2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Move the refrigeration condenser???

[Whitmore]

OK here's the deal, I have a temp senser in my airhorn just before entering the all mighty Cummins, this past weekend as I was haulin butt on the interstate pulling my 5er and with some pretty good grades working the truck hard as I could I was able to hit an air temp at the horn of 126-128* and then I turned the a/c on and pussed that temp up to 148* :{ can you spell EGT's and let off the throttle? And when the fan would kick in the temp would go down to 126-128* again, and if I closed my ram air induction at this point the temp would climb to 134*



So my question is this ... ... can a guy move the A/C condenser like under the ded with good shielding and a flex-lite fan over it to push air thru it and have the fan come on when the A/C is on, I do know that this would help the EGT's out a bunch



Cheers, Kevin

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Thinking outside the box.....

Are the increased EGT's due to heating the intercooler?



OR



Are the increased EGT's due to the greater load on the engine?



I've seen hot rods do some weird stuff with condensors/transmission coolers..... so long as it has adequate airflow across it via electric fans or voodoo magic... . everything should be happy.



If/when you move it... . Where do you plan on putting it?



Matt

 

[illflem]

I'm sure the increased temps are from hot condenser air passing over the intercooler and have thought the same thing - wouldn't the condenser be better in back of the intercooler. Probably too hot and make for poor A/C. My egts are in check even when the intake temp hits 140, guess I'm not going to worry about it for now.

 

[Whitmore]

I dont know what I am going to do but was curious to know if anyone had moved the condenser elswhere and used a 12volt fan behind it.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

NOT comparing apples to apples....

On my VW TDI... . the EGT's go up almost 200°F with the A/C on going down the highway. Power is way down too.



Bear in mind that this is a 1. 9L diesel..... not a 5. 9L beast.

In the truck... . I never even notice anything with the A/C on. Every once in a while when I slow to a stop... . I might be able to make out the sound of the clutch kicking in/out.



I may have a problem with my compressor on the VW..... other TDI owners haven't complained of any power loss with the A/C on..... Oh well.



Matt

 

[Roger rodbolt]

Originally posted by Whitmore

I dont know what I am going to do but was curious to know if anyone had moved the condenser elswhere and used a 12volt fan behind it.

Whitmore,

It takes a large volume of air to reduce the a/c head pressure with a electric fan and R134 freon. When I installed my first Horton Fan (which uses a pressure switch to engage the fan at a preset a/c head pressure), I disliked the Horton fan cycling on and off at idle and low speeds (around town). Trying to defeat this I installed the largest electric pusher fan that would fit between the condensor and the grille and wired it to run anytime the compressor ran... ... made very little difference. I would have installed a second fan but doubt that the combo would kept the a/c pressures down. Talked to the two major electric fan companies before I did this and they predicted the same outcome before I tried it... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...



I also have a digital inlet temp sensor as you do and found that induction temps go up in hot weather, with the a/c and low air flow (idle). I resolved to run the Horton fan with the manual override switch at low speeds and reduces temps a bunch, much, much more them my ram air system as opposed to underhood inlet air.



My take is that the a/c does't affect inlet temps enough to worry about at cruise, the same with using cowl or air dam air makes little difference above 45mph but if we had a substantially larger intercooler we would could increase WOT horsepower and slightly reduce egts. Larry

 

[sag2]

I was having trouble keeping the trans cool on my motor home. I got a five row Hayden cooler, and went to pick and pull for an Acura v-6 cooling fan that fit it perfectly. I made a mount and put the whole thing just behind and to the side of the transmission. I wired the fan to a switch so I could turn it on when the temp started to climb.

After all that, it ended up running hotter with the fan. It seems that the air passing through the radiator, and past the engine and exhaust was hotter than the oil I was trying to cool. My only option at that point was to move it outside the frame rails where there would be less heat. I voted against that as I would have to shield it from any rocks thrown by the wheels. I was able to squeeze a second factory cooler in front of the A/C condenser. This seems to have been the best solution so far. Still gets to 240 or so in the summer pulling the boat on long hills, but I change the fluid every year (5000 mi) anyway.

So the long answer is you would most likely run into A/C performance problems, and the condenser is much larger than my cooler to find a place for mounting. And then there is the expense of the custom lines.