Engine Which cooling part first?
- Thread starter Dontknowchit
- Start date
A fan clutch is a thermostatically operated clutch. If a fan clutch is working properly, it will only lock up (1:1) when the air temp coming out of the radiator is above a set temp.
At all other times, it will be either close to freewheeling or have only partial lock up.
During those times, there is really not as much of a draw on HP as everyone believes.
If a fan clutch is not working at all, with the engine at idle speeds, you can reach in and stop the fan from spinning with your hand.
I have done this with no problems. Obviously, you have to know/discern when that is.
Not recommended for the novice to try.
You have been warned.
At all other times, it will be either close to freewheeling or have only partial lock up.
During those times, there is really not as much of a draw on HP as everyone believes.
If a fan clutch is not working at all, with the engine at idle speeds, you can reach in and stop the fan from spinning with your hand.
I have done this with no problems. Obviously, you have to know/discern when that is.
Not recommended for the novice to try.
You have been warned.
All true but you still have rotating mass hanging off the front of the water pump and rotating mass takes hp to move.
I think what it boils down to is the vast majority of street cars work just fine with a mechanical fan as the single digit hp savings (when the fan clutch is not engaged) is negligible as Bullitt347 pointed out.
I put the Mark VIII fan on my car due to the stock stuff just could not keep up with the heat the far from stock motor was generating especially in the Gulf Coast heat during the summer. Dropped the temps on the car and my AC worked a lot better. I moved away from relays and installed a DCC fan controller due to the high inrush amperage of the Mark VIII motor and it was a huge difference.
An electric fan done wrong will just about cause more overheating issues than a mechanical fan. All I can say there is do your research.
Radiator is going to make more impact than anything so choose wisely there.
I think what it boils down to is the vast majority of street cars work just fine with a mechanical fan as the single digit hp savings (when the fan clutch is not engaged) is negligible as Bullitt347 pointed out.
I put the Mark VIII fan on my car due to the stock stuff just could not keep up with the heat the far from stock motor was generating especially in the Gulf Coast heat during the summer. Dropped the temps on the car and my AC worked a lot better. I moved away from relays and installed a DCC fan controller due to the high inrush amperage of the Mark VIII motor and it was a huge difference.
An electric fan done wrong will just about cause more overheating issues than a mechanical fan. All I can say there is do your research.
Radiator is going to make more impact than anything so choose wisely there.
evintho
20+ Year Stangneter 
Firstly, I would install a quality aftermarket water temp gauge so you have a more accurate idea of your temps. Also, if you're contemplating a new rad/fan combo, there's plenty of room to move the combo forward (especially since you dumped your A/C condenser). On my '89 I used a Volvo rad mounted in the stock location but I mounted a large Isuzu NPR intercooler in front of the rad. Look how much room there is! A couple of simple mounting brackets is all it took. Granted, I ran a 2.3 Turbo but the rad placement is my point.
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- Jul 31, 2017
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Really appreciate all the input and thoughts. I know the 2 things work in combo with each other but assuming not 50/50 so was really trying to focus on on the most impact first. Sounds like it's the rad first so I will go that way and lots of working options for fans from what I'm seeing with a difference of opinion on "best". Gonna go with radiator and run my fan and see how it goes for the summer. Tilting hood has made big impact in the short term.
If you are going to replace your currently [working] cooling system with another radiator then I would try to come up with a complete solution.
What I mean is: Order your new rad, take the measurements, and figure out what E fan system you want to run so that when you install it, it's just [done].
So...
Rad
Fans
Controller
What I mean is: Order your new rad, take the measurements, and figure out what E fan system you want to run so that when you install it, it's just [done].
So...
Rad
Fans
Controller
gkomo
now i can hopefully expect to receive the shaft
I went back and looked at your photos, you seem to have more room between your upper coolant pipe and s/c pulley than i do. Maybe you could put a thicker radiator on. You should take some measurements and compare thickness measurements to some aftermarket radiators to determine what would fit.
For what it's worth, I'm running the sve radiator with contour fans(copied sve brackets) and it fits fine with my V3
- Jul 31, 2017
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That's valuable feedback! We ended up having to use the funds to help a friend so have delayed my purchase a little. I think the sve rad is the way I will go. Reviews are really good for it everywhere I look. LMR has always given me great service is something did not work out.
90trunk
Active Member
Another vote here for installing an aftermarket water temp gauge to have an accurate understanding of what your coolant temperature is. Autometer is the Gold Standard here.
There are a lot of options and opinions on cooling systems. Here's what I ended up with: I used the Contour fan with the LMR brackets on a Champion aluminum radiator. Looking for OEM hardware, I opted for the Volvo control relay and BMW temp sensor. This allowed me to use the supplied Contour fan resistor and have two speed operation from both fans. An extra relay provides fan operation when the AC compressor is on. I also wired up a manual override switch to turn on the fans in low speed mode and three in-car LED's to indicate which speed the fans are running in and that the Meziere electric water pump is running.
There are a lot of options and opinions on cooling systems. Here's what I ended up with: I used the Contour fan with the LMR brackets on a Champion aluminum radiator. Looking for OEM hardware, I opted for the Volvo control relay and BMW temp sensor. This allowed me to use the supplied Contour fan resistor and have two speed operation from both fans. An extra relay provides fan operation when the AC compressor is on. I also wired up a manual override switch to turn on the fans in low speed mode and three in-car LED's to indicate which speed the fans are running in and that the Meziere electric water pump is running.
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Another option, to keep the factory resistor and low/hi on both, is just 3 relays(70a for the fans and standard for the AC trigger) That's the way I did it. Originally with a 2 stage temp switch, now triggered by the TermX outputs
90trunk
Active Member
I didn't want to be sorry I pulled off my factory clutch fan and have cooling or reliability issues down the road. I've had the setup on for a year now and it's been great.
FWIW , I have a friend with a Vortech'd 306 running the Contour fan and the LMR/Dakota Digital controller for a couple of years now. He's very happy and would go that way again.
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