Ok so today, whilst I was tinkering with the master cylinder, I broke off that little nipple on the top of the radiator. After further inspection I realized that not only is my water pump a bit leaky but the fan itself is breaking apart. I had to go for a walk before giving myself a heart attack.

I am a bit frustrated with this truck right now but I don't want to give up on it. I think it just needs some redesigning and a lot of newer more serviceable parts.

So this is just an idea but I want some input on this.

I need a new radiator and I want to be able to more easily service the front of the engine on the road (i.e. power steering pump, water pump, front cover etc) so I was thinking about deleting the fan and clutch along with that plastic wind tunnel (reducing wear on the water pump right?) and add about 4 low profile electric fans to the radiator that are controlled via my glow shift water temp sensor.

Is this insane?

Plus the truck is going to be parked for awhile now anyways. It needs a lot of love right now.

 

Maybe do the inline thermostat mod and put in an electric water pump. Dusty1 has done this with good results.

An electric fan has been done many times on this thread. Search for it.

 

That's awesome! Dusty you better chime in on this, i dont want to drive down to Texas to hunt you down.

And is there any benefit to an electric pump vs belt driven? Consistent rpm's?

 

Here is his post about it. I saw it in action at SCARR well for a little while anyway. He mounted the controller under the hood and the temps were to hot for it.

https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...install-64250/

 

Well I'll just be tackling one thing at a time I suppose. New radiator is a must. I figure I'd have a shop swap out the main core since thats all bent and messes with my headlights and hood. And while its apart and when the core is off I might finally be able to fix my frame horn thingy...

Ug .

I guess a good staring question is what's a good radiator to put in here and it looks like people have been putting In electric fans from other vehicles with a decent amount of success.

 

That depends. Do you want an OEM Replacement, aftermarket, or another mod?

Eventually this is my plan while adding in the electric water pump.
Starts at about the 3rd post down.
https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...aranoia-60156/

 

Definitely not OEM . I'm really looking at throwing a few thousand at this and would love to do this the best way possible.

That metal one looks pretty awesome but essentially I'd like to remove as move as possible to de clutter the engine bay and ideally delete as much of this brittle plastic as possible.

 

I don't see why you couldn't use that aluminum radiator, electric water pump, and electric fan. Then you could loose the fan shroud or modify it, you would loose the mechanical fan. That should give you a lot of room.

 

I don't have any issues with the mechanical water pump, with the fan and shroud off it is very serviceable ... the link for that aluminum rad is bad :[

 

Hi, There are upsides and downsides to dumping the viscous fan for electric fan/fans. If the fans or their controllers breakdown you have no cooling unless you have a manual bypass system for the electrical inputs separate to a each of the fans (if the fans break it's unlikely they will all break at the same time) If you are town driving a lot and/or offroading cooling fans are essential whereas motorway cruising far less essential at moderate speeds (50-75mph) providing you keep moving. If you come to a halt for any length of time with no cooling fan it will boil over and we all no what happens then. IMO fitting electric fans for the purposes you describe is a reasonable option but you need to have a second 'game plan' in mind for cooling fan system breakdowns like a manual power override or two averaging temperature sensors/switches in parallel. Just food for thought.