M117 Fan clutch

The other day I was driving my 560SEL on a fairly hot (30C) day in heavy traffic. The engine temperature got quite warm when sitting in traffic. It was well over 100C in traffic, which would eventually cool down when I got moving. The car didn’t overheat, but I did hear coolant boiling in the radiator hose after I finished the drive.

While the temperature itself is well within spec, given the day wasn’t really that hot compared to days in the mid 40s we get here in Sydney, I wanted to do something about it. Additionally, the air conditioning […]

Citroen DS electric cooling fan

The Citroen DS cooling system is somewhat unique in that it relies almost exclusively on pulling air through ducting to cool the radiator. Most cars have a grille where the faster the car moves, the more air is pushed over the radiator. On modern cars this is the grille below the bumper. It is only at idle they only rely on pulling air through the radiator. The Citroen DS has a large plastic fan attached to the camshaft pulley. That fan sits behind the radiator and then pulls air through based on engine speed. The DS21ie and all DS 23 […]

Troubleshooting the E-Type radiator fan

Last September, the electric fan on the E-Type stopped working. This is a particular problem in the E-Type as there is no mechanical fan. At the time I assumed the coolant temperature sensor had failed. It would seem that many people have trouble with these sensors. I knew the coolcat fan was fine, as it roared into life when I applied 12v directly to the fan.

When I had bypassed the switch, I broke one of the connectors off the Lucas relay that controls the fan. Therefore, I ordered an upgraded temperature sensor from Coolcat. I also ordered a new […]

E-Type radiator fan failure

Unlike most cars of its era, the E-Type uses an electric fan rather than one driven by the engine. This was probably due to room in the engine bay, as other Jaguar models of the era used engine driven fans. True to form, Jaguar used a very cheap fan (actually a windscreen wiper motor) with two blades like a propeller. This fan was barely adequate in the UK in the 1960s and is completely unsuitable for the Australian climate. When I purchased my car, it had been upgraded to an aftermarket fan, but not a great one. I replaced it […]