After getting a mail-order tune, I noticed that my fan would kick on and off quite a bit. I wasn't thrilled about this (due to the stress on the motor every time it spins up), and I decided to play with the settings a bit and see what happens.
First, I went old-school, and found that if I set the fan to come on at 180 (same as the thermostat temp), the fan would run all the time once the car was warmed up. This would keep the car operating between 180 and 185 degrees pretty much regardless of outside temp or traffic conditions.
Next, I tried setting the fan to kick on at 198, and found that the coolant circulating in the engine would fluctuate between 194 and 200, and the fan would come on intermittently depending out outside temp and traffic conditions.
Lastly, I ran the fan at the original turn-on temp of 186 as came with my custom tune, and found that the fan would kick on and off all the time, and the temp still fluctuated between 184 and 196.
So here are my conclusions:
1. The cooler the engine temps, the better.
2. Fan motor longevity should be better with the fan running all the time rather than cycling on/off.
As such, I'm thinking of running 180 turn-on in the summer (when the fan is going to be kicking on and off a lot), and 198 in the cooler months when the fan should remain off most of the time.
What do you guys think? Am I missing something?
First, I went old-school, and found that if I set the fan to come on at 180 (same as the thermostat temp), the fan would run all the time once the car was warmed up. This would keep the car operating between 180 and 185 degrees pretty much regardless of outside temp or traffic conditions.
Next, I tried setting the fan to kick on at 198, and found that the coolant circulating in the engine would fluctuate between 194 and 200, and the fan would come on intermittently depending out outside temp and traffic conditions.
Lastly, I ran the fan at the original turn-on temp of 186 as came with my custom tune, and found that the fan would kick on and off all the time, and the temp still fluctuated between 184 and 196.
So here are my conclusions:
1. The cooler the engine temps, the better.
2. Fan motor longevity should be better with the fan running all the time rather than cycling on/off.
As such, I'm thinking of running 180 turn-on in the summer (when the fan is going to be kicking on and off a lot), and 198 in the cooler months when the fan should remain off most of the time.
What do you guys think? Am I missing something?
