Fan Shroud Required?

aeo

Well-known member
I may have destroyed my fan shroud on the 300tdi. Is it necessary for the motor or does it just protect me from the fan?

Thanks,
Alex
 

jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI
I can tell you from my experience that in normal driving highway and suburbs a 300 Tdi doesn't need a fan or fan shroud even in the summer. However, if you get stuck in traffic, even in cool weather, you need a fan shroud. I drove my 110 around for a year with no fan or fan shroud in Richmond, Va where temps regularly hit 100F in the summer. I had an electric fan, but I left it unplugged because it wasn't switched. I had to plug it in one time in October when sitting in a huge line of traffic at an apple orchard.

A V8, on the other hand, will start to run hot a low speeds almost immediately with no shroud. After an exploding fan took out my shroud I cut a RRC fan shroud to fit my V8 D90 and it still would run hot if I wasn't going over 40 mph.

A fan shroud is essential for operation of the fan. If you don't have a shroud, the fan won't pull air through the radiator.
 

aeo

Well-known member
So...the next question is can I duct tape mine back together if it?s in 3 pieces.
 

Red90

Well-known member
You would want to use a more durable method of connecting the pieces.

As to the "need" for a fan. I've had an electric for 15 years and there is a light telling me when it is on, so I have a bit of experience of when that happens.

- Off road, quite frequently. Low speed and using power. Definitely any hill off road that is more than 5 minutes long.
- Long mountain hills where you are near full throttle for more than 5 minutes.
- On the highway on occasion with the right sort of winds.
 

javelinadave

Administrator
Staff member
Mine cracked a week before I did the AlCan Highway at the bottom. I drilled a hole on each side of the crack and stitched it together with a zip tie. Still running it that way with zero issues.
 

rocky

NAS-ROW Addict
You would want to use a more durable method of connecting the pieces.

As to the "need" for a fan. I've had an electric for 15 years and there is a light telling me when it is on, so I have a bit of experience of when that happens.

- Off road, quite frequently. Low speed and using power. Definitely any hill off road that is more than 5 minutes long.
- Long mountain hills where you are near full throttle for more than 5 minutes.
- On the highway on occasion with the right sort of winds.

Is yours a V8 or Tdi?
I suffer from "CCTWA" constant coolant temperature watching anxiety.....
Thanks
Chris
 

Red90

Well-known member
Is yours a V8 or Tdi?

I suffer from "CCTWA" constant coolant temperature watching anxiety.....

Thanks

Chris



TDI. If it was a V8, the fan would run all of the time. The fan run automatically. There is no need to watch the temperature.
 

aeo

Well-known member
Ugh. I?m supposed to take it to the mountains tomorrow, the kind of driving that uses the fan often.

I’ll give the zip tie approach a try and see what happens. I have an electric fan kit n the garage, just not the time to install it this afternoon. I’m sure that experience is going to need it’s own I broke something else thread.

Alex
 
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