I love your videos, even though I am not an engineer I understand most of what you do/explain. (I think) I bought a diesel pusher last spring that was 600 miles away from me. Supposed to be road ready, yada yada, but alas, when trying to drive it home, I found out the radiator fan (hydraulic motor) was not working, and i got stranded and still do not have it home. It is a Beaver Patriot, '96 model, and finding parts have been difficult. Long story short, a garage that used to work on 18 wheelers for us before I retired told me to hang cooling fans on the radiator and I could drive it home. I am nearly ready to do that, and the cooler weather should help with it. He has done it to bring others buses and motorhomes in for repairs instead of towing, so that is what sent me searching for videos on youtube, and I found yours. I am reasonably sure we can remove the factory shroud and fan balde, make a new shroud and fit puller fans into it and make this thing work, and hopefully quite well, based on what you have been able to do. Mine is a 3126 Cat, Cummins trans, and side rear radiator (thus why I think a new shroud and fans located there should work). Any thoughts?
Glad you've found my videos useful, Wayne. If you take a look at the videos I made on this series I think you should be able to more or less replicate what I did, especially if you've got a 3126 already. Having a side radiator I don't think should hurt things any, you just still work it as a puller setup pulling air into the engine bay. Is your intercooler in-line or separate from the main radiator? That will change up what I suggest to do there some. One thing to consider if you have a side radiator is that you can try to fabricate some sort of ram air scoop. I believe I have a video somewhere where I show the scoop I added for ram air going into the air filter/turbo, which has made a different in lowering EGTs. Doing this for the whole cooling system would certainly help with a side radiator setup. No reason why this couldn't work for you. I would suggest buying genuine GM radiator fans instead of the Dorman replacements like I did if you want to go that route. There are many other good fan options, but I ultimately am happy with the performance of the Suburban fans.
@@TedsGarage Not sure about that. Both smaller coolers are on the outside of the main radiator, I have not looked at it close enough to know the answer. It is currently 500 miles away; awaiting new tires to be installed then I will attempt to bring it home. I definitely think this should work. I had several companies tell me it wouldn't, and until my local mechanic (he can work on about anything it seems) told me about using these fans temporarily I just assumed these "experts" were right. He also mentioned the advantage of adding electric fans, even with just a toggle switch, for when you can use that extra cooling capacity in hot weather and slow traffic. I like the idea of increased power by not using the mechanical system for cooling even more. I see no reason it van't work, after watching all the things you did, including the alternator upgrade. I was wondering about adding another battery. Not sure if that would be helpful, just thinking it might. Sounds like something in your wheelhouse. Thanks again. I really like the old Beaver, if I can make it work.
@@wayneblake4914 I had a lot of "experts" telling me that it wouldn't work either, and obviously they were wrong. The increased horsepower, fuel economy, and smoothness have been very nice. An extra battery really isn't required or beneficial in this case. The two batteries you should have for engine/starting purposes are plenty. Ultimately you will need enough electrical power to support all your electrical needs continuously, otherwise you will run into low voltage and power issues. As a stopgap, what you could do is run your generator and tie the house and engine batteries together. That would get you home with the electric setup and you could further upgrade things there. You could always just put the fans in and wire them to be running continuously (make sure that your wiring is able to handle that many amps) and then add in the more complex PWM controllers later when you get home. That's how I would do it to get home. Staying at a lower speed (55 or so) will also reduce the cooling needs for the trip. I wouldn't have any qualms getting something like that rigged together and then limping it home to get it fully set up properly.
So I came across this video. And now you're comment and I have exactly the same rig you have a 96 patriot side radiator and the same dumb hydraulic mechanical pump. That now leaks like a siv. So, how did your situation turn out? Which fans did you use? Did they pull enough air?
Nice videos! I just stumbled on your electric fan video and wanted to say that about 17 yrs ago I did the same on my 99 Coachmen Sportscoach with the Freightliner XC chassis, 5.9 24 valve Cummins. I have well over 100,000 miles on my conversion and it has worked flawless. I used four fans that I salvaged from a junk yard and made a sheet metal "tent" on the rear of the radiator to draw the air through the intercooler and radiator. I also installed a Horton air clutch on the original fan and I tapped into the Engine ECM to control that fan clutch. The ECM will turn it on if the engine temp, intake air, or transmission is too warm, and also if the exhaust brake is engaged for extra braking (that is huge HP!). The electric fans are two speed and I found low is all I need for 90% of the time. I installed a three position switch, Off, Electric fan On, Engine fan On. I also removed the propane furnace and installed a coolant to air heat exchanger, a oversized AC evaporator, a larger AC compressor, two more condensers and my own designed air handler to provide free heat while driving, or central AC through the floor ducts. I find that if the outside air temp is below 50 degrees the electric fans are not needed because the heating system is removing enough heat. I use a Webasto diesel fuel boiler for heat when I'm parked. I also upgraded from 160 Amp to 200 Amp alternator but mainly because the new Bosch alternator will put out 120 amps at idle, old one couldn't keep up at idle but did okay at cruise. I also run taller tires and super singles in the rear which give better ride and mpg, my peak torque is 1,600 rpm and I cruise 65 mpg at 1,750 RPM so it's in the sweet spot, if I'm in a 55 mph zone I run in 5th gear and it's in that sweet spot again. I monitor the engine and transmission with the VMCpc by SIlverleaf through my laptop to keep an eye on all values and track mpg. The fan conversion increased my mpg about 10%. I tow my F150 Super crew cab pickup and still see about 10.5 mpg, if empty I can get 12mpg on trips, but a headwind or tailwind influence that a lot. Sorry this got long but I thought you might like to hear it.
Glad to see that someone besides me has done this before, and glad to hear it's held up so well for so long! It sounds like you went with a simpler method than I did, but it sounds like your RV's cooling needs might be a little less than mine. It's a great conversion!
Excellent video & information Ted . I've been tuning in to your channel often. Just the knowledge alone that you give us is worth it's weight in gold , Ron Moore
This is an old video, so I don't know if you'll see it. But I'm buying an older MCI right now, and the rads are rotten. My plan was to toss the original rads, and install 2-4 large diesel radiators with electric fans. The fans you picked will actually fit pretty well for me, so I'll probably end up using 4 pairs of them. Your video has given me a nice confidence boost. Thanks.
Another suggestion if you’re doing that: adding some scoops on the side will help get natural airflow in, which will help the efficiency of the fans. Is the MCI 2-stroke or 4-stroke? The old 2-strokes had more cooling issues.
2-stroke 6V92 in an MCI 102-A2 And yes, especially with the automatic transmission they had lots of cooling issues even when in good shape. I'm not totally sure on the size of the original radiators, but I believe the 8v92 ones are 24.5x19.5x 7.25" thick. I was originally thinking four modern radiators stacked in two pairs. But I'd need a fairly powerful fan to for the effectively 4.4" thick core. But your video gave me the idea of removing the heat load from the engine oil and transmission. So I'm now thinking just two of those radiators, but with an air cooler in series before the stock plate coolers for both and a thermostatic valves so things still warm up quickly in the winter. And four sets of those fans (I actually found your videos while trying to find fans that where powerful enough). The new rads are too large to fit in the original space (I specifically wanted a larger area to reduce the needed fan pressure for the same cooling). So I have yet to decide if I'll put them on the back above the engine bay like the later MCIs or on the lower side doors.
That sounds like a very cool project (pun intended). Reducing the overall cooling load on the radiators will be a must for you. Also make sure that you add.
I watched your alternator, aircon removal and battery bank upgrade. I had no idea your knowledge history and boy was I baffled. Why? Well I’m dealing with a Power Master single wire alternator install and I’m pulling my hair out. So it was a little frustrating observing how calmly you work through problems and flowed smoothly right along. So I had to go and see what else you had going on. So I subscribed, maybe I’ll learn something. I have to say, your kind of a car stud or mechanical stud. Be well and keep posting
I really appreciate the kind words, and am glad that you’re enjoying my videos. This gives me motivation to work on finishing up the one I’ve been working on on my solar panel install. :)
TED! Love your videos! They've been very, very helpful. We just purchased a similar model but haven't been able to start just yet on the work we want to do. Ours is a 2002 Holiday Rambler - Scepter - 40 PBD (w/ only 56,250 +/- miles); it has a Cummins 330HP turbo diesel and the 6 sp Allison 3000H transmission. Would love to chat with you more about some things, both interior and exterior.
But Ted, the experts at IRV2 said it wouldnt work, lol. Looking forward to seeing you guys later this week. I just finished hosing a bunch of dust out of my radiator and hopefully charge cooler as well this morning.
Great information. Do you use sime kind of scangage to see the temputure. I am looking for a gauge that would work for a 1998 Endeavour 5.9 cummins. Thanks.
I'm considering the feasibility of a Wanderlodge Conversion with Detroit series 60 500 HP with Allison 4060 HD Trans. I believe Prevost has a Kit for Prevost . I would leave all coolers intact . Any knowledge of a succesfull system on this Engine size being completed.
I've only heard of one person besides me doing an electric fan conversion on a diesel pusher (see below in the comments for that person). You're correct that Prevost offers a kit for their busses, which are also Series 60s in the ~500 HP range. I see no reason why this wouldn't be doable on your bus.
Did this affect the performance of your exhaust brake? Im thinking probably so, ive heard that fan can use up to75hp and that resistance during braking is lost now.
Good point and I forgot to include that in the video. I did notice a reduction in the exhaust brake effectiveness, but not as much of one as I had expected. Sometimes I have to end up going down a gear and letting the engine spin a bit faster (the 3126 will spin up to 2900 in exhaust brake mode before it upshifts) but it hasn't impacted our ability to safety travel through the mountains. Ultimately for me, the pros still far outweigh the cons.
The pushers are rated at 2,500 CFM each, but in a pusher configuration probably more like 2,000. The Suburban fans I don't have the rating of, but 5-6k cfm per pair is what I found in internet searches.
