engine and drivetrain Ireland Electric Fan Kit. Reviews?

[OriginalOwner]

Lowered,

re. temps .... I posted this just yesterday, perhaps it will be helpful ....

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,viewtopic/t,374296/

Cheers,

Carl

[slash02]

Second way they have solved the problem, the temp gauge has been deleted in many modern car. What a pitty.

Whats old is new! my 62 olds has a "hot" light on it. that's all no temp gauge.

[Loweredclass49]

Sweet. That is is nice tool to have as well. Maybe a "must have tools" thread is in order.

Although that seems like some pretty low temps. I guess this is good for a worry free cooling system but efficiency of the engine would be much better if that engine was running at 180 to 200 degrees f. I can't wait to get some actual numbered gauges in my '70 and see what it is doing

[OriginalOwner]

Lowered,

Sitting at idle with the hood up certainly doesn't provide realistic actual operating data while zooming down the highway, but ya gotta start somewhere. Nor does the temp gauge provide an actual temperature, which would at least be one data point.

What would be "perfect" would be temp sensors "everywhere" to know what is happening during actual highway driving. Maybe somebody out there has the tools & technology for that .....

Cheers,

Carl

[Ce_2002]

I ordered and received the IE fan this week. There was no wiring diagram included in the box. I get no response from Ireland Engineering. :-(

Does someone have the electrical wiring diagram for me? Thanks!

[AceAndrew]

email me directly and I'll email some reference pictures and instructions over within a couple minutes. Haven't been handling the general email inbox anymore.   a n d r e w a d a m s @ i e m o t o r s p o r t . c o m

[M3M3]

 I can't wait to get some actual numbered gauges in my '70 and see what it is doing

 

 

Nor does the temp gauge provide an actual temperature, which would at least be one data point.

Cheers,

Carl

old thread, but for reference...

 

the stock gauge DOES provide actual temperature.  and it is numbered.  it is just that the numbers are outside the window on the gauge face.  there are several old threads that show the numbers for the temps at the blue, center and red range...or you can just pull the gauge out of one of the old spare clusters we all have in the back of our garages and see them...

Edited May 28, 2013 by mlytle

[Honolulu]

Plain water is the best coolant but may cause early water pump seal failure.  Dilute your coolant as required by your climate.  "Extra" coolant may be a bad thing as it does not improve the physics of heat transfer, although it may extend boiling or decrease the freeze temp of the bulk coolant.

[bmcallister]

Ah yes, cooling system issues.  I remember those from when I cooked my head 2 months after buying my car 4 years ago. 

 

PilotNBR - I know I'm late here, seems you have at least $5 worth of 02 cents! :-)  Glad you seem to have the immediate issue/symptom addressed.  Had I been in on this sooner I would ask: 1) What temp thermostat did you install? 2) When you have been making your observations, what has the outside temperature been (hopefully pretty close to the same each time)?

 

Depending upon what temp thermostat you had to begin with, you may have achieved the same result but switching to a lower temp one and saving the effort of the larger fan.

 

While on the topic of thermostats it is not unheard of for there to be a run of short-lived t-stats.  I unfortunately bought one once, after the engine rebuild, and while my engine was fine I thought I was going to lose my mind.

 

mlytle is correct, there are demarcations for degrees behind the fascia inside the gauge cluster.  When I learned about that I found it interesting but not really helpful since you still can't see them.  So I installed a VDO water temp guage.

 

I have the HF infrared temp sensor, about $20.  It works well enough in terms of consistency between measurements, like if you want to see temperature differential between lower and upper hoses, etc.  If you own or buy one of these, you may want to "calibrate" it.  Measure the temp of a pot of boiling water exactly as it starts to boil (point it at the solid water, not the bubbles).  This will let you know how accurate the gauge is and you can do your addition/subtraction from its reading as necessary.  These temp readings can tell you all kinds of good stuff about how effectively your system is working by measuring the temp differentials at different places.  Highly recommended once your '02 spending is off the wife's radar screen.

[jrhone]

Put the fan switch on top...I did the electric fan route and I love it.  It just works, no issues.  I did mine before the IE kit, so I pieced it together with a Spal fan.  The IE kit is designed with the switch up top.  Use it that way and it should work as advertised.  I used a Tii water neck with an extra hole and mounted the switch in there.  I used a factory 320 temp switch so I can get over the counter parts if needed.  I originally had a Spal switch in a custom bracket, and that worked ok...the new setup uses all BMW parts and makes things simple.  Oh and I played with various temp switches to get it to turn on and off at the right temp.  Spal makes a computer controlled temp module that I was considering where you can program it to come on at a temp, turn off at a temp, come on at lower speeds at certain temps to "maintain" a tempurature at idle for extended periods.  Looked interesting, I just thought...if that fails what are the chances of finding a replacement for that easily??  I also have a manual switch in the car that makes it possible to manually override and turn the fan on no matter what the temp is.  I have never really had to use the switch.  My fan comes on a little higher than 3 o clock and goes of a little lower than 3 o clock.  

 

Edited May 29, 2013 by jrhone

[jimk]

My fan is controlled from the ECU and runs at variable speed, begins turning at 199F and full speed at 205F.  So the cooling begins when the head outlet temp begins to climb as cools more (draws more power) only if required.  It can be cooling and is hardly noticable that it is turning.  It uses a PWM output and the solid state relay.  The outlet temp of the head normally is Tstat setpoint temp + 10F and up to 13F at higher loads.

I have a cabin mounted LED to show if the fan is running plus a manual switch.  I use the manual switch before pulling into the garage to dump as much heat outside as it can.