Air con condenser fan

[Bruce A Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bruce A]

Hi gang,
Just wondering if the aic con condenser should have a fan on it?, every other vehicle I have owned fitted with air con had one. My vehicle doesn't and I don't think the previous owner would have removed it as he was not mechanically minded at all. Maybe Toyota took it off when the bar was originally fitted?

Regards
Bruce, 05, GXL TD

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

No fan on my TD either (owned from new)

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

No fan on my truck. The standard engine driven clutched fan on the water pump seems to pull sufficient air through the condenser even at idle.

I too was surprised to see no electric fans in my 120 - but I guess it's less to go wrong and the manual fan seems to perform flawlessly and is de-clutched most of the time.

Cheers,

Drew.

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Yes true, I seem to have the wiring and plugs for a fan though. I always assumed it must be for the petrol motor...guess not. Maybe for those with rear aircon?

[lawrance Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close lawrance]

100 series 4.2TD doesn't have electric fan in front of the a/c radiator either. When a/c compressor comes on, the idle of the motor is raised to help draw air through the radiator.

Very undesirable design - if you are idling in D and waiting in traffic, the higher idle puts more load unnecessarily on the gearbox.

[Damien Parker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Damien Parker]

Generally what you have described is standard Auto Air design.

Even if the condenser is fitted with an Auxillary fan it is only there to help under high load being switched by a thermostat, and at idle when there is no air being forced through the coils.

It is plausible to think that there may be a fan on the models with rear air as the system would hold more refrigerant than those with out.
We need someone with a grande to check it out.

If i had an auto i doubt i would like to idle for a length of time in D

[lawrance Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close lawrance]

I would disagree with that - most vehicles have electric fans at the front of the airconditioning radiator - some are even more sophisticated than others. My 1999 Land Rover Discovery has a huge electric fan that comes on only after the engine has reached normal temperatures and the a/c compressor is engaged. My BMW 2003 530i has a variable speed electric fan which comes on with different speeds depending on the ambient temperatures. Both these vehicles have viscous coupled engine driven radiator fans as well.

I would imagine that the lack of an electric fan on the Toyotas indicate some sort of cost cutting. Why use more fuel to drive the engine just to move air through the radiator?

Also, if you are in stop start traffic, it's better to leave the gearbox in "D" instead of shifting it in and out of D - there is more wear and tear on the gearbox when doing this.

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Regarding the use of "D" when stopped. I was very surprised to see how smart the '750 auto 'box in my 120 is. When you are sitting at the lights without the air conditioner running, the fuel flow is the same either in Drive or Neutral. As soon as you lift your foot from the brake (in drive) the fuel flow increases as the vehicle starts to move forward (on flat ground) without touching the throttle. Try it sometime. It's a very clever drive train!

I don't get to stop at lights very often, there's one set of lights on my trip to work! One of the pleasures of living in the bush! :lol:

Drew.

[Addy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Addy]

Don't know if this is what you are talking about, i thought it was just thermo fan for radiator.
Sorry about photos they are from my phone.

[Damien Parker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Damien Parker]

Top stuff, I thought that the size of the system would have been the most logical reason.

There's only so much shit you can put in front of the radiator before you start messing around with the amount of airflow it receives.

Most of the A/C condensers in passenger vehicles are single pass and not the most efficient of designs for heat exchange. In the Grande its obvious that the extra load on the system by effectively doubling its capacity is the reason for the fan. So they can provide better heat transfer without affecting the radiators capacity/ efficiency.

The other thing to consider here is how an Auto air compressor works. At idle it is not doing a lot of work at all. I doubt the extra fuel consumption at this RPM is worth really worrying about.

[lawrance Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close lawrance]

Hi Bruce,

Well, there it is! Looks like your Prado has been short changed an electric fan, or it's only available on the Grande model.

Thanks for sharing the pictures, Addy.

Lawrance

[joedan Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close joedan]

My VX has the fan as well.

So do you think the newer GXL's with rear aircon will have it as well?

[Damien Parker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Damien Parker]

I would say so as the models that do have the fan, have dual A/C.

In this instance it appears that the extra fan is there to cope with the extra refrigerant volume of the system. Either acting as a De-superheater or a Subcooling fan.

So bruce, your car is normal unless you have dual A/C.

[Bruce A Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bruce A]

Well, to the group as a whole thanks for all the input and I guess nothing more needs to be said.
Cheers
Bruce

[Damien Parker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Damien Parker]

Well, to the group as a whole thanks for all the input and I guess nothing more needs to be said.
Cheers
Bruce

Just one more thing really needs to be said.












































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