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Adding fans to oilcooler plus installing oil temp meter

Started by Old Rider, December 27, 2021, 04:38:43 AM

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red

Quote from: RPM - Robert on December 29, 2021, 09:51:32 AMYou need to install a sensor on each side so you can see the difference the cooler makes in cooling the oil with and without the fans.
Old Rider,

Well, maybe in an ideal world . . .
That complication may be a little too much instrumentation, for me.  Now, I can see monitoring the oil pressure at the main oil gallery (there is a threaded plug for that, just add sensor & display).  I can see monitoring the oil temperature at the oil cooler.
As for occasionally checking the inlet and outlet oil temperatures at the cooler, with and without the fans running, there is a good tool for that job.  Get a hand-held remote thermometer.  Typically they cost less than US$25 and include a laser pointer to show you where you are aiming the gadget.  "Range" to target seems to be up to 10 meters or more, but the farther away, the more objects are "seen" in the scan window.  So, distant readings can include unwanted objects.  This gadget probably works best at a meter or two in distance to the target.  Uses 9Vdc radio battery.  The link includes a video.  Here is just one example:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QZ1849H
Cheers,
Red

P.S. Life is too short, and health is too valuable, to ride on cheap parade-duty tires.

Old Rider

Quote from: red on December 30, 2021, 11:47:58 AM
Quote from: RPM - Robert on December 29, 2021, 09:51:32 AMYou need to install a sensor on each side so you can see the difference the cooler makes in cooling the oil with and without the fans.
Old Rider,

Well, maybe in an ideal world . . .
That complication may be a little too much instrumentation, for me.  Now, I can see monitoring the oil pressure at the main oil gallery (there is a threaded plug for that, just add sensor & display).  I can see monitoring the oil temperature at the oil cooler.
As for occasionally checking the inlet and outlet oil temperatures at the cooler, with and without the fans running, there is a good tool for that job.  Get a hand-held remote thermometer.  Typically they cost less than US$25 and include a laser pointer to show you where you are aiming the gadget.  "Range" to target seems to be up to 10 meters or more, but the farther away, the more objects are "seen" in the scan window.  So, distant readings can include unwanted objects.  This gadget probably works best at a meter or two in distance to the target.  Uses 9Vdc radio battery.  The link includes a video.  Here is just one example:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QZ1849H

Thanks for that tip Red  i already got an IR termometer i will use that when the snow is gone and cooler is back on the bike

Old Rider

I connected all wiring's and stuff and checked that it works.
Here is a link to the oil temp meter i bought
https://www.ebay.com/itm/333952275561

Firehawk068

I'm going to add a little insight into your Project here.

I did this exact same thing on my '90 some years back.
The slight difference is that I have Randy's Oil-Cooler Kit on mine.

I was going to post a response in your thread a few days ago, but I searched and searched and just could not find the pictures I had of the install. They were not on my computer where I thought they would be...........................I ended up finding them in an obscure folder of pictures that I had purged from my old iPhone-6 before I discontinued using it.

Anyway, here we are.
The reason that I considered trying this in the first place is that where I live (at 5000+ feet altitude) the air is much thinner. It does not cool as well as denser air at lower altitudes.
I already had an oil-temperature gauge installed on the bike, and when sitting in traffic on a hot day here in the Denver area I can watch the engine oil temps climb very quickly.
It does get hot here, and on a 95-100 degree day the hot-thin air does not cool things particularly well.

I took a few measurements and bought two four-inch diameter "SPAL" puller-fans.
I moved the mounting brackets for the oil-cooler around and spaced the oil-cooler slightly more forward in the frame, and mounted the fans directly to the back of the oil-cooler.
I wired them to a relay that is fused directly to the battery and used a lighted switch to manually activate the relay.
Each fan is rated at 148-cfm and draws 2.2-amps according to their own specs.
These two fans cover most of the surface area of the oil-cooler core.

Here are the results that I observed:

On a normal day, while riding the bike as I typically would with the fans OFF, I did not see any difference in the oil temperature readings.
Having the fans mounted to the back of the oil-cooler did not seem to have any affect of restricting airflow through the cooler when they were switched OFF.  (OR, more importantly the oil-cooler doesn't play as big a role in cooling the engine oil as originally thought)

On a hot day while riding through town, with lots of stopping in traffic, if I switch the fans ON they do not "Cool" the engine down. What I do notice is that having the fans ON will slow the rate of which the oil temps climb, but does not reduce it while sitting in traffic.
I've tested this over a bunch of years, on many days of riding in the summer heat while in traffic.
The only thing that reduces the temperature of the oil is getting the bike moving steadily again.

I've come to the conclusion that the oil-cooler itself only plays a role of "In addition to" when it comes to cooling the oil.
The Fins on the engine cylinders and head play a much bigger role of cooling the engine (and by association, the engine oil) Stopping the bike in traffic and ceasing the airflow over it, and the engine temp will climb regardless of what you do to the oil-cooler.
The best thing you can do in a situation where you are stuck in traffic is shut the engine off.

These are only MY findings on the subject. Take this info however you want.

They are loud enough that I can hear them while running in traffic, so I know they are on. The switch is also wired to a separate system that is switched on with the ignition, so they could never be left on accidentally.

https://youtu.be/yThf204qGnQ


Alan H.
Denver, CO
'90 FJ1200

Old Rider

Thanks for that information I'm impressed that you managed to find space to mount them .Does not seem that my 2 small fart fans will help anything then  :biggrin: but i will mount the cooler and check how much they will cool when on vs off when standing still measuring on the cooler in and out flow points .I tested with hot water running constant thru the cooler with the hoses on and fans switched on and then the  water coming out the outlet hose was about 5-6 degree Celsius cooler.I had also planned to mount 2 much more powerful fans at the
center of the cooler on the backside ,but they are not in stock before march.

Old Rider

I have now ordered 2 more very powerful fans same size but a little higher they have a cfm 86 measured under a static pressure of 2.950 in/H2O will be fun to test them  going to place them on backside of cooler in the middle

Firehawk068 do you know under how much static pressure the 146 cfm fans you have was measured ? or do you have a partnumber

Firehawk068

Alan H.
Denver, CO
'90 FJ1200

Old Rider

New and more powerful fans arrived and i did some tests .They are noisy and sound like jet engines. I think maybe these
are something similar to the coolingfans used in some Harley aftermarket cooling equipment blowing air on the cylinderfins.

fj1289

Are these setup as pushers on the back?  I assume they will never be on while moving then?

After this testing, I'd kihe to see the fans setup to cool the head similar to the legends car setups.  I'm thinking that is the best use of fans to cool an FJ stuck in traffic...  Don't know how much room there is under the tank - and would probably lose the ducts from the scoops - or modify them to feed the fans?

Old Rider

Quote from: fj1289 on January 07, 2022, 11:29:44 AM
Are these setup as pushers on the back?  I assume they will never be on while moving then?

After this testing, I'd kihe to see the fans setup to cool the head similar to the legends car setups.  I'm thinking that is the best use of fans to cool an FJ stuck in traffic...  Don't know how much room there is under the tank - and would probably lose the ducts from the scoops - or modify them to feed the fans?

Yes the plan is to use them pushing air from the back and not use them in speed,but  it is maybe better like you said use them so they blow the other way .The airstream will then
aim over the cylhead and under the gastank . I have a old pick from my bike there you can see that it should work okay. I have also been thinking to place them in the airscoops
making a hole in the side of scoop on the side to make them blow into the airscoope ducts

T Legg

Quote from: fj1289 on January 07, 2022, 11:29:44 AM
Are these setup as pushers on the back?  I assume they will never be on while moving then ?

You get the best airflow from a fan through a set of cooling fins by pulling air through the oil cooler. If you blow air into the fins the turbulence when the air hits the fins (non laminar air flow ) impedes the flow.
 All fans used with air conditioning evaporator and condensor coils use fans that pull the air through.
T Legg

Old Rider

Quote from: T Legg on January 07, 2022, 12:18:01 PM
Quote from: fj1289 on January 07, 2022, 11:29:44 AM
Are these setup as pushers on the back?  I assume they will never be on while moving then ?

You get the best airflow from a fan through a set of cooling fins by pulling air through the oil cooler. If you blow air into the fins the turbulence when the air hits the fins (non laminar air flow ) impedes the flow.
 All fans used with air conditioning evaporator and condensor coils use fans that pull the air through.

Yes i think you are right ,but earlier when doing the tests with fans placed in both push and pull positions with warm water inside i found that the push config cooled about 5 degree faster than pull.Like after 5 minutes the push config cooled 5 degree more

Old Rider

The fan on oilcooler experiment continues .I decided that it was best to place the rear fans so they suck air like TLegg and fj1289 suggested.


Old Rider

So this is the wirediagram how i wired the fans,but with this diagram the fans dont work as i want.I want the 3 way switch to work in override
mode in one position and in automatic mode with thermoswitch in the other position.It works almost the problem is that when in automode
the fans starts at about 85 degree but shuts off after only a few seconds,Then they continue to that.It is supposed to work so the fans start
at 85 degree and then shut off when temp is 80 degree.the 3 way switch is also not working right as only one LED lights up.If someone know what is wrong tell me

Old Rider

since i was not able to find the problem i thinked alot and twisted my brain until it started hurting =) and came up with this diagram.
I was thinking that mayby the problem was that the thermoswitch was not grounded in the first diagram.So then i routed all brown ground wires
to the 3 way switch and thru the thermoswitch  with no powerwire to the 3 way switch and made the powerwire so it goes directly to the fans. This worked ,but still the fans did the same
start and shut off fast when in automode. Also now on the 3 way switch non of the LED worked =) Im not so good at electrical stuff so
some more experienced might get a good laugh of this diagram =)