Ransomes T51D Cooling Fan

[soulman]

Does anyone know why the cooling fan in the Ransomes T51D is mounted so that is blowing air into the Radiator. I thought cooling fans draw the cooler air from the radiator onto the engine?

see attached pictures of the Ransomes T51D engine compartment. If you were standing at the rear of the radiator in the picture, the cooling fan rotates in a clock-wise direction.

I also attached a picture of the same engine as what is in the Ransomes T51D (Kubota v2203) that i found on the web with a fan mounted and in that picture, the cooling fan blades are in the direction i would expect.

 

[Wisconsonian]

Usually they do that to try to get cleaner air through the radiator, like on a bulldozer. I'm not sure that's effective here if any air is coming up from under the engine with grass clippings. Or maybe the mower deck shoots all the air out the side and it does stay cleaner that way?

 

[Dave W]

If it pulled air from the outside it would block up with grass clippings straight away

 

[Rust]

It was a ransomes thing at one point.
The ransomes commander 3500 was the same, not a great success . The grass just blocked the grills on the engine bonnet.

 

[soulman]

yes that is exactly what happens, the cavity between the oil cooler and the radiator gets stuffed if the grass is anyway dry. Also the engine tends to run slightly hot unless it is allowed rest periods to cool down. The temp creeps up and up and once it get to about 100 ℃, i allow the engine to cool down. I'll also check the thermostat just in case its not fully opening. There is no way I could mow for the full day for example even where the ambient air temperature is like only 15 ℃. I might experiment with a different fan blade to see if it makes any difference.

 

[Rust]

Radiator and oil cooler have to come off and clean properly.
Then seal every tiny spoilt on bonnets.
Don't forget to check under engine, that also has to be sealed

 

[soulman]

just an update, i fitted a 7 blade Kubota "sucker" fan to pull the air from the radiator out over the engine. I blew out the radiator and the oil cooler using an air compressor. i also ordered a 50cm x 50cm perforated magnetic metal screen with 1mm holes from Radionics. I mounted this on the exterior in front of the radiator to prevent external debris getting into the radiator. I tested it out today to great success. The engine now heats up to approx 65 deg C (150F) and stays there. It would previously keep creeping up to 95 deg C (200F) and which time i would have to allow it to cool down. So the engine is running 30 deg C cooler now and is consistent. I do give the screen a brush every so often to knock off the debris. I attached some pictures.