air as a hydraulic...

people change from hydraulic to electric, because someone tells them electric is better, but it IS NOT!

anyway, do what ya like... haha

 

[Lextreme II]

One other thing I don't like about electrical fan is that you dont really know if the fans are working while you are driving. That was what I always afraid of when I had them. I like them for space saving but as for reliability I personally prefer mechanical.

Reliability:
Mechanical > Hydraulic > Electrical

Simplicity:
Mechanical > Hydraulic > Electrical

Efficiency:
Electrical > Hydraulic > Mechanical

Space Saving:
Electrical > Mechanical > Hydraulic

Cost: If repair/replace
Hydraulic > Mechanical > Electrical

Control:
Electrical > Hydraulic > Mechanical

 

[Smitherz]

On any Toyota you don't need anymore airflow than an electric fan puts out. I'm sure they put hydro and manual fans on stock vehicles simply for reliability and longevity (which are GREAT reasons to use them).

I would think that an electric is the cheapest assembly to work with. If a hydro or manual clutch or assembly goes out you have to buy a dealer item or expensive fan clutch. If an electric goes out you just go to the store and buy a new one for cheap. I guess this depends on the application of course. But anyone can replace about any size electric fan for $70, which can be found at some autoparts stores. Relays, switches and wires are just spare change. Just my 2 cents from experience. Very important topic though.

 

[mshawari1]

One other thing I don't like about electrical fan is that you dont really know if the fans are working while you are driving. That was what I always afraid of when I had them. I like them for space saving but as for reliability I personally prefer mechanical.

Reliability:
Mechanical > Hydraulic > Electrical

Simplicity:
Mechanical > Hydraulic > Electrical

Efficiency:
Electrical > Hydraulic > Mechanical

Space Saving:
Electrical > Mechanical > Hydraulic

Cost: If repair/replace
Hydraulic > Mechanical > Electrical

Control:
Electrical > Hydraulic > Mechanical

For the efficiency … I think the Hydraulic fan is better than Electrical… why ??

Calculate the area for the Hydraulic : 3.14*(25cm)2 = 1962.5 Cm2.
For the electrical 12" : 3.14*(15cm)2*2= 1413.7 Cm2.

Also from my experience the hydraulic is much quite . and it will save your battery life ……………. ​

 

[Death By Bass]

For the efficiency … I think the Hydraulic fan is better than Electrical… why ??

Calculate the area for the Hydraulic : 3.14*(25cm)2 = 1962.5 Cm2.
For the electrical 12" : 3.14*(15cm)2*2= 1413.7 Cm2.

Also from my experience the hydraulic is much quite . and it will save your battery life ……………. ​

dont just THINK it, KNOW it! because its true!!! and yet people keep going around giving wrong information!!!

as for not needing anymore air flow than an electric fan gives, well, on a stock vehicle maybe! haha, but I dont have a stock vehicle, hell, I dont even have a 1UZ, I have a 2JZGTE, which I plan on upgrading the turbo, and am wanting 400rwkw, in this application, I dont think a crappy little electric fan will cut it...

 

[stevechumo]

dont just THINK it, KNOW it! because its true!!! and yet people keep going around giving wrong information!!!

as for not needing anymore air flow than an electric fan gives, well, on a stock vehicle maybe! haha, but I dont have a stock vehicle, hell, I dont even have a 1UZ, I have a 2JZGTE, which I plan on upgrading the turbo, and am wanting 400rwkw, in this application, I dont think a crappy little electric fan will cut it...

I replaced the the hydraulic fan with a dual skinny 12" electric fans in my SC400 and guess what, the electric fans cool the temperature down to about 1 mm on the stock temp gauge. I didn't have a temp. gauge that reads by the actual number, but the electrical fans have proven they flow really well.

 

[Death By Bass]

I replaced the the hydraulic fan with a dual skinny 12" electric fans in my SC400 and guess what, the electric fans cool the temperature down to about 1 mm on the stock temp gauge. I didn't have a temp. gauge that reads by the actual number, but the electrical fans have proven they flow really well.

more likely the gauge is just faulty, if its really that cool, its too cold.

 

[stevechumo]

more likely the gauge is just faulty, if its really that cool, its too cold.

It's a " no no", my friend. The gauge is just so fine. Everything else is the same right before I switched to electric fans. For the same weather temperature, the heater actually takes a longer time to get the heat inside the cockpit. At this point, I agree that it's colder than before. :006: You might have experienced with slower fans than I do. The electric fans have the advantage is it still runs at the same speed even though the engine isn't at high RPM. This helps the coolant water down a lot. Unlike hydraulic fan that it only turns when the RPM is higher.

 

[duza]

It always makes me wonder why people with little or no engineering background think they can improve on what Companies like Toyota have spent many years and dollars getting right. The 1UZ motor cost something like $800M in development and they used the Hydraulic system to suit the overall package. An Engines cooling system is designed to get the motor up to proper operating temp as soon as possible and maintain that temp so that the engine can operate within its' most efficient parameters. The result is better fuel efficiency and less wear etc. By playing with that we are surely not going to improve anything except the aftermarket fan company's bank balance. If you have a cooling problem then find out why. It won't be the stock fans fault, it will be something else, so fix that. If toyota had thought that electric fans were the go , they would have used them as they must be cheaper than the system they use.

 

[stevechumo]

It always makes me wonder why people with little or no engineering background think they can improve on what Companies like Toyota have spent many years and dollars getting right. The 1UZ motor cost something like $800M in development and they used the Hydraulic system to suit the overall package. An Engines cooling system is designed to get the motor up to proper operating temp as soon as possible and maintain that temp so that the engine can operate within its' most efficient parameters. The result is better fuel efficiency and less wear etc. By playing with that we are surely not going to improve anything except the aftermarket fan company's bank balance. If you have a cooling problem then find out why. It won't be the stock fans fault, it will be something else, so fix that. If toyota had thought that electric fans were the go , they would have used them as they must be cheaper than the system they use.

How do you know none of us have the engineering background? Many of us here also have mechanic background. We modify things because we have different reasons. It's not because Toyota design isn't efficient or bad. In fact, we have modified so many things to make the motor runs better than the stock state that Toyota has designed.

The dollars that Toyota spent on the motor have to combine the best engine for that particular amount of dollars, not necessarily the real best engine. If Toyota makes the best engine, the price will be a lot more. This is where we jump in and try to make the motor better without spending thousands of dollars to have it designed by Toyota or any other auto makers.

Let's go back to the fan topic. I switched to the electrical fans because I needed room to build a turbo project. I didn't intend to make the motor run cooler. When you mentioned that "The result is better fuel efficiency and less wear etc", the hydraulic fan actually makes the engine less fuel efficient because it burns more gas. The electric fans save the gas. But to be fair, electric fans also have their downsides, such as the alternator has to work harder, and it'll die out earlier.

 

[Death By Bass]

stevechumo... as has been said, your car is running way too cool...

I strongly suggest you put the original fan back in, if you can, or slow the electric one down.