Anyone remove the AC fan in front of the rad?

[KBC]

Anyone remove the AC fan in front of the rad? EDIT; It's not for the AC system.

I'd like to mount a winch on the frame rails but with the electric AC fan in front of my rad it sticks out too far. Has anyone removed it and still had decent AC afterwards? What about relocating it or modding the fan housing a bit. Has anyone done any of these options?

Cheers!

 

[Frogstar7055]

Mine doesn't have an AC fan.

 

[Intender]

I think only 2000 and maybe some 2001 models came with the fan on the ac condenser. I have one on my truck and it does get in the way when mounting a winch. I could have moved mine back at least 2 inches if i removed the fan. I think you could remove it without worrying since later year models dont evem have them

 

[KBC]

I'll have to do a bit of digging to see when it's supposed to come on but it didn't today when I turned the AC on. My AC is fine as is so if it's not coming on when it's supposed to now I'll probably just pull it.

 

[TJTJ]

You might be able to flip it around and reverse the flow so it can pull from the other side.



My 2001 made in 2000 had the same AC aux fan.

 

[KBC]

I wish but I doubt it hehe. I might try trimming the housing a bit but I can't even find mention of it in the 2001 FSM. Maybe I'll have a look at the 2000 FSM and see if it's there and compare.

 

[KBC]

I found it, it doesn't have anything to do with the AC system. It's supposed to turn on when your coolant starts getting a little hotter than normal to help cool the engine down. I guess I won't be removing it.

 

[TJTJ]

I found it, it doesn't have anything to do with the AC system. It's supposed to turn on when your coolant starts getting a little hotter than normal to help cool the engine down. I guess I won't be removing it.

LOL

You mean the radiator fan?

 

[KBC]

I'm not talking about the engine driven fan. It's the smaller e-fan just inside the grille.

 

[Prime]

I actually pulled one from a junk yard and thought about adding it to mine. Heh.

 

[KBC]

I'm going to unplug it and see what happens but I think in the end I will try and move it a little and maybe massage the housing to tuck the winch in. I've never seen it running but there are a few bug guts on it that suggest it has run. Probably last summer when it almost overheated with the family and a weeks worth of camping gear and the tent trailer in tow at close to 40 degrees outside up a mountain. Yeah that's celsius ha.

If I don't need it my other option is to remove it and put a resistor in to simulate the fan if there's any CEL because it isn't there.

 

[KBC]

Had another idea in the shower. Since the winch hits the bottom of the housing I could replace it with two smaller fans that the winch would tuck under and end up with more cooling.

 

[caseycamby]

I assume you're talking about this? (Sorry I got arrow happy haha)

Mine obviously has it and it's an 01 made in Nov of 2000.

Could this work as an "e-fan"? Maybe wire it where it'll come on like it normally would but also when a switch is flipped? That'd be nice and easy. I've often thought about it but wasn't ever sure if that would work.

 

[KBC]

Yeah that's the one. I was thinking about wiring two smaller ones like that.

 

[metzican]

If your going to replace it with two smaller one's won't it be worthwhile just removing the main engine driven one and replacing that with a high flow fan and getting rid of the other one and that one can be put o a switch too for those water crossings?

 

[KBC]

Yeah that an option as well. I should probably price out both ways. Thanks!

 

[KBC]

So just to update, a few weeks ago I pulled fan to figure out how I could mount it out of the way. I had to trim a little off the corner of the centre sheet metal support so I could lift it up and turn it to tuck the winch back as far as possible. But I decided to stop there before fabbing some brackets to hold it in place and just see what happens if I don't run it. So far I haven't had any issues. No codes, the engine temp is the same, and the AC is just a cold as it always has been.
I might drop in a S/C rad before the hotter months when I will be loaded with camping gear and towing the tent trailer at higher altitudes to maybe make up for some additional cooling but for now I don't think I'm going to put it back in.
I was able to tuck the winch far enough back that I didn't lose any approach angle either.