Cooling her down
#663878
04/07/10 07:34 PM
04/07/10 07:34 PM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 93 New York
tt455
OP
member
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OP
member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 93
New York
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I'm sure this has been discussed before,but searches aren't comming up with much,so I apologize if it's been beaten to the ground.How's the aluminum radiators with electric fans doing with these mopar big blocks? I would think it helps in more ways than one.What's everybody using? I saw this on ebay,what do you think? I'm thinking of it for my 383 70 RR. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Plymouth-...=item439e87c292
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Re: Cooling her down
[Re: Dougsmopars]
#663883
04/08/10 07:46 AM
04/08/10 07:46 AM
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,278 San Jose, California
DennisH
Vacation
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Vacation
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,278
San Jose, California
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Quote:
On my 440 i use a stock mopar 22" rad with factory 18" clutch fan and factory shroud. Runs 185 to 190 on hottest summer days. I got my rad from US Radiator in AZ. USA made.#348.00 Copper/brass just like orignal. Looks identical to factory mopar rad.
26 here. Ma had it figured out.
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Re: Cooling her down
[Re: DennisH ]
#663885
04/08/10 08:06 AM
04/08/10 08:06 AM
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 21,345 Marysville, O-H-I-O
70Cuda383
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Too Many Posts
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 21,345
Marysville, O-H-I-O
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I don't think ANY combination of aluminum radiator and electric fan will cool better than the stock radiator and mechanical fan w/ shroud set-up. that is...and still fit under the hood.
the mechanical fans will move WAY MORE AIR than an electric fan ever will...that's why they take up so much more Hp to turn than an electric fan. and apparently, brass has a better heat transfer rate than aluminum does, so more air and better heat transfer means that if all is working well, it should work BETTER than any aftermarket set-up.
so...before you start throwing money at parts, be sure you actually have a problem. are you SURE you are overheating? or is your gauge inaccurate? factory gauges can be misleading, especially since they don't even have temp numbers on them, just "C and H" use a quality gauge or thermometer to verify operating temps.
if you find that you really do have a problem start with the basics...is your thermostat opening all the way? is your radiator plugged up? are the rotors on the back of the water pump corroded away? is the lower hose sucking shut? (probably not the issue if it happens in town at low RPM)
then move on to verify that the radiator core is not plugged...remove it and have it back flushed, or better yet, have them boil it out to clean it. or...just have it recored or replaced if you find it doesn't flow well enough.
if all the stock parts are in place and working as they should, you should never overheat, even on a hopped up engine.
for what it's worth, though, my set-up on the big block Dakota is the stock single core, 1" wide aluminum radiator that's a cross flow design, the core is huge though, (its for a truck!) at 22x24. I'm using an electric fan out of a jeep liberty that I got on a deal from Jaime when his dealership was doing a recall on them and getting them from Mopar at dirt cheap prices...it's 19" diameter, and moves a TON of air!! he showed me on his, that the fan blades actually "suck in" 3/8" or so when they start spinning, and he said to be sure to give it enough clearance so it didn't hit the core when it spun up. my big block has a 160 degree stat, and once the fan kicks on at 185, the temps will drop immediately down to 170 where the fan shuts off...this is while not driving, so there is no air movement outside of what the fan is moving.
I'm happy with it.
**Photobucket sucks**
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Re: Cooling her down
[Re: ngpSatellite]
#663887
04/08/10 08:14 AM
04/08/10 08:14 AM
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 21,345 Marysville, O-H-I-O
70Cuda383
Too Many Posts
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Too Many Posts
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 21,345
Marysville, O-H-I-O
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I dont know! never shopped for one, I'd try the restoration parts houses...or swap meets, the online classifieds here, ebay, etc.
**Photobucket sucks**
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Re: Cooling her down
[Re: Jerry]
#663889
04/08/10 08:49 AM
04/08/10 08:49 AM
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,826 NY usa
540challenger
master
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master
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,826
NY usa
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Quote:
holy cow what a ton of misinformation. the electric fans will do fine to a cool a muscle car. i had similar fans on my 440 set to turn on at 215 and shut off at 180. worked like a dream, most of the time the fans were off and only kicked on while sitting in traffic. i had them bolted with a custom bracket to my aluminum radiator and it was cooling a 650 hp 440.
Just to add to this. not all eletric fans are equal if you do go the electric fan route by a decent brand not one of the eletric fans you find at pepboys or autozone.
I myself prefer fan clutchs then electric fans. However i am not sure where to find any new ones. i like the thermal clutchs over the velocity type.
But a good quality eletric fan will do just fine i have installed tons of them in C-3 vettes from stock small blocks to heavy modded big blocks and cooling was not a issues and trust me the C-3 have plenty of air flow problems when it comes to cooling a radiator in a car.
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Re: Cooling her down
[Re: Jerry]
#663890
04/08/10 09:04 AM
04/08/10 09:04 AM
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 28,312 Cincinnati, Ohio
Challenger 1
Too Many Posts
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Too Many Posts
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 28,312
Cincinnati, Ohio
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Quote:
holy cow what a ton of misinformation. the electric fans will do fine to a cool a muscle car. i had similar fans on my 440 set to turn on at 215 and shut off at 180. worked like a dream, most of the time the fans were off and only kicked on while sitting in traffic. i had them bolted with a custom bracket to my aluminum radiator and it was cooling a 650 hp 440.
Not the one's shown in that auction. They will struggle to do the job without a shroud.
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Re: Cooling her down
[Re: Jerry]
#663893
04/08/10 02:45 PM
04/08/10 02:45 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,096 Irving, TX
feets
Senior Management
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Senior Management
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,096
Irving, TX
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Don't bother with any of the pancake style electric fans. They simply will not move enough air. If they're turned on at speed your problems get worse. They actually block air in the radiator over 50 mph in my experience. Our cooling systems were marginal back in the day. That's one of the reasons people didn't drive across the desert during the day.
The auto manufacturers figured out how to get the job done. They had to.
The Mercedes fan that works best for a factory 26" radiator is off a 2002 to 2008 Mercedes C-class. The shroud fits perfectly over the 26" radiator. A real bonus is the capacitor pack in the shroud to ease the startup. When tested, they peaked at a max of 53 amps for less than a second and then dropped to 40 amps continuous. That's a lot of current draw for our old systems but there's no doubting the effectiveness. When you first power one up you wonder if it's ever going to stop spinning. They get stupid fast and pull an amazing amount of air.
If your electrics don't pull amps, they don't pull air. It's that simple.
I've spent years trying to cool a twin turbocharged 440 in the Texas heat and humidity. A Spal electric fan worked but didn't have a shroud and ate itself when the mountings slipped. The 1990 Maxima fans work fairly well but I'll be switching to the C-class fan when I install the aluminum water pump. The Mercedes unit has a BIG fan and draws far more air than any of the duals I've tried.
We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind. - Stu Harmon
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