engine too cool? - Zilvia.net Forums | Nissan 240SX (Silvia) and Z (Fairlady) Car Forum

rusted180 · 06-11-2007, 01:06 PM

hey guys!!
I'm a bit concerned about my sr. First off i have a flexlite fan that works great! ....but a little too great! My engine temp. doesn't seem to be going up at all. It stays at zero when it's idling and even when i am ripping on the freeway. i'm suspecting it's my fan that is causing my engine to be so cold. When i turn my fan off, my engine heats up to normal temperature, but as soon as i turn on the fan, the temp drops very fast down to the bottom of the gauge. Is it possible my fan is too strong or is do you guys think my thermostat is messed up and opening up the whole time? i would assume if my thermostat detects cold temp. then it would close up to heat things up to maintain a balanced engine temp. Or maybe my fan is just has a mind of its own....what do you guys think? Thanks for reading!

Sir · 06-11-2007, 01:30 PM

what turns on/off your fan???

jrmiller84 · 06-11-2007, 01:50 PM

I seriously doubt your fans are strong enough to keep your car from heating up at all. I would replace the thermostat just to see what happens. They're under $20 and take less than 30 minutes to put in. Extremely easy.

Does the fan stay on constantly? It should only come on when your car reaches a certain temp.

Quigs · 06-11-2007, 01:54 PM

^^ Unless he has a DiF fan controller that controls the Flex-a-lite fan and he ran an overide switch. If so, the fans would be controlled by the temperatures set by the controller (I know mine can be set to two different temps) and could also be manually cut on/off by the switch.

I agree though, switch out the thermostat and see what happens. I switched out for a Nismo thermostat when I did my swap and my temp gauges all work perfectly.

jrmiller84 · 06-11-2007, 02:06 PM

Agreed but that should only happen if he keeps the override switch on all the time or if the temp setting on the DiF is set really low as to always be on. I'm not even sure that that's possible with the DiF or whatever he's using. Point is, fan should not be constantly on if it is.

Your car should always get to normal operating temperature and then stay near there. I would recommend buying an aftermarket temp gauge any time you start having odd temperature problems as the stock ones are slightly inaccurate(and like to break as mine did).

rusted180 · 06-11-2007, 03:09 PM

I have no Dif controller and the fans are always on because i actually have this thing hooked up directly to my battery, so it is turned on and off by a switch inside the car. damn...i guess im going to have to buy a new thermo...cuz from what you guys say, the fan shouldnt cool the engine by itself, so it must be the tthermostat! but just to ask.....the fan shouldnt be on at all times? how come? if the fan doesnt cool the engine significantly then how come it would hurt to have it on at all times? i know it's just as bad keeping the engine over cooled as it is overheated, but if the fan doesnt do too much then it would be ok to have it be running at all times right? hmm.....do you guys think it's wiser to have an fan controller? after i take care of the thermo? Thanks guys! i appreciate all your help!!!

MomentumGT · 06-11-2007, 03:35 PM

Had my FAL fans on all the time during street driving and switched it off during freeway driving unless I hit traffic. You're not going to hurt anything having it on the whole time you're driving, tho mine sucked a lot of power from my battery while on which caused my cheap stereo to cut out. lol.

-Jon

jrmiller84 · 06-11-2007, 04:12 PM

You can surely do it that way, but from what I've been told multiple times it is best to let your engine get to optimal operating temp and leaving the fan on the whole time won't do it. At least it's not overheating though.

Just for future reference, you can either get the DiF controller or this one I use from Enjuku. At first I was under the impression the one I got from Enjuku wasn't adjustable (even though it says it is) but I found the potentiometer on the unit the other day. At the factory setting it keeps my car right below 180 degrees Fahrenheit at night and cool days and usually slightly above on abnormally hot days with heavy driving. Just right.

markyboi · 06-11-2007, 06:11 PM

i have a koyo aluminum race rad. and my temp goes down when i get on the freeway when its about 60-65 degrees or below outside.

dont know if thats good or not

Quigs · 06-11-2007, 10:11 PM

[quote=jrmiller84;1412389]You can surely do it that way, but from what I've been told multiple times it is best to let your engine get to optimal operating temp and leaving the fan on the whole time won't do it. At least it's not overheating though.

I've been told the same thing as well. Let the car get to normal operating temp and then let the fans roll. Otherwise, it would take too long to get the engine to optimal temp. I only have the overide switch for extremely hot days when I want the fans on before the set temp is reached.

steve shadows · 06-11-2007, 11:31 PM

get a decent water temp gauge if you cant read actual temp via some sort of software based ecu read out or multichecker etc.

the in-dash gauges are worse that roulette sometimes, sometimes there pretty close to spot on if the scale on the cluster was temp refined, kind of funny.

svensko · 06-11-2007, 11:38 PM

A engine is only "cool" if it's "JDM" :ghey:

06-11-2007, 01:06 PM	#1
rusted180 Leaky Injector Join Date: May 2007 Location: my car Posts: 82 Trader Rating: (2) Feedback Score: 2 reviews	engine too cool? hey guys!! I'm a bit concerned about my sr. First off i have a flexlite fan that works great! ....but a little too great! My engine temp. doesn't seem to be going up at all. It stays at zero when it's idling and even when i am ripping on the freeway. i'm suspecting it's my fan that is causing my engine to be so cold. When i turn my fan off, my engine heats up to normal temperature, but as soon as i turn on the fan, the temp drops very fast down to the bottom of the gauge. Is it possible my fan is too strong or is do you guys think my thermostat is messed up and opening up the whole time? i would assume if my thermostat detects cold temp. then it would close up to heat things up to maintain a balanced engine temp. Or maybe my fan is just has a mind of its own....what do you guys think? Thanks for reading!

06-11-2007, 01:50 PM	#3
jrmiller84 Zilvia FREAK! Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Gainesville, FL Age: 40 Posts: 1,021 Trader Rating: (2) Rides Gallery: jrmiller84 Feedback Score: 2 reviews	I seriously doubt your fans are strong enough to keep your car from heating up at all. I would replace the thermostat just to see what happens. They're under $20 and take less than 30 minutes to put in. Extremely easy. Does the fan stay on constantly? It should only come on when your car reaches a certain temp. __________________ BitDestroyer.com

06-11-2007, 02:06 PM	#5
jrmiller84 Zilvia FREAK! Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Gainesville, FL Age: 40 Posts: 1,021 Trader Rating: (2) Rides Gallery: jrmiller84 Feedback Score: 2 reviews	Agreed but that should only happen if he keeps the override switch on all the time or if the temp setting on the DiF is set really low as to always be on. I'm not even sure that that's possible with the DiF or whatever he's using. Point is, fan should not be constantly on if it is. Your car should always get to normal operating temperature and then stay near there. I would recommend buying an aftermarket temp gauge any time you start having odd temperature problems as the stock ones are slightly inaccurate(and like to break as mine did). __________________ BitDestroyer.com

06-11-2007, 03:35 PM	#7
MomentumGT Zilvia.net Advertiser Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Riverside/Perris CA Age: 46 Posts: 356 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Had my FAL fans on all the time during street driving and switched it off during freeway driving unless I hit traffic. You're not going to hurt anything having it on the whole time you're driving, tho mine sucked a lot of power from my battery while on which caused my cheap stereo to cut out. lol. -Jon __________________ momentumgt.com - "building blocks of speed"

06-11-2007, 04:12 PM	#8
jrmiller84 Zilvia FREAK! Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Gainesville, FL Age: 40 Posts: 1,021 Trader Rating: (2) Rides Gallery: jrmiller84 Feedback Score: 2 reviews	You can surely do it that way, but from what I've been told multiple times it is best to let your engine get to optimal operating temp and leaving the fan on the whole time won't do it. At least it's not overheating though. Just for future reference, you can either get the DiF controller or this one I use from Enjuku. At first I was under the impression the one I got from Enjuku wasn't adjustable (even though it says it is) but I found the potentiometer on the unit the other day. At the factory setting it keeps my car right below 180 degrees Fahrenheit at night and cool days and usually slightly above on abnormally hot days with heavy driving. Just right. __________________ BitDestroyer.com

06-11-2007, 01:54 PM	#4
Quigs Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Richmond, Virginia Age: 37 Posts: 477 Trader Rating: (11) Feedback Score: 11 reviews	^^ Unless he has a DiF fan controller that controls the Flex-a-lite fan and he ran an overide switch. If so, the fans would be controlled by the temperatures set by the controller (I know mine can be set to two different temps) and could also be manually cut on/off by the switch. I agree though, switch out the thermostat and see what happens. I switched out for a Nismo thermostat when I did my swap and my temp gauges all work perfectly.

06-11-2007, 03:09 PM	#6
rusted180 Leaky Injector Join Date: May 2007 Location: my car Posts: 82 Trader Rating: (2) Feedback Score: 2 reviews	I have no Dif controller and the fans are always on because i actually have this thing hooked up directly to my battery, so it is turned on and off by a switch inside the car. damn...i guess im going to have to buy a new thermo...cuz from what you guys say, the fan shouldnt cool the engine by itself, so it must be the tthermostat! but just to ask.....the fan shouldnt be on at all times? how come? if the fan doesnt cool the engine significantly then how come it would hurt to have it on at all times? i know it's just as bad keeping the engine over cooled as it is overheated, but if the fan doesnt do too much then it would be ok to have it be running at all times right? hmm.....do you guys think it's wiser to have an fan controller? after i take care of the thermo? Thanks guys! i appreciate all your help!!!

06-11-2007, 06:11 PM	#9
markyboi Zilvia FREAK! Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: california Posts: 1,105 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	i have a koyo aluminum race rad. and my temp goes down when i get on the freeway when its about 60-65 degrees or below outside. dont know if thats good or not

06-11-2007, 10:11 PM	#10
Quigs Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Richmond, Virginia Age: 37 Posts: 477 Trader Rating: (11) Feedback Score: 11 reviews	[quote=jrmiller84;1412389]You can surely do it that way, but from what I've been told multiple times it is best to let your engine get to optimal operating temp and leaving the fan on the whole time won't do it. At least it's not overheating though. I've been told the same thing as well. Let the car get to normal operating temp and then let the fans roll. Otherwise, it would take too long to get the engine to optimal temp. I only have the overide switch for extremely hot days when I want the fans on before the set temp is reached.

06-11-2007, 11:31 PM	#11
steve shadows Post Whore! Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: LA and OC Posts: 8,202 Trader Rating: (5) Feedback Score: 5 reviews	get a decent water temp gauge if you cant read actual temp via some sort of software based ecu read out or multichecker etc. the in-dash gauges are worse that roulette sometimes, sometimes there pretty close to spot on if the scale on the cluster was temp refined, kind of funny. __________________ Like Me on FaceBook !

06-11-2007, 11:38 PM	#12
svensko Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 444 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	A engine is only "cool" if it's "JDM" :ghey: