Mechanical Fan Options

[tx65coupe]

My Mustang has a warmed over 302 and AC and currently everything works fine, except for when its 100 or so degrees outside. Then it starts to run a bit too warm when sitting at stop lights. Its about 205 degrees. Thats with the AC off. When the AC is on, it doesn't really seem to make a significant difference, maybe 210. The rest of the time even if its 90 or so outside, it runs at about 190 give or take.

I have a not so normal application and can not seem to find anything that will fit in the space I have to work with.

My 65 has a Fluidyne direct fit 5.0 swap radiator that is about 1 inch thicker than the stock radiator. I also have the thicker composite shroud. I'm currently running a reverse rotation 16 inch Flex A Lite flex fan. I'm not real big on this setup although it does seem to work pretty well. I would like to find a better fan setup.

I am looking for a reverse rotation clutch fan that will fit in the tight space between my water pump and radiator which is about 3 inches. Is this possible?

I have looked at electric fans and can not find any that move enough air that will fit. So, I'm looking at other options.

I guess if a clutch fan wont work, I may have to go back to a fixed blade fan like this, although I don't want to do that.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DER-17417/

I was wanting to use one of these fans. I was leaning towards the Derale because its all steel. The Flex A Lite has aluminum blades.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DER-17917/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FLX-5917/

I need a shorter than stock fan clutch. Does anyone know of a place that you can order shorter ones? Summit and Jegs don't list many options.

 

[65fastbackresto]

I don`t know if this will help you or not.

But I was having heating issues too, I went with a 6 blade hi volume mechanical from napa, I think it was about $60, it howls at hi rpm, but lets face it, if your flogging it you can only hear the fan at lower speeds anyway, at least if you have exhaust like mine.

I personally wouldn`t want a fan clutch that close to my radiator anyway, but thats just imo.

BTW, 210 is not hot by any means, sounds like your cooling system is fine to me.

 

[MustangB]

I run a Desert Cooler 3 core radiator with an electric fan that has an integral shroud. I don't remember the size of the fan, but I want to say it is a 16 inch.

When my fan turns on, I can almost watch the temp gauge fall. My point is I have reserve capacity due to my large radiator so my "small" fan can do the job without fuss.

Are you focused on the fan when you should be looking at the radiator? I offer this even after reading your radiator is one inch thicker than the stocker. Is the radiator gummed up with scale and trash? Granted, this is something everyone checks first, but sometimes it is the most obvious stuff that is overlooked.

I was amazed at how effective the "Water Wetter" products are. Have you tried them?

 

[tx65coupe]

But I was having heating issues too, I went with a 6 blade hi volume mechanical from napa, I think it was about $60, it howls at hi rpm, but lets face it, if your flogging it you can only hear the fan at lower speeds anyway, at least if you have exhaust like mine.

I personally wouldn`t want a fan clutch that close to my radiator anyway, but thats just imo.

BTW, 210 is not hot by any means, sounds like your cooling system is fine to me.

Do you know what brand and model fan you have?

I think for the time being I am just going to run this 17 inch fixed blade fan, so I can get rid of the flex fan. It should fit inside the shroud.

Derale Cooling Products 17417 - Derale Performance Rigid Race Fans - Overview - SummitRacing.com

 

[tx65coupe]

I run a Desert Cooler 3 core radiator with an electric fan that has an integral shroud. I don't remember the size of the fan, but I want to say it is a 16 inch.

When my fan turns on, I can almost watch the temp gauge fall. My point is I have reserve capacity due to my large radiator so my "small" fan can do the job without fuss.

Are you focused on the fan when you should be looking at the radiator? I offer this even after reading your radiator is one inch thicker than the stocker. Is the radiator gummed up with scale and trash? Granted, this is something everyone checks first, but sometimes it is the most obvious stuff that is overlooked.

I was amazed at how effective the "Water Wetter" products are. Have you tried them?

Good point, but I'm sure the radiator is fine. I have this Fluidyne one and its almost new.

Fluidyne High Performance FHP30-64MU50 - Fluidyne Radiators - Overview - SummitRacing.com

I haven't tried water wetter. I don't see how it could do much. I know people that have used it in other vehicles over the years and they never saw a difference. Did you have a noticable change after using it?

 

[tx65coupe]

Since there doesn't seem to be a clutch fan that will fit, I'm still looking for a good electric fan setup that will fit. I may have found one. Its a SPAL fan and a thin shroud. I'll make a new thread about that later.

 

[MustangB]

I haven't tried water wetter. I don't see how it could do much. I know people that have used it in other vehicles over the years and they never saw a difference. Did you have a noticable change after using it?

I have never needed it myself, but a friend used it. According to him, it dropped the temp between 5 & 10 degrees. Is this significant? Probably not in the big picture.

What size is your water pump pulley? I would imagine a smaller is better due to its higher rev count, but there must be a sweet spot for the coolant between spending too much time in the radiator and not enough. Perhaps your crank pulley is mismatched with your water pump pulley in terms of diameter? Obviously, this would also affect your fan speed.

 

[2+2GT]

Since there doesn't seem to be a clutch fan that will fit…

Strange. Most listings are useless, they go by application rather than dimension. Glazier/Nolan lists their clutches by the dimension from the fan to the pulley, but those are conventional rotation. They do, however, start at 1 1/8", which would easily fit your car. Perhaps if you went to a well-stocked parts dealer and simply went through boxes, until you found a reverse-rotation clutch that short. The one on my Mountaineer is that short, but I don't know if the pulley flange would be correct for your water pump. It's a place to start, though.

Make sure you use a thermal clutch, not the cheaper non-thermal.

 

[tx65coupe]

Excellent point about thermal and non thermal.

I will probably look into it some more soon.

 

[2+2GT]

On a hot day, while idling, you can hear the fan cutting in and out as though it were electric, so the extra bucks for thermal type are well worth it.