My car, being a carburetor DS21 does not have this improved radiator / electric fan combination.    The Citroen DS cooling system worked quite well when the cars were new.  However, a combination of the hot Australian climate and an almost 50 year old car that spent quite a lot of time in South Australia means that my cooling system struggles in stop and go traffic.   For international readers, South Australia has very hard water resulting in mineral deposits if distilled water is not used.

While I was having some other work done, I had a Davies, Craig fan fitted behind the radiator.  This is to augment, not replace the mechanical fan.   The setup is basically the same as the Citroen DS electric cooling fan.   Over the years people have tried to replace the mechanical fan entirely. This is a recipe for disaster as the electric fans cannot pull enough air at high speed with no ram effect.     The Davies, Craig fan is equipped with a controller that allows adjustment of the cut in point.

I also wanted to know when the fan is running.   The Citroen DS instrument cluster has an extra warning light that is not used in my car.   This is for parking lights.   The spot for this warning light was taped up.   I have a spare instrument cluster for parts, so I was able to grab another bulb housing to enable this extra light.

Looking at the parts instrument cluster the tape used to disable the warning lights not in use from the factor can be seen.   This is at the 12 and 6 O’Clock positions.   From there, it is relatively easy to run another wire to the back of the instrument cluster for the warning light.   The speedometer cable is already running right past this area.    The connections on the back of the cluster are well documented.

I would have preferred a green or orange warning light, but the red one is fine.    It works quite well.   I took the car for a drive in the 30 degree heat and the light was on for quite a lot of the time, but it did cycle on and off as the fan kicks in/out.   The fan is wired to be ‘always on’.   This means that after the car is turned off, the fan will continue to run if the engine is hot enough to warrant it.  I did this because heat soak can be an issue in these cars.   On my test drive, it ran for about 10 minutes after I switched off the car.   The risk is draining the battery, but on a hot day this is a useful feature for a short stop.

I don’t want my cars to be garage queens.  This modification, while not factory should make the car more usable in Summer.

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The car also had a vibration from the camshaft pulley.  This was a good opportunity to replace it with a rebuilt one I had purchased.  The one on the car had been welded up and it vibrated.   Due to its configuration, the DS uses a camshaft pulley for accessory drive.   Most cars use a crankshaft pulley.

The aerodynamic shape of the DS precludes a normal radiator grill.   Instead of air being forced through the radiator once the car is up to speed, the DS engine fan sucks the air up a chute through the radiator.   At idle, the fan is not running very fast, so in traffic the air flow over the radiator can be sub optimal.    This is why the fuel injected models and the DS23 have an auxiliary electric fan.   The electric fan cannot replace the engine fan in the DS, as it will not pull enough air at high RPM.   It can supplement it in heavy traffic, especially in a hot climate like Australia.

I purchased a slimline Davies Craig 10″ fan.  The airflow rating is just under 700CFM and draws 7 amps. It was mounted behind the radiator.    This is where the factory mounted the electric fan and doesn’t stop air hitting the front of the radiator.  We also added a fan controller so I can adjust the cut in temperature.   This can be seen to the left of the radiator in the picture above.   Also visible in the picture without the radiator ducting is the ducting for the front inboard brakes.

There are a number of finisher panels under the front wings around the wheels.   These had surface rust, so were powder coated along with the air cleaner assembly.   They look much better, especially with the new paint job.

After all these repairs the front of the car is back together and the wings on.   I have some of the original stickers to mount on the new powder coated air cleaner once I give it a clean.

Before Jason came to work on the car I had given the radiator a good flush.   Being originally from South Australia, the cooling system on this car was quite dirty when I got it.   This time, a few years later I was able to remove some more deposits but it was much better than before.

The car is not yet finished.   I was unable to adjust the windows properly.   Turns out the mechanisms have been modified in the past with non DS parts.    This will be fixed along with wiring up the new fan.  The new powder coated pieces look great compared to how it was before.

I’m looking forward to driving the car again. It has been off the road for a while but is going to be much better with these repairs.

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