eletric fan help

[hernandez]

i have 88 mustang gt and it overheats, i have a electric fan that i bought at Auto Zone, and i don't think it is doing its job. i put a new 180 thermostat in about a week ago and still the same stuff, overheating.

 

[HISSIN50]

How do you know it is overheating? Or is it running hotter than you would like? And is this per the stock gauge?

When does it act up? At speed or in town/stationary?

Good luck.

 

[srothfuss]

How (when) does it overheat?

1. @ Idle only
2. @ Speed - Highway or stop and go
3. Both of the above

Does your fan have a shroud that covers the entire radiator? In order for the cooling system / fan to be effective it has to pull air across the entire radiator surface. A much larger CFM fan is probably the answer [ebay search MarkVIII fan for a better unit]

Did you use just a switch to flip it on and off? Or are you using one of these: www.dccontrol.com The DC controller is the best unit on the market that I have found in my recent research.

Edit: I was beaten to the questions.... slow typing will be my excuse

 

[95cobraguy]

convert to a 94-95 electric fan.

 

[hernandez]

all of the above, both idling and running, do you think that it is the electric fan or something else.

 

[srothfuss]

If it's overheating at idle, It might be the fan. Tell us a little about the car before we can really say though

Are you using underdriven pullies?
How is the waterpump?
What Thermostat are you using?
State of the coolant in the system?

 

[HISSIN50]

If it runs hot at speed, then more than the fan is likely causing it.

Like Steve said, give a run down on all the components and their age (if you can).

Good luck.

 

[CarFreakGT]

convert to a 94-95 electric fan.

Or try to find a Taurus electric fan, if you think that the one you purchased isn't doing the trick. I got one on e-bay. I don't remember exactly how much I paid, but it was around $30. I haven't had a chance to install mine yet because of the holidays, but I did a search and got a lot of good info here on stangnet.

Someone already mentioned that the DC controller is the way to go. That seems to be the consensus of most everyone on here. That's what I'm going to use. Good luck!

 

[hernandez]

ok here is the run down 10,000 miles on rebuilt motor, ported and polished heads and intake, E-303, underdrive pullies, cold air intake, 1.7 RR, new valve springs, new pushrods and lifters, longtube headers, custome x pipe, slp mufflers dumped, t56 conversion, upper and lower control arms, 3.73, traction bars, chrome 17x9 cobra r rims, 140 alternater, Eletric fan, 160 speedo gauge, HD 3 core radiator, and a 180 thermostat

 

[hernandez]

today i am going to the local junkyard to see what i can find, i heard that the 1999-2006 volvo v70, xc70, s80, s60 electric fan is a inch short of a direct fit, but i will see what i at the junk yard. if nothing then Ebay

 

[srothfuss]

Alright... now we are talking. From the list of all your stuff, I would assume that your car is indeed in a pretty good state of tune. I am still curious to know if the Autozone fan shroud covers most of the radiator surface or not and what CFM it pulls. But forget about that for the moment...

The other thing that caught my eye was the U/D pullies. Since they turn your accessories slower this might be effecting your water pumps ability to get cold coolant into the motor and hot coolant into the radiator.

Are you using a manual switch to operate the fan or is it wired up to a controller that operates the fan based on the temperature of the radiator? If the fan is manually controlled by you, a automatic controller might be part of the cure (www.dccontrol.com) along with a larger CFM fan

 

[hernandez]

i took off the underdrive pullies and it stil gets hot. the fan shroud doesn't cover up enough of the radiator, and it is wired up so that it turns on at 170 and off at 160

 

[hernandez]

it is wired so it turns on at 170 degrees in the radiator, and it is 2500cfm i think

 

[sgarlic]

Is this all based on the readings of the stock gauge, or an aftermarket gauge?

 

[Modular2v]

i wouldnt trust the stock guage.....go buy an aftermarket one

 

[srothfuss]

It has to be the fan that is causing your problems then.... There are plenty of good choices out there to correct your issues.

 

[HISSIN50]

it is wired so it turns on at 170 degrees in the radiator, and it is 2500cfm i think

So um, with your 180* stat, your fan should be running almost constantly once up to temp. Is it doing that?

One generally wants the fan to come on ~12-15* hotter than the stat rating and off at 5-8* hotter than the stat rating. E.g., with a 180 stat, the fan comes on at 195 and goes off at 187 (that general idea).

 

[hernandez]

all of the readings is from the stock gauge, but i went to the junk yard and found a decent efan from a 92 ford tempo, i did the install and man it really helped out alot, it doesn't overheat but still gets a little hot, i will adjust the settings to about 195 to turn on the fan and 185 to turn it off, does that sound good

 

[HISSIN50]

How do you know what temps you are setting the fan to go on and off at, if you dont have an aftermarket gauge?

The fan still might not turn off in the summer, depending upon the brand of t-stat used. Some dont open near their rated temp. I should have previously stated that in my example, a pre-requisite would be using a balanced t-stat.

But that general idea sounds real good to me (if you notice the fan not going off, bump up the off-temp on your controller.

You will have to wait for summer to see how that fan does for you (arent Tempo's 4 cylinder motors?).

Good luck.

 

[hernandez]

yeah the ford tempo is a 4 banger but the fan is doing its job. and it fits pretty good on the radiator, just needs to be like a inch and a half wider to cover the whole radiator core, but thanx for the helping info and i will have to wait till summer to see how she runs