cooling fan

[did3.2]

Hi, being a new triton owner, only about 3 weeks now and it has been a VERY hot three weeks at that. I have a question of the more experienced owners of DiD tritons. How often on a 35- 40 degree day with the air con on, on a trip ie 100-110kph would you expect the engine cooling fan to cut in. My previous vehicle was a petrol and never heard it after start up and yes it was a clutch driven fan same as triton. Mine seems to cut in every 5 mins or so for about 2-3mins at a time say after 15 mins drive time. Temp guage never moves so tell me everyone am i worrying about nothing and this is normal? or is mine the odd one out! Its quite loud and very obvious when its doing it.

[Buzzy]

Its normal see here

[smeghead]

Mine did the same thing on a recent trip up to Sydney... It was nearly 40c on the way up and we had the aircon blasting... my fan came on with the same sort of regularity.. so I hope its normal too!!

[cyberhonky]

yep -normal

[Blue]

Temp guage never moves so tell me everyone am i worrying about nothing and this is normal?

On those 40º + days - temp gauge only moved about 2 needle (tip) widths closer to hot, scanguage was reading ~92º up from ~79º normal operating temp and the fan was almost constantly on...

[NowForThe5th]

The engine (radiator) fan is a viscous coupling jobbie which allows it to spin semi-independently of the engine and as the fluid heats or cools it follows the engine speed more or less, respectively. It does not "cut in" or "cut out" like an electric fan does - the change is much more gradual. Undetectable, really. Generally, except for early morning cold starts, it will just be a dull, background roar. (Hmmmm....twin electic thermo fans - now that might be a good idea Mr. Bishi).

What you are probably hearing is the aircon fan which can get a little noisy (especially in the Tritons without optional engine clatter). Watch your tacho and listen to the engine as the fan cuts in and out. If the note changes a little and revs drop or rise a little then it's the aircon. Alternate test is to switch air on and off and if fan follows suit then that's it. There is another test - Nah! Bleeding finger stumps make too much mess on nice new Triton.

Solution: inset favourite CD into player and turn volume control at least 270 degrees clockwise.

By the way - how come NOBODY else thought of the MOST obvious user name. Well done & welcome.

[Greedy]

Undetectable, really.

I'm not so sure about undetectable. With the aircon off and heading up hills on hot days, you hear it start winding up until it's all you can hear even over the motor. When it's finished, I definitely enjoy the quieter ride.

Hmmmm....twin electic thermo fans - now that might be a good idea Mr. Bishi).

My thoughts exactly. Has anyone replaced the noisy bugger yet? If so, what model fan? Time to start the research. It's all a bit weird though. From the passenger seat, (I try to only occupy this when over the limit) you can barely hear it.

[smeghead]

What you are probably hearing is the aircon fan which can get a little noisy (especially in the Tritons without optional engine clatter). Watch your tacho and listen to the engine as the fan cuts in and out. If the note changes a little and revs drop or rise a little then it's the aircon. Alternate test is to switch air on and off and if fan follows suit then that's it.

Thats what I thought initially... I tried turning the aircon off when I heard the fan wind up, but it continued to stay on... perhaps it stays on for a while after the aircon is off?

[Notso]

My 2006 version doesn't own an Airconditioner Fan on the Radiator?

All it has is the viscous coupling engine fan and it sounds like a Jumbo Jet taking off when it starts.

Runs most of the time when towing on a hot day, but intermittent when not towing.

[subi_man]

DiD, this is definitely your viscous coupled radiator fan - perfectly normal

[scubapro]

I am about to replace my fan with an electric unit. I had a friend make up an electronic temp sending unit ( Kit from Jaycar) & when he gets a day off we will fit the electric, I am hoping to retain the existing shroud with the electric being fitted to it.

Does anyone else have any ideas please???

I have also just fitted the DBA 400 series front disks. I will let you guys know how they go especially when towing.

[Jitsukablue]

Yes, if you plan on fitting a fan, you could also fit one on the intercooler? Even have a water spray on the intercooler...

[did3.2]

Thankyou to all who had input. This has certainly eased my mind re the noise. Went to Wyangala dam fishing with the kids the other day 39 degrees and tail wind had the fan roaring for a fair portion of the trip but didn't affect economy or power, just followed some advice and turned the power sound up. Tried the super select 4wd for the first time,..... my thoughts go out to those who dont have it.
Loving the truck and this site.
DiD3.2

[subi_man]

Hey, you're almost a neighbour

[Jumma]

Hi
I have a 2008 DiD 5 speed manual and when I drive at highway speeds the viscous fan is on permanently (fully locked on) if the temperature is anywhere near 30 degrees C or more. It is VERY loud and VERY annoying.

It even comes on intermittently and everytime I stop and go at traffic lights in 23-25 degrees C temperatures. I mean only stops of 20-30 seconds at the lights and it kicks in full swing. I am pretty sure it slows me down of the light too, it feels like it saps power from the engine.

Is this normal? I don't think it should be. I mean I am not towing or even travelling up a hill when it is happening. Surely crusing at 110 on the freeway would produce more than enough air flow to tell the sensor on the viscous hub that it doesn't need to be fully locked in. THese things really ROAR when they run at 100% at 2000-3000 rpm....

How about everyone else? Can anyone tell me if this is normal????

Thanks

JAmes

[Greedy]

Can anyone tell me if this is normal????

IMO it is coming on a bit too much.

[sam]

Hi
I have a 2008 DiD 5 speed manual and when I drive at highway speeds the viscous fan is on permanently (fully locked on) if the temperature is anywhere near 30 degrees C or more. It is VERY loud and VERY annoying.

It even comes on intermittently and everytime I stop and go at traffic lights in 23-25 degrees C temperatures. I mean only stops of 20-30 seconds at the lights and it kicks in full swing. I am pretty sure it slows me down of the light too, it feels like it saps power from the engine.

Is this normal? I don't think it should be. I mean I am not towing or even travelling up a hill when it is happening. Surely crusing at 110 on the freeway would produce more than enough air flow to tell the sensor on the viscous hub that it doesn't need to be fully locked in. THese things really ROAR when they run at 100% at 2000-3000 rpm....

How about everyone else? Can anyone tell me if this is normal????

Thanks



JAmes

Had the same prob with our old ML DiD and they finished up putting a new viscous hub into it and Prob solved

[Jumma]

Gday Sam

Yeah I did that. Contacted Mitsubishi Motors they put a new Hub in and a new fan, bled the cooling system (they found air in it) and it still does the same thing....

I wonder if they really did change the hub?????? You wouldn't think it would be much more than that! But I guess what benefit would the dealer gain from lying about replacing the Viscous Hub..?

All this aside - the fan is still misbehaving!

James

[Greedy]

Has the thermostat been tested?

[Jumma]

Yeah I agree with you Greedy....

I actually think "a lot" too much.... but dealer is telling me that this is normal. Problem is when I bought the car it was winter and temps were rarely over 20 degree C. Only heard it a couple of times just during normal driving then. It only came on a few times here and then, mainly on start up until it warmed up to operating temps.... It didn't become an issue until I started doing highway trips with no load, no towing etc in warmer weather (around 28-30 degrees C) when it tends to come on permanently, fully locked in... very noisy all the way home for some 50 km....

Now I am trying to work out what is normal and what is not. So best way to find out is ask other owners what their car does. I don't mind it if I am towing up a hill and it is hot and the thing comes on but NOT at the traffic lights with no load on a 25 degree C day... seems a bit excessive!


Question is - Do the guys at the dealer know what they are talking about? They recon it is normal but when I took them over to one of their new off the floor models (2009) DiD and started it up and held my foot on the gas for about 10 minutes sitting on 3000 rpm in the sun on a 30 plus degree day, they seemed to agree with me when the fan on that one didn't even come on once. Even sitting still in that heat with NO air flow over the radiator and guess what - the temp guage barely moved over half way the whole time. It just went from cold to to half way and that was it.

But when Mitsubishi Motors ran me they didn't seem to have been told that information. So I am having a battle with them and the dealer over the question as to weather the fan is normal or not!!!

Any help here would be much appreciated as I can then say to them that - No it is NOT normal if that is the case!

Mind you - if it is normall - then I am VERY dissapointed in the product!!!!

Cheers

James

[Jumma]

Greedy - Yes - the dealer has now had the car for bout 5-6 independent days.

1 - Change Hub
2 - change fan
3 - change fan blades again
4 - bleed coolant of air
5 - look at it again - apparently nothing wrong!!!

This doesn't include all the times I have been in to see them to organise them to have the car

The mechanic told me on the first day that it would not be the thermostat as if it were then the car wouldsimply heat up and not cool down at all.... I am not sure about this.

Either of two scenarios are happening here - 1. They don't know what they are doing (inexperienced) or 2. they are just plain lazy and not being thorough with the diagnosis and testing.

It is getting really frustrating dealing with these guys...

James

[did3.2]

Not normal IMO.
As stated earlier in this thread, on and off over a trip highway speeds, air con on etc. in extreme (ok 30 degrees and above) temps. On for maybe a minute off for 5 or 6 then on for 30 seconds etc.
Def not on all the time. You or should I say MMA have a problem and they need to fix it .
You need to keep onto them and insist its bad, maybe try another dealer if they can't, or wont help, where are you?
Hope you get it sorted, as yes its loud and anoying only benefit is it drowns out the wife for a while .

[Greedy]

I have had a bit of (self-induced) trouble with the cooling system on mine which ended up requiring a radiator replacement. I got this done through a radiator specialist who said the radiator for the diesel is too small. The replacement has a 16mm core whilst standard is 10mm. My fan certainly comes on less than it used to when the standard one was in good nick. I do a daily trip up an 8 degree slope which is about 5km long. The fan used to come on after about 1km and roar it's head off all the way to the top and still be on when I got home 5km after the top. It now (with the new radiator) comes on about half way up and goes off about 100 metres after topping the hill. Still sits at the same temp but varies a lot less than it used to. Nothing has changed with the fan itself.

[sam]

Wasn't there a thread on here somewhere about different radiator cores
Some were single tube while others were twin tube or something to that effect

[Greedy]

Wasn't there a thread on here somewhere about different radiator cores
Some were single tube while others were twin tube or something to that effect

Is this the thread you mean?