M109 Self propelled gun info needed

[Malcolm Towrie]

Ah, I see.
Looking at the photo in your post #11, that pack looks quite long from front to back. The t54 engine and tranny are quite narrow and really jammed tight together. Have you checked there is enough space between the firewall and the fan compartment?

And how would you drive the fan?


Malcolm

[David Herbert]

Good question about fan drive. A tracked armoured vehicle generally requires 10% of its engine power to drive the fans at max power. A Leo 2 disengages its fans if you kick down the transmission and releases another 200 HP !

This much power is needed because there is absolutely no natural ventilation in a tank engine bay and no gaps between units so heat just builds up if not removed unlike in a car where it is blown away by the movement of the vehicle and only needs to be extracted from the inside of the engine.

David

[jdmcm]

This is a screenshot from Nimda in Israel, they developed this pack for the T-54/55 series...looks like the stock fan and oil tank are eliminated and the new rad stretches right to the rear of the fan compartment, hydraulic fans I'm guessing on the other side of the radiator, there is a hydraulic drive on the 8V71 you could use to turn them...also note the shifter control etc.

Screenshot_2018-09-03 NIMDA - Power in motion - T-55.jpg