james750 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Just reading an article on NAXJA about waterproofing the XJ/MJ. Some of the poster's were stating that the mechanical fan can get sucked into the radiator like a propeller in deep water crossings, that sounds pretty crazy to me. Is there any truth to this? http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50288 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 No personal experience, but it would not surprise me in the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Wow that is an old thread. I would take Go-Jeeps advise to leave it. He seems to know more about than the others that posted on that thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 The fan essentially IS a propeller. But ... the fan used on the XJ and MJ has a heavy center section, to which thin, stainless steel vanes are riveted. The vanes are flexible. The reason is to allow them to move more air at low RPM but to flatten out at higher RPM, reducing the parasitic drag on the engine when cooling isn't as necessary. And then there's the fan clutch, which also reduces fan velocity at high speed. I suppose it is possible for the fan blades to get bent forward into the radiator, but I've been on wheeling trips that saw water up to the top of the grille and I have never seen anyone have the fan get damaged. Between the blades flexing and the clutch de-clutching, I don't think it's an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 I imagine with enough drag from the water, and the clutch, the fan would barely spin at all. When my motor and transmission mounts were bad I had a problem with the engine shifting forward under load. Climbing a steep hill the fan ended up eating first the shroud, and then later the radiator itself. Somewhere in my build thread I also have a video of my "Mexican jumping 4.0" taken at that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BORDENCOMANCHE Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 I was thinking of putting an aftermarket fan blade on my truck? Good idea bad idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbyluvv Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 It does happen if you are stupid and hit the water doing mach 2. If you go into it slowly and allow the water to stop the blades from spinning you will not have a problem. If you it hit fast with a hot fan clutch, there is a very real possibility that it will get pulled into the radiator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasbulliwagen Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I myself would think that this would be more of a problem with electric fans as they are mounted VERY close to the rad body. The solution Ive heard is to mout pusher fans outside the radiator, that way when it get to water, the fan pulls away from the rad instead of being sucked in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I was thinking of putting an aftermarket fan blade on my truck? Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james750 Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share Posted January 13, 2010 It does happen if you are stupid and hit the water doing mach 2. If you go into it slowly and allow the water to stop the blades from spinning you will not have a problem. If you it hit fast with a hot fan clutch, there is a very real possibility that it will get pulled into the radiator. This makes since, also, now thinking about it, once water hits the clutch and cools won't it disengage? I've never sped into water crossings, its just not a smart idea, so this probably won't be an issue for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I myself would think that this would be more of a problem with electric fans as they are mounted VERY close to the rad body. The solution Ive heard is to mout pusher fans outside the radiator, that way when it get to water, the fan pulls away from the rad instead of being sucked in. If you're using electric fans, it's a simple procedure to wire in a switch to turn them off for water crossings. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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