This spring, I installed the pcmforless efan. Now that I've ran it all summer, I have some observations, good and bad.

The good:
- It rapidly cools the engine when engaged if the temperatures are below 90 degrees
- In conjuction with a tuned PCM/TCM, Air Doc intake, K&N filter and Magnaflow Dual Catback, I'm getting gas mileage that rivals a stock truck. That's great when you consider that I carry a lot of gear, heavy brush guard, roof rack, winch, etc. running on 35" Mudders.

The bad:
- It's noisy! When you're driving at speeds above 20mph, you really can't hear it above the regular wind noise. When you going slow, wheeling, or stopped at a red light, it sounds like a leaf blower.
- The engine runs hotter than it should. At temps above 90 degrees, it runs hotter than with the stock fan. At 100 degrees, you can't run the AC without the vehicle getting dangerously hot. Part of this problem may be my Warn PowerPlant. On CBphoto's High Winch Mount, it rides so high that it blocks a lot of the grill and is undoubtedly reducing air flow into the engine.

So.... I had this crazy idea that you folks need to talk me out of...

Here is a picture of my RealWheels steel hood louver/overlay from the side and rear:


You'll notice that, unlike the stock louver, it is ridged and spaced, exposing some of the hood beneath it. The hood below is not normally noticable because from the front, side and top, it looks like one solid piece. Only the flash clears away the shadow enough to notice it here.

So, my curious mind reflected on the HMMWVs that I've been around and how their hood louver functions with the thick screen that allows the vehicle to breathe even under extreme conditions. Why could this same setup not be done with my louver on my H3? It would require cutting through the hood and placing in one or more screens which would then be covered by the hood louver. That would allow more airflow to the engine, but water access as well from rain/snow/ice. The screens would be protected from large debris by the louver since the spaces are small between the louver's fins. Thoughts???

 

Letting the cool air in and pushing the hot air out is a good thing.... however, it seems opening real louvers in the faux louver will expel hot air from the engine bay, but not help internal cooling of the engine... the air needs to be pulled by the fan through the radiator to do that.

I'm not an engineer... just offering an uneducated guess.

 

I would have both. I'm curious as to whether this has been done by anyone on here and what their observations were.

 

I live here in Texas and all summer I've contemplated doing that due to the 100+ temps for over 90 days this summer. I would get some rabbit screen (1/4" mesh holes) or at the least some heavy duty window/door screen material with larger than normal mesh to keep the leaves and junk out of the engine. Water might be a problem, but maybe a rubber flap on the underside can be used to deflect some of that rain water? Here in Texas we don't get much rain or snow so I'm not worrying about it as much. I think the holes will help on the highway pulling air through the radiator and at a stop by letting engine bay heat out instead of being trapped under the hood. The louvers look to be close enough to the point of highest negative pressure to get the job done. I may do that this winter, but shouldn't see a positive effect until next summer and the temps getting back up around 100 again. A manual shutter might be a good thing for the winter.

 

Why not pull the stock fog lights and put a couple ram air tubes in to feed air in?

Or, how about a mechanical louver with built in damper? Then you could open and close it on demand.

 

That's an interesting idea. Maybe a sliding piece to close the vents during heavy rain....

 

A mechanical damper to a actuator that is wired to a relay and/or switch. Normally open so the damper is closed when not in use. As soon as you key on the relay closes and opens the damper slowly. You could add a switch to it to "override" and open the relay in the event of heavy rain/snow/mud so the damper closes? Also, you could drill a hole and add a hose to it to drain any standing water when closed.

Just an idea...

 

I don't think the idea of the damper was to completely waterproof the engine bay. I think that he meant to keep water from coming in unrestrained and to block most of the water. The engine compartment is far from being a sealed area, look under the hood after driving in the rain if you don't believe.

 

That's a good idea, and sounds totally do-able. I was thinking of a mechanical shutter on a cable or a blanking plate/cover for the conditions we have here- little snow or rain- so I wouldn't be opening or closing it that much. In fact it would probably stay open around here from May to October. I don't think that there should be a need for fans on the openings, just opening up the top of the engine compartment for heat to rise would probably be a great help.

 

Thank you, atleast someone has common sense.

Hey Dr. Tom....go back to the nursing home you waste of space.