Mechanical fan upgrade

[ThatJeepGuy]

Soo fwiw I don't believe the bmw fan will work. The blades are facing the wrong way. With the mech clutch spinning counter clockwise it would pushing air through the rad. Not pulling it through.

 

Thankfully I paid nothing for this bmw fan but as I was about the start figuring out an adapting plate to the jeep clutch I recognized blade orientation. 

 

Maybe if you figure a way to run a ribbed pulley and re route the serp. Belt then it could spin the correct way for the blades to pull air??

 

Otherwise if it's not already obvious - we're looking for ccw fans

[ghetdjc320]

On 7/18/2023 at 1:20 AM, Salvagedcircuit said:

After some late night hunting, It seems like (2) fans might fit into the XJ fan shroud:

1. 2001-2006 BMW 325i / 330i / 525i / 530i fan. Dorman # 621-584.
   1. Center bolt ID: 5.9in. OD: 16.535"
2. 1990-2008 nissan xterra / frontier. Nissan NP300 09-2015. 8 blade. Continental FA70560. 7 Blade version: Continental FA72096 / Dorman 620-450.   
   1. Center bolt ID: 5.25in. OD: 16.06" for 7 blade, 15" for 8 blade.

Both have large center openings to allow for an adapting plate. Both have an OD of 16in and less. From my searches, it seems the XJ/MJ fan is 16in diameter.

Jeep XJ / MJ fan clutch:

Clutch OD: 5.99"

Fan Bolt Circle: 3.25"

Fan Mount Dia (to engine): 2.62"

 

Jeep ZJ fan clutch:

Clutch OD: 6.45"

Fan Bolt Circle: 3.25"

Fan Mount Dia (to engine): 2.62"

 

Nissan fan clutch:

Clutch OD: 5.85"

Fan Bolt Circle: 5.27"

Fan Mount Dia (to engine): 4.72"

 

I don't have any of these parts on hand to verify. Either should work with a simple aluminum adapter. I'm going to CAD something up and get an estimated weight of the adapter to see if this is all worthwhile. Think of all the efficiency gains!

 

The 7 blade 4.0 fan in the picture above has been my go to fan with the Hayden/Napa ZJ clutch. I didn’t have any issues fitting it with my mishimoto radiator either. After many fan configurations, the 7 bald mech fan ZJ clutch and 10 blade late model XJ oem fan (only the genuine Mopar one) worked the best. I also upgraded the factory fan circuit and it also helped with a bit more RPM. I also used a resistor on the CTS to bring the e fan on about 10 degrees cooler than factory settings. Thats on an HO model MJ with a heavily built 4.0

[zomeizter]

Similar to ghet's situation, I just got done installing the ZJ Hayden fan clutch and a new VDO efan on my XJ and immediately noticed improvement. I'm currently in the southwest and my efan was constantly on while driving around in the mornings and evenings without using the air conditioner. After the fans' refresh, I have noticed that the efan hardly ever comes on now, the new clutch seems to be doing most of the cooling and it is not nearly as noisy as some claim.

[Salvagedcircuit]

On 7/30/2023 at 9:11 PM, ThatJeepGuy said:

Soo fwiw I don't believe the bmw fan will work. The blades are facing the wrong way. With the mech clutch spinning counter clockwise it would pushing air through the rad. Not pulling it through.

 

Thankfully I paid nothing for this bmw fan but as I was about the start figuring out an adapting plate to the jeep clutch I recognized blade orientation. 

 

Maybe if you figure a way to run a ribbed pulley and re route the serp. Belt then it could spin the correct way for the blades to pull air??

 

Otherwise if it's not already obvious - we're looking for ccw fans

You have a very valid point here. Neither the BMW or Nissan fan is designed for Counter Clock Wise operation. Neither is going to work.

The hunt continues.