THIS is why you should ALWAYS run a proper fan and shroud people!

That's lots of good info. Again, I've got a 14" diameter fan to mount directly to a 16X18" core that's 2 1/4" thick. I've got 2 1/2" between the core and water pump pully bolts, that leaves, let's see now, 1/4" to make a shroud to cover the entire core? Counting slight movement of the engine rocking on the insulators, I don't think I'm clever enough to make that. Unless I can find a fan that's less than an inch in depth, including the mounts, there's no way to make a shroud that'll work.

My application should be OK. From the "engineering" shown on the fans mounted on the busted radiator, I think the entire car is probably suspect.

Most modern cars use electric fans only. My '48 Pontiac does, with it's LS1 and the stock radiator, never overheats. I'm taking offense at the statement that ANY electric fan use is an indicator of poor practice. That's bullshit.

 

Dang! that sucks. I have to agree with the above statements about electric fans. That is usually the first mod I make to my vehicles.

 

That's a product of switch & thermostat settings, my LT1s did the same. When modifying a late model I drop the setpoints so the fans just run.

Apparently, folklore believes this'll burn your fans out, but I've never had a failure. In fact, from what I know of electric motors, startup is the worst on em.........and by running the fans constant, underhood temps stay a lot lower, which helps everything from component life to durability of the hood's paint.

There's been a question or two about increased pressure from 6 to 12+......the root of it is increasing the boiling point of your coolant. Nothing more. Your cooling system won't be able to remove more heat with higher pressure, it'll just be able to go higher temp without boiling over. It's more like adding safety margin than actual system performance

 

Good to see you apparently know more about electric fans and their detrimental effect on engines than the world's leading automotive manufacturers and their engineers. It would be interesting to know how many problem free billions of miles these vehicles with their poorly engineered cooling systems have covered. Thanks for enlightening us.

 

can you make a 2" thick shroud and recess the fan/motor?

(think of a reversed step mount where the motor and fan would sit recessed inside the shroud rather than directly against the face of it)
[-________-] rather than [__________]

got a picture of the fan/motor you ordered anywhere?

there's nothing wrong with an electric fan assembly if it's done "properly"... but personally and if possible i prefer direct drive.

 

Albq I've run stock efans in OT 98 and 00 4th gen f-bodies, and they were fine. I have yet to read about any stock fans failing. I made 754rwhp with one combo and 551rwhp with the other no problems ever.

 

Bummer. It does appear to be smiling...

Hammerit-

 

The cobbled electric fans may have been a factor but I would have to say that a cap with way too much pressure or a stuck cap was the culprit

I would still run a well engineered electric fan setup before running another flex fan. I've lost blades off a couple and pulled who knows how many due to blades cracking. Aluminum, fiberglass or stainless doesn't seem to matter as sooner or later they will fail.
I've got two mid 80's sidewinder Cad Devilles that have fans that will almost pull you through the grill when they kick on and neither takes up a lot of room. I'd probably adapt one of those complete with shroud before going to an aftermarket unit.

 

They are probably recirculating hot air around the radiator under the hood, my 56 Buick had overheat problems durring long idle in traffic till I sealed between the hood and core support to stop air recirculation.

 

100# PSI Radiator cap ??? >>>>.

 

If there's "no room" for one, then you're in the wrong hobby.

R-[/quote]


Really ?

Put a 468 in an S-10 and tell me there is room.
Hell I can't change a fan belt with out pulling the radiator.
I know , I know, why would one take the time do that in a shop truck ?
Simple
When I hit the long pedal it's nothing but fucking gone.

 

Whether the fan is powered by electric or belt has nothing to do with efficiency, it's the amount of air drawn through the radiator. If the temp runs above the thermostat something needs attention. No driver with a lick of sense would knowingly allow the motor to get hot enough to blow the radiator. No driver with a lick of respect for mechanical things would drive without the temp gauge working.

 

Harrison; 3122692

~Jason

 

You statement above is somewhat of a fallacy. A lower temp thermostat WILL lower your engine's temperature IF your cooling system is not operating at it's peak heat dissipation capability. In other words, if your cooling system is only dissipating 75% of the heat it is capable of, you can use that extra 25% capacity to make your engine run cooler by using a lower temp thermostat. Not always a good idea, though.

 

the fan cycling is not going to hurt anything, it's going to keep the coolant at aboutthe right temp. if you have a properly designed system and it's still overheating, you can also add an oil cooler with a proper thermostat,this will remove a lot of excess heat through the oil.

 

Not to be a smartass......but do you realize new vehicles use a thermostat/electronic controlled fan clutch on their mechanical fans? Take a look at a superduty.

That radiator with the blown tank has nothing to do with what type of fan it has.

 

I bet there was some sort of preexisting radiator related failure even though the fan situation is rather unique!

 

ooooo thats no bueno

 

I've seen that before,Quite a few times. Normally it's on older cars ( 30+) and trucks with old copper tanks with old solder AND leaky headgaskets .
A revving engine underload with all that old solder,the headgasket blows,pressurises the radiator and BOOM. Hoses etc are stronger and stretch but will need replacing. Heater hoses and core will also be stressed . Water pump seal will have taken a bashing so change that.

On the issue of electric fans,the usual no nothing nonsense getting blown about .
I don't run an engine fan and I have an electric water pump. The engine runs until temp is reached and the pump starts. It runs at 175 all day and in traffic the air con auxilliary fan cut's in at 180. Normally it runs at 175 and even in traffic ( I live in the city) on hot days it rarely needs the fan to cut in. I uprated my radiator from a 3 tube to a four tube giving an extra 4 liters of water. The main advantage is quick warm up,leading to less engine wear and better gas milage.A small temp controlled switch allows the pump and fan to run for about 30 seconds after shut down to get rid of heat soak ,saving hood paint and preventing fuel vapour lock. I have mechanical fuel injection which is a bugger to start in hot weather if the fuel vaporises but this set up eliminates that.
Disadvantages? . None,except once last year when a pup failed about 2000 kms from home. A phone call to the manufacturer got me a new pump as they had never had a pump fail before,and it was delivered to me on the side of the road!
The big fallacy mentioned earlier was water passing through a radiator too quickly. Thats nonsense. If it passes through the radiator it is exposed to airflow. Insufficient airflow means no exposure ,no exposure means excess heat.

 

wow, I never realized fan shrouds could fix a faulty cooling system! AMAZING!

 

Old radiators can just get weak.
I have had one open up just idling on the drive,
big bang, lots of steam.
Nothing was to blame other than age.

I like to use a new rad when I can,
Often fit 25psi cap,
Never had a new rad pop.
even when undersized and run at higher temps (over 200F)
the greater the temp diffrence between the air going through the rad and the water the more Kw's of heat is transfered, so the cooler you try and make the thing run the worse the cooling efficency becomes.
I would always go for an electric fan, but not expect it to spend much time actually running unless static in traffic ( set point typically 220F ).
As long as the thing does not exceed the boiling point set by the cap pressure ( 260F ) it's difficult to see the downsides of running hotter and gaining better miles per gallon plus being able to run a smaller rad.

 

By the looks of the rust on the cores that maybe some anti freeze and rust inhibitor should have been used. I wonder how plugged the radiator was with rust?

As far as the use of electric fans, on my application if I used a mechnical fan the only things that would get any air flow is the drag link and sway bar.