Electric Fans

[charlieh]

Sorry to raise again, what is a common subject - When sitting in traffic my engine tends to warm up. I have twin electric fans which cut in OK and I can/do select manually when the temp needle starts going up, but the cooling effect is insufficient and I end up in a sweat worrying that the engine will one day cook itself. I have read several articles on cooling and one important aspect that came up was that fans should be enclosed in a shroud for maximum efficiency. My own twin fans are not and I think this is the reason that my temp climbs (slowly) in summer. In winter, I do not have a problem and the fans work fine. Can anybody share similar experiences ? My feeling is that I need to get a shroud on the fans, or maybe consider replacing with one large fan (shrouded of course). Are there preferences for 1 fan verses 2 etc. My car has a 351-4V engine and the fans are mounted inside ie pulling through the rad. I have no suspicion that the rad is choked etc as when moving, then cooling is perfect. I just think that my fan set up is not pulling air efficiently through the rad. Thanks in advance to everyone for your comments and thoughts. This forum is just the best!!
Charlieh
Cape Town

[NMattison]

Hi charlieh i have an afco racing radiator with spal dual 11" cooling fans. it works fine in heavy stop and go traffic in town i might reach 200 degrees but other than that its a good set up good luck

[trularin]

I have found on the Cleveland engine that proper assembly is directly related to the cooling.

I put the 3/16 hole in the head gasket and brass drains at the plugs. I soaked the block in caustic soda before all machine work. I even replaced the restrictor at the Thermostat. I put 1/8" hole in the thermostat and set it at 185 degrees.

I use a Griffin radiator with a single 16" Bosch fan ( made it myself, needs to be revisited ). There is an automatic start relay and a manual switch to activate the fan.

With all this, sitting, the fan runs for about three minutes and shuts off. It is a three on, three off cycle.

I use 50/50 mix on anti freeze and have pump lube with redline wetter in the cooling system as added fluids.

Just my $0.02

[charlieh]

Thank you guys and I appreciate your input, I am confident the engine itself is OK and it is my fan set up which needs the attention. Interested at this point as to experiences with 1 verses 2 fans. I am not worried about original looks but if people have had noticeable differences in their cooling?
Charlie

[Roscoe]

Charlie,
Many things effect the cooling of an engine. What water pump do you have? Radiator?, etc.

I have a 351w, edelbrock alum pump, afco racing radiator, 180 thermostat and Derale spiral blade 16" fan. I am also running -16AN hoses, top and bottom.

The fan is off most of the time and the car runs at 165. In traffic it creeps up and I hit the fan switch. On a really hot day, in traffice with the fan on, it will creep to 200 but once moving it will go right back to normal.

Roscoe

[Roscoe]

Charlie,
Many things effect the cooling of an engine. What water pump do you have? Radiator?, etc.

I have a 351w, edelbrock alum pump, afco racing radiator, 180 thermostat and Derale spiral blade 16" fan. I am also running -16AN hoses, top and bottom.

The fan is off most of the time and the car runs at 165. In traffic it creeps up and I hit the fan switch. On a really hot day, in traffice with the fan on, it will creep to 200 but once moving it will go right back to normal.

Roscoe

[ItBites]

I run a griffin radiator and a single 16" Spal fan with a custom made aluminum shroud that seals the fan to the radiator. This setup works well. Have not ioverheated it in the Phoenix area yet and I've got 12.5:1 CR in a 427.

Use Spal fans. They are the best out there. Look at the rated CFM for the Spal fans and decide if you can fit two fans big enough to get more CFM together than the largest single you can run. This will help you decide on one vs two. I think mine is 2600 CFM.

It is also CRITICAL to put a good-sealing shroud around the fan(s). If you cannot buy one, make one like I did from .040" 5052H sheet aluminum. My 1/2 full sheet (4' X 4') cost me $12 and then about 3 days later of pattern making, folding and riveting - your ready to go.

[SuperHart]

I am running a 351W with dual quad intake. Up front is a 4 core vertical flow radiator for a 1969 429SCJ Mustang. In addition to the original style dual fans ahead of the radiator (for original appearance only) I run a SPAL 16" 2300 cfm puller fan mounted to the back of the radiator and an original FE expansion tank modified to fit the smallblock thermostat mount and a 180* thermostat. I have done a couple of parades on 90+ degree days and the radiator temp has not exceeded 190*. When the car is in motion, temp is usually 180* without the fans running. Hope this info helps.

Rupert Hartmann

[Turk]

ItBites,
Would you mind posting a few pictures of the shroud and your fan set up?
Thanks

TURK

[childsplay]

Charley,

I have a 1985 mustang that did the same thing. I run a shroud. I have a single fan setting inside the radiator. On mine I have a manual toggle switch. I run mine at all times. If I were you i would run the dual fans at all times. The dual fans are better than a single fan. I would run one myself if I had the money.

[westcott cobra]

Charlie,


I'm running a 351C with a Rover SD1 radiator from brass.

There are 2 Kenlow 13" electric fans suction type installed.
Original FE surge tank is added to increase the total volume of coolant.

Temperature is allways normal even under bad conditions.

Important is not to install a suction fan directly to the radiator mesh.

Together with the fans, Kenlow delivered two metal rings 13" dia and about 40mm high. They act as simple shrouds setting the fans away from the radiator creating some air volume which makes the fans very efficiant.

The rings are covered with edge piping to the mesh side to avoid damages.

If this helps You don't have to build complex shrouds.

Thermostat is a 160.

The best thing is a electronically fully adjustable fan control switch from Revotec which is build arround a aluminium tube. The temperature is adjustable by a potentiometer. The inside of the tube is completely round, nothing to disturb the water flow.

It comes together with the loom, relais and instructions. see www.holden.co.uk and on the e-cataloque go to cooling, fan accessories.

Good luck,

Uwe

[Jack21]

One fan, when correctly installed, should be plenty. I'm using a Scotts 16" which comes with its own shroud. Had to get a mounting bracket for it from Trak Auto, then fabricate mounts for the radiator frame.

180 deg thermostat used year round

[grego37]

There are many factors that involve cooling.
Air/ fuel mixture
Radiator
old thermostat
old radiator cap
Fan problems
head gasket problems
block bored too far
etc...

If you've checked all the basics, go to the highest rated radiator cap your system will allow. You can actually raise the boiling point of your water by doing so.

if you live in an area where freezing isn't a concern, plain water is the best for cooling. You will need to add a rust and corrosion preventive (redline water wetter, prestone, there are others too)

I would highly reccomend going to stewartcomponents.com
Guru's in the cooling field.
They offer:
blueprinted water pumps
blueprinted thermostats
high pressure radiator caps
etc...

and tons of proven knowledge regarding your vehicles cooling system. They even have a question/ answer board.
good luck

[wdigital]

I have a 1965 Griffith which has a Ford 302. With the small openning in the front of the car i have had major over heating in traffic on hot days. I added an additional fan in the inside of the radiator. So now I have a pusher and a puller fan. It helped greatly. I am now installing an electric water pump.
Good luck with your overheating problems.
Carl

[charlieh]

Many thanks Guys,
I have been working away this past month, but back on the case again and seeing what after market fans are available in South Africa. I am certain that an efficient shrouded fan/fans are what I need, as when the airflow increases with speed, then the engine runs perfectly cool and I have no problem. I will update again once I have obtained and fitted replacement units. Sadly we lack the choice of after market parts so hunting around is more time consuming - but is part of the fun! Thanks to all for their comment and advice so far. I hope that many owners will find this topic and content useful.

[mrsnook1]

Im running a 472 HP Super Charged 302 with a 2row copper Mustang radiator,Im useing a 1995 Ford Taraus 3.8 fan,its a two speed fan but I run it on the low speed and it keeps the engine at 180 no trouble in traffic in the Florida summers,this unit will fit very nice in most cars with alittle work,it moves a very large amount of
CFM and you can buy them in after market or from Ford.
Hope this helps you and others.
Paul

[Burnd]

Charlieh:

I'm running the same setup as you in a 351C 4V with twin Flex-A-Lite fans and it runs all summer with no issues at 180. Originally I had a single fan and it couldn't hack the heat. I put in duals, shrouded and pushing not pulling. On a single fan I was running hotter than I wanted at 205/210 in hot weather; but added a second fan pushing (and shrouded) and i dropped to 175/180 and cooler. I put an adjustable thermostat in for the second fan to kick in at 180 which it does right on cue. I also have an override switch for sitting in traffice that i have never had to use (yet). My therm0stat is a 180 with a bypass valve in it to protect against thermostat failure. I have an expansion tank too, which gives me added coolant, but I am not sure that is an issue. You can buy the fans and I think the shroud from Jeg's or Summit and I can look up the numbers for you if feel you need them. Email me for further info if needed.

Regards,

Bernie