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Old 06-27-2008, 03:27 PM   #8 (permalink)
Gregte
EcoModding Apprentice
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 117

GMC Sonoma - '94 GMC Sonoma
90 day: 36.97 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ttoyoda View Post
...On the schoolbus (ha I used to drive one when I was in high school) does the fan have a clutch like an AC compressor does? Where it is locked up hard OR completely free?
The bus I drive (Navistar T444E) has a viscous fluid clutch just like my GMC Sonoma had. It is always spinning but faster when engaged.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ttoyoda View Post
The other way you could test the fan HP is to mount that old fan on an electric motor that you have set up as a dyno (you let the motor pivot on an arm, and measure the force the arm pushes with using a scale. This force * the length of th arm is torque. Then multiply by rpm to get hp) Then run the motor at diffrent speeds and you will get the curve of fan power VS rpm.
Now this sounds like a good idea! I may even consider doing it if I don't run into too much trouble mounting the fan onto an electric motor.

The fan on my GMC just looks terribly inefficient at moving air. My attached picture doesn't make it look quite so bad as it does in person.
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Last edited by Gregte; 06-27-2008 at 04:09 PM..
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