engine cooling

[brustang]

Hey guys help me out.

I just installed a blown paxton novi 2000 347 stroker in my 93 mustang. It runs fine, but over the last few days it has begun to run hot - anywhere from 200 - 230 - way too hot for my tastes. In rush hour traffic the guage pegs at 240 and after shut down it pukes from the overflow.

I still have the stock radiator and clutch fan. I would like to replace them, but I am not sure with what brand radiator. Also, I want to run an electric fan. Any suggestions?

Since the motor is new, I expect it to run a little hot - at least that is what I have been told. But I think this a little much.

What would you guys say is the best way to remove heat?



Drive Hard, Brake Late, Turn left!

[Ives Bradley]

If its puking, its too hot. If its over 220 it might be time for aluminum rad. and maybe a electric fan, but if u do 1 thing at a time it will be easier to tell which way its taking u. Also make sure the rad. cap is holding enough pressure.

[thesals]

if you still have the stock electric fan for from your mustang, you can wire it up so it doesn't use a sensor to kick on but instead a switch, that alone can help cool the engine quite a bit... with radiators i'd say just order one from jegs or summit, any of the aluminums they sell will be plenty good..... if you go with any pullers or pushers, then you'll be plenty cool... just remember that if you get too sweet of a cooling setup... you'll regret it on a cold night

[KenK]

Just my opinion but I would buy the biggest rad. they make to fit your car.
I went the universal Alum. radiator to fit any chevy car, was still over heating with the elect. fan on continuous
and then went broke buying a bolt in BeCool and so far with straight water it hasn't gone to 190 degrees without a thermostat in 85 degree weather.

[brustang]

Well I dont have that much room, because of the blower pulleys. I am thinking 2x1 aluminum radiator should fit, but the elec. fan might be an issue with thickness. What kind elect fans do you guys like? I hear Spal makes good fans. Do you prefer pullers or pushers?

[thesals]

i prefer pullers, but either works very good, and yes Spal is a very good brand... that and an alum radiator should set you straight

[kcress]

thesals, There has been kind of an epidemic of fan questions lately. I hacked this out of a recent response for you. Some of the flex fan stuff doesn't pertain but take a look.

If you are seriously considering dumping a properly working clutch fan for electric you should note the several drawbacks. Besides the cost alone which could go towards something else or heck, even gasoline

Personally... I hate flex fans. They are only rpm controlled. This means they have no idea what the engine is doin workwise.

Examples:

Low gear hill climb: High rpm, hard work, lots of heat, flat fan = no air.

Long gradual freeway downhill: Low rpm, no heat, maximum fan = why?

Both electric and clutch fans deal with these types of situations because they are temperature controlled as fans should be.

Electric fans have a few drawbacks. They use a hell of a lot of electricity! 20 to 30 amps is not unusual. This is not a minor increase in a vehicles electrical budget. Often it requires eventual electrical system modifications. You may soon discover any electrical system shortcomings. They often mount with strange radiator modifications, hanging the fans on things plunging into the very radiator cores. This creeps me out in the age of $700 radiators. On the upside they cool a lot at idle if needed, (helps the A/C). They can cut all fan related energy consumption at freeway speeds and in cold weather.

Clutches: They can allow a very large fan load if desired but shut down when not used. As mentioned they can fail in nasty subtle ways. They are a heavy item to rotate quickly.

If you want maximum reliability a solid fan is it. Big loud!

Next would be a clutch which drops the noise level and increases the gas mileage.

Electric when engine mods or other things preclude other methods.

Fiberglass... Sim pel, cheep.


Another view on electric fans:

At 40amps worth of electric fans at 12 volts..

40A X 12V = 480Watts

480Watt/750Watts/HP = 0.64HP This is a little more than 1/2 a horsepower of air moving ability....

An engine driven fan can easily hit 5HP even up to 10HP.

This will move a HECK of a lot more air than any 12V electric fan could ever hope to dream of imagining of etc.

Now is this amount of air always required? Of course not! But when I'm on the way to the beach over the "hill" with a car load of stuff and people on a hot day, with the A/C on I fore-shore want to be able to tap that 5 HP if I need to.

The other thing that is not pointed out is... If the engine runs the fan runs... With electrics.. If the fuze blows the fans don't run. If the wiring fails the fans don't run. If the temp switch fails(I've had three fail) the fans don't run. If the relay fails the fans don't run. If the alternator has a problem you aren't going to get very far on total-loss while sucking 40amps.

These are the reasons you don't see electric fans on commercial vehicles. They aren't as reliable.. they can't be.


As for you over heating problem it might just be the fan's clutch.
Check this thread.

http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/sho...threadid=12732

[Dave Severson]

If it just started running hot over the last few days, I would think the clutch fan is bad. Might want to try replacing it. Kcress wrote a very interesting reply, perhaps you should read it carefully before installing an electric fan.