I have removed the viscous fan on my Td6, and occasionally in heavy London traffic (even on mild winter days) the engine temperature does rise over halfway, unless I stick on the in car heating.

One thing that I have never noticed in the Rangie, that you normally hear on most other cars is the electric fan working when you park up to help continue cooling the engine bay. I have never noticed this on my Td6 and wonder if it has faulty fan?

Any ideas? Tom

Current Drive
2011 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography - Santorini Black - Ivory Leather

Previous Drives
2004 Model Vogue Td6 (Touchscreen) - Java Black - Parchment Leather
1994 RR Classic 3.9 V8 Soft dash - Niagara Grey - Grey Leather
1972 Series III SWB Safari - Green (Hand Painted) - Black Plastic

it might be faulty.

Run the car and put the AC on, then once it's warm with the engine ticking over, have a look through the grille, the fan should power up every so often and spin a little.

I replaced mine because it had failed internally and just blew the fuse and smoked when ever it tried to run.

Bear in mind though you have the big viscous fan running all the time the engine is, when needed the viscous coupling locks up and the fan will work harder - you'll hear the obvious difference in noise. So it's likely the engine just isn't getting hot enough to warrant running the electric fan. These things are designed to operate in the desert, where the aux fan is probably needed, but in the UK it'll rarely need it.

Hi Zircon,

Thanks for the info, I removed the viscous fan last year as it was not really needed, and was making so much noise. Rather than replace it I have tried it without and it seems ok, except in heavy traffic. I will run the car to temperature and check the fan to see if it is working at all. I was just wondering if it is meant to be on all the time, or if the electric fan should be enough if you are in heavy traffic in the UK climate without air con on. Tom

Current Drive
2011 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography - Santorini Black - Ivory Leather

Previous Drives
2004 Model Vogue Td6 (Touchscreen) - Java Black - Parchment Leather
1994 RR Classic 3.9 V8 Soft dash - Niagara Grey - Grey Leather
1972 Series III SWB Safari - Green (Hand Painted) - Black Plastic

Is the temperature gauge going too high?

If stopped in heavy traffic with lots of stop starts it does start to increase to 3/4 of the dial with no noticeable fan noise kicking in. When this has happened I have put the heating on and it then reduces the engine temperature as it sucks the engine heat into the cabin.

When it has gone high on the gauge and I have shut the engine off, there is no fan noise, so I am thinking that I have a faulty electric fan. Tom

Current Drive
2011 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography - Santorini Black - Ivory Leather

Previous Drives
2004 Model Vogue Td6 (Touchscreen) - Java Black - Parchment Leather
1994 RR Classic 3.9 V8 Soft dash - Niagara Grey - Grey Leather
1972 Series III SWB Safari - Green (Hand Painted) - Black Plastic

Exactly.

I think i'd be inclined to put the viscous fan back on at least until you've got the electric one working. Pretty much the whole front has to come off to replace the electric one. You should be able to test it by connecting it direct to a battery.

The viscous fan on mine isn't really noisy at all, you only hear it when it gets hot working hard on a hill and even then it doesn't take long to go quiet once it cools down again, not really any more noisy than an electric fan cutting in. Yeah you can hear it if you open the bonnet and rev it while your head is in there, but who drives along kneeing on the front bumper? If the viscous clutch is shot though it'll be noisy.

The electric fan doesn't come on until the engine gets very hot, it is variable speed and at it's lowest it is difficult to hear, this speed is usually enough to cool the engine. It won't work with the ign off, it draws a lot of current and heat soak would make it come on a lot and it would flatten the battery.

As said, go for a good run and then leave it with the bonnet shut and ticking over, the fan should cut in but it may take a while, you will have to look to see if it comes on as you probably won't hear it above the engine noise. Pete
__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green (Fatty Offroader) Sold
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Thanks Pete, much appreciated info. I will check it out. Tom

Current Drive
2011 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography - Santorini Black - Ivory Leather

Previous Drives
2004 Model Vogue Td6 (Touchscreen) - Java Black - Parchment Leather
1994 RR Classic 3.9 V8 Soft dash - Niagara Grey - Grey Leather
1972 Series III SWB Safari - Green (Hand Painted) - Black Plastic

When it's on full chat you can definitely hear it. I had the opposite issue, fan would come on for no reason and flatten the battery. it is predominantly there to aid the air conditioning and generally only comes on to cool the engine when the gauge is approaching the red section.

If you want to know what it sounds like on full watch this video. Excuse the narrative but I was trying to describe it for the dealer after they gave it a clean bill of health.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0bl8wpntx4tu8ut/...5.mp4?dl=0

Have you tried sticking the AC on? The elec fan will come on with the AC switched on so well worth checking that works first, then when it gets warm, switch the AC on! Or as most do, run with the AC on auto and let it take care of itself

Thanks for the advice guys. I will try the AC to see if it gets the main fan to kick in.

Wow it does sound incredibly loud in the video, definitely something you and your distant neighbours would know about.....  Tom

Current Drive
2011 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography - Santorini Black - Ivory Leather

Previous Drives
2004 Model Vogue Td6 (Touchscreen) - Java Black - Parchment Leather
1994 RR Classic 3.9 V8 Soft dash - Niagara Grey - Grey Leather
1972 Series III SWB Safari - Green (Hand Painted) - Black Plastic

Just started up the car in the 23.5 degree heat, put the air conditioning on full cold and full fan speed and the front fan behind the grill is still sitting there doing nothing. I will give the car a bit of a run this afternoon and keep an eye on it. Looks like my fan is not working. I will check the wiring and then look for a replacement.

Any recommended upgrades on this or is OEM best? Tom

Current Drive
2011 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography - Santorini Black - Ivory Leather

Previous Drives
2004 Model Vogue Td6 (Touchscreen) - Java Black - Parchment Leather
1994 RR Classic 3.9 V8 Soft dash - Niagara Grey - Grey Leather
1972 Series III SWB Safari - Green (Hand Painted) - Black Plastic