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Radiator Fan Help


Matt brown

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DSC_0053.jpg

 

probably the best image i currently have of the bonnet vents, i would think these would be more than adequate, im going to re wrap my manifold as the person i bought the car off didn't seem to do a very good job and its falling off.

 

ill see if i can get a better position for the fan as only around 3/4 of the fan is blowing through the fins, i wont really be able to check it properly until its abit warmer.

 

what would be a good normal working temp to try and achieve? as 65 does seem on the lower side and what would be the max temp you would want to run the pinto engine ?

 

thanks

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  • 2 weeks later...

there has been research done by a university and it was found that in automotive applications there is no difference in cooling efficiency between push or pull fans....and when you think about it it makes sense.... a radiator looses heat by air moving over it, the shadow made by the fan is the same either side..... if air coming through the radiator is stopped by the fan.....its not moving air is it? therefore not loosing heat.

car manufacturers are just about split 50/50 which way they do it. it usually depends on space available.

as noted above .... DUCTING TO FORCE THE AIR THROUGH THE RADIATOR..... that is the most important thing.

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Last time I got involved with a discussion like this (my car was running at 73C) I got shot down in flames :) But after a year I still think I am right, or at least it works for me, so here goes.

 

If your car is running at 65C then you don't have a problem with air coming in through the radiator or escaping the engine bay. You actually have too much air getting in and it is escaping with no problem. If an engine is running below about 80C then all the volatiles that mix with the oil will not evaporate away and you will start to accelerate engine wear. So the first thing to check is the thermostat. If that is jammed open then in this cold weather the engine will never warm up to temperature. So the first thing I did was replace the thermostat with a new one rated at 87C (A very nice temperature that is hot enough to clear the volatiles but not too high that you risk boiling the coolant)

 

In my case the engine then started running hotter, but still only at 80C, so it never got the thermostat fully open. (Remember, a thermostat doesn't suddenly snap open and shut, it is a gradual process. In fact an 87C thermostat will start to open at about 75C. So I was running with a partially open thermostat) . Based on that I went back 50 yrs to when I was a lad and used a method very common in those days and blanked off part of the grill. At the same time I put in a thermostatically controlled fan switch set at 95C. Now everything works perfectly. The engine comes up to temperature and then the thermostat opens fully and it stays at roughly 87C-90C. If I hit traffic it obviously starts to warm up but at 95C the fan kicks in and I know from using it over the last few months that it will bring the temperature back down to just below 90C, even with the car stationary.

 

Obviously I will have to revisit the system when the weather warms up, but I have made the blanking plate adjustable so I can vary the amount of air going into the radiator until I get the right result.

 

So I would stop worrying about the radiator and the fan, they seem to be working perfectly. But if you start overheating as the Summer comes then follow all the good advice you have had so far in this thread.

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Thanks, from speaking to another member at the local meet he thinks that there may not even be a thermostat installed and is constantly open so im going to look at that first and fit one if needed then look at adjusting the fan to come in a little later and see how it works , when it gets a little warmer ill be able to check to see if its getting to hot then go from there.

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