Electric VS standard fan

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thanson_mopar

thanson_mopar

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I need to do something with my cooling system to keep up during the hottest days of the summer. Im running an earlier 22inch 340 radiator on my 74 duster 360. Just doesn't seem to be keeping up. I have one of those plastic flex fans, that seem to pull quite a bit of air through but maybe not enough. Will an electric setup be more efficient? Im not worried about losing a little bit of power by running a strait driven fan but if an electric fan setup will pull more CFM through...... whats the opinions out there?
 
I,m running a clutch fan on my stroked 340(452hp)factory rad(re-cored).It holds at 180% on the hottest summer days,even at the track! 6blade fan and shroud.
 
That's a good set up petty, key item IMO is the shroud.

Tate, I don't have a shroud and I'm running alot less HP. But I do have a Perma Cool electric fan center mounted to the 6 cyl. rad pulling air through. So far, so good. There are a few fellas here that have made there own shroud with alumminum. Since the shroud directs air, AKA focus' air travel, it aids the fan and it becomes more effcient.

If you have a shroud, the rad. may be in need of some help on the inside or a rebuild/new unit.
What temp is the thermostat at and mixture percemtage should be 50/50 min.
 
On my 89 ramcharger (modified 360 using the stock 318 radiator) I pulled an electric fan setup from a late 90's Dodge Intrepid. Don;t know the CFM rating, but it was a dual fan setup with the shroud and fans as one whole assembly. cost about $40 w/ the wiring pigtails. I then bought a new themostatic control unit from Flexalite. it gradually increases fan speed from 60% to 100% depending on coolant temp. No instant large draw for the electrical system that way. Bottom line, it worked like a charm. The shroud had the mounting holes and all I had to do was tack weld 4 long bolts to the sides of the radiator as mounting points. easy as pie.

BTW - the controller unit is adjustable - so you can adjust at what temp you want it to kick in.

I'm pretty sure I'll do something similar w/ all my Muscle cars - the catch is that the electrical system needs to be able to power it. Not sure if the stock output alternators in the older cars can handle that draw.
 
If your radiator is old, it may not be working very well. Ditto for your water pump.

As mentioned, an electric fan creates a pretty major load on the electrical system. Also, a lot of electric fans don't move nearly the air that a flex fan does. Do you have room for a puller on the front?

If your car is an auto, moving to a separate tranny cooler may help some also.

Remember, water cools better than antifreeze, so maybe running less glycol in the summer would help too.

Steve
 
pettybludart said:
I,m running a clutch fan on my stroked 340(452hp)factory rad(re-cored).It holds at 180% on the hottest summer days,even at the track! 6blade fan and shroud.
Click to expand...

Really?! Are you running a 22 inch radiator? I assume your talking about the mopar performance clutch fan setup, what kind of shroud are you using? factory?
 
rumblefish360 said:
That's a good set up petty, key item IMO is the shroud.

Tate, I don't have a shroud and I'm running alot less HP. But I do have a Perma Cool electric fan center mounted to the 6 cyl. rad pulling air through. So far, so good. There are a few fellas here that have made there own shroud with alumminum. Since the shroud directs air, AKA focus' air travel, it aids the fan and it becomes more effcient.

If you have a shroud, the rad. may be in need of some help on the inside or a rebuild/new unit.
What temp is the thermostat at and mixture percemtage should be 50/50 min.
Click to expand...

Im starting to think possibly radiator may be the problem....I sent it to the radiator shop 2k miles ago but is it possible they just didnt get the job done right? I asked about getting an aluminum radiator or having mine turned into a 3 core but both at the time are out of my price range.
 
LXguy said:
If your radiator is old, it may not be working very well. Ditto for your water pump.

As mentioned, an electric fan creates a pretty major load on the electrical system. Also, a lot of electric fans don't move nearly the air that a flex fan does. Do you have room for a puller on the front?

If your car is an auto, moving to a separate tranny cooler may help some also.

Remember, water cools better than antifreeze, so maybe running less glycol in the summer would help too.

Steve
Click to expand...

The water pump was replaced with an oem pump about 2k miles ago when i rebuilt the motor, but the radiator may be restricted even though i had it cleaned at the rad shop. I do have enough room in the front of the radiator to mound an electric fan or two, would anyone recomend running both electric in the front and regular in front?

Car is a manual, I run as close to a 50/50 mix as i could, any recomendations on a better cooling mixture for the summertime?
 
LXguy said:
If your radiator is old, it may not be working very well. Ditto for your water pump.

As mentioned, an electric fan creates a pretty major load on the electrical system. Also, a lot of electric fans don't move nearly the air that a flex fan does. Do you have room for a puller on the front?

If your car is an auto, moving to a separate tranny cooler may help some also.

Remember, water cools better than antifreeze, so maybe running less glycol in the summer would help too.

Steve
Click to expand...
if that be true, then why would the boiling point of a mixture be higher than water only?

As far as the plastic fans - they make great toys for kids to play with.
 
thanson_mopar said:
I need to do something with my cooling system to keep up during the hottest days of the summer. Im running an earlier 22inch 340 radiator on my 74 duster 360. Just doesn't seem to be keeping up. I have one of those plastic flex fans, that seem to pull quite a bit of air through but maybe not enough. Will an electric setup be more efficient? Im not worried about losing a little bit of power by running a strait driven fan but if an electric fan setup will pull more CFM through...... whats the opinions out there?
Click to expand...
check out www.4secondsflat.com Don has a good radiator that has a cooling core of 19" x 22" and just covers the opening (ie tanks are outside the opening). if that doesnot cool you car you have other problems.
Mine is the smaller 19 x 17 version and cools my 388ci just fine.
 
388dart said:
check out www.4secondsflat.com Don has a good radiator that has a cooling core of 19" x 22" and just covers the opening (ie tanks are outside the opening). if that doesnot cool you car you have other problems.
Mine is the smaller 19 x 17 version and cools my 388ci just fine.
Click to expand...

In the future I think I will get a different radiator but for now i just want to try and upgrade the setup I have....due to money issues.
 
The lack of a shroud is a big issue. The fan alone may move a lot of air but since air is like water and electricity, it takes the path of least resistance.
It will pull the air from around the radiator easier than thru it, which means that airflow thru the rad is much lower. That is why a tight fitting shroud is beneficial. All Mopar A/C cars came with them....air flow thru the condenser.
My 73 340 has factory A/C with the 26 in. rad and shroud and it will stay cool all the time.
Little bit of history.. LA County is one of the first police agencies to test cop cars before they solicited bids on new units. Guess what one of the tests was?
The scenario is a high speed pursuit in 100 deg. where the perp bails out out and fllees. Cops chase him on foot, leaving car running.
The set up was to flog the crap out of the car in a simulated chase and then nose it up to a wall and get out of the car and walk away. The car was left in drive with the A/C on and idling for a while. They had temp probes on key points of the car, brakes, rad., trans, rear end, interior etc.
The car better not flunk this test.
Shrouds are installed for a reason.
 
yellowdartdave said:
The lack of a shroud is a big issue. The fan alone may move a lot of air but since air is like water and electricity, it takes the path of least resistance.
It will pull the air from around the radiator easier than thru it, which means that airflow thru the rad is much lower. That is why a tight fitting shroud is beneficial. All Mopar A/C cars came with them....air flow thru the condenser.
My 73 340 has factory A/C with the 26 in. rad and shroud and it will stay cool all the time.
Little bit of history.. LA County is one of the first police agencies to test cop cars before they solicited bids on new units. Guess what one of the tests was?
The scenario is a high speed pursuit in 100 deg. where the perp bails out out and fllees. Cops chase him on foot, leaving car running.
The set up was to flog the crap out of the car in a simulated chase and then nose it up to a wall and get out of the car and walk away. The car was left in drive with the A/C on and idling for a while. They had temp probes on key points of the car, brakes, rad., trans, rear end, interior etc.
The car better not flunk this test.
Shrouds are installed for a reason.
Click to expand...

I understand, Would you happen to know what part number radiators need what part number shrouds? seems like there are a few different ones for abodys and I dont know what year my 22 inch radiator came out of, just know it was from a 340 or 318 A/C a-body. Is there a number on the radiator i can match for a shroud?
 
388dart said:
if that be true, then why would the boiling point of a mixture be higher than water only?
Click to expand...

Because antifreeze has a higher boiling point than water.

Guess what, the freezing point is lower with a mixture of antifreeze and water too! LOL!

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/texaco_dex_cool_antifreeze/index.html

"While it is true that straight water is the best heat-transfer liquid you can use in an automotive application, straight water, even deionized or distilled water, is still highly corrosive. And the addition of corrosion inhibitors doesn’t deliver a balanced anticorrosion package as does the new Dex-Cool."
 
LXguy said:
Because antifreeze has a higher boiling point than water.

Guess what, the freezing point is lower with a mixture of antifreeze and water too! LOL!

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/texaco_dex_cool_antifreeze/index.html

"While it is true that straight water is the best heat-transfer liquid you can use in an automotive application, straight water, even deionized or distilled water, is still highly corrosive. And the addition of corrosion inhibitors doesn’t deliver a balanced anticorrosion package as does the new Dex-Cool."
Click to expand...

i understand that the anti corrosive features of glycol are important and that it is a lubricant for your cooling system but to what point is not enough? 60/40 or 70/30 of water to glycol too much?
 
My Summit Elec Fan works really well, esp on Summer days. However, since I'm running anything from E30-E85, the fan doesn't need to kick on much - especially in the Winter. Ethanol tuning issues aside, the Elec Fan seemed to work OK w/ my old stock Alternator/Charging System. About a year ago, I replaced the stock charging w/ a late-1970s/80s 65 amp alternator + newer stye Volt Reg. I continue to have no issues w/ the draw of elec.

However, recently, my Fan Relay died. As such, the fan wanted to stay on all the time. I had a manual switch inside just in case of this, so I can control it manually. However, I'd just as soon not have to do that.
 
I have hated electric fans for the longest time.
That was until I bought a dodge viper electric fan.
It has two speeds. the first speed is likely to be enough for anyone.
The second speed is enough to pull the car on it's own.

The second speed draws some serious juice though so make sure you have a good relay and fuse to go with it.
Highly recommended.
 
Get A Aluminum Radiator And That Should Solve It. Disapates The Heat Quicker. I Ran A 3 Core 26 Wide For Years With Electric But Aluminum Is Alot Cooler And Lighter. Went Back To Mech Fan Due To Not Enough Room Between Fan And Rad.
 
Look into using a "3 pass" radiator and a high volume water pump. Flex fan with a shroud or electric fan or fans should cool fine with this combination
 
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