installed taurus fan; runs hotter on highway (long)

[bigboredave]

I installed a taurus fan on my 90 gt. I used a 60 amp relay and adjustable thermostat. Anyway the fan cools great while in traffic, but on the highway and when the engine is under load it runs hotter than with the stock clutch fan. I trimmed the shroud of the taurus fan and fitted it in the existing stock shroud. Just wondering if anyone had this problem also. the temp on the gauge reads between M and R on normal now. Things i will be looking into

1. maybe I introduced air into the system when mounting the coolant bottle and runnning the engine with it unattached.
2. the combination of the 2 shrounds cover too much of the radiator.
3. adjusting the fan to come on a little higher to make sure the thermostat stays opened. Maybe the fan comes on too early the thermostat will never open, the water wont circulate and temperture under load will rise?


Thanks

 

[90mustangGT]

1. Naaa, not very likley, it would have blead out by now.
2. Bingo
3. Definatly not.

The fan/shrowd combo when not running is actually blocking air when not running and probally not allowing enough air to pass through even when running compared to how much would flow through when the car is on the highway.

 

[TheUser]

if the temperature gets hot enough for the thermostat to open, it will circulate, so I don't think it has anything to do with that.

Generally, overheating issues in town has to do w/ your fan setup. If you're overheating on the highway, it probably has something to do w/ your radiator. Make sure your radiator cap fits tight. Make sure and jack the drivers side front of the car up to get the radiator neck higher than the rest, pull the cap off and let the car idle for a little bit and get any air bubbles out. I'd let it idle a good 10-15 minutes at least. Make sure the coolant is topped off after that and make sure you have no coolant leaks.

Does the coolant boil at all?

 

[HISSIN50]

As Jason and James both said, it sounds like an issue with the radiator not being able to reject heat decently at speed. the fan is useless on the highway (though people in here will debate me on that).

if you can, post a pic of the siamesed fan shrouds - i am curious as to what you did. I would follow the above-advice and redo that. plenty of people use a 3.8L taurus fan just as it comes off a taurus and it reportedly works well.

good luck.

 

[bigboredave]

I ported the taurus shroud hoping to get more air into the radiator. I drilled 4 2.5" holes on the part of the shroud where there is room. It didnt help because the temp was still around M or r on the word normal while moving at 45mph. I know the stock gauge isnt accurate, but I know the car was running a lot hotter than with the stock fan.

So i put the fan clutch and guess what, she is running cool again around A on normal in both city and highway driving.

I was only running the electric fan on low, I figured since I live in pittsburgh, PA and dont use the A/C I wouldnt need high. Also the fan cooled great while sitting in traffic.


Couple reasons I think the fan didnt work for me:

the cooling system is stock my radiator is 15 years old and from what I can see it looks pretty corroded. some of the internal tubes are not flowing water from the pass side to the drivers side when the thermostat opens.

I have a aftermarket trans cooler and the Ac evaporter is still there.



Good things about the fan:
It increased horsepower throughout the powerband and reved smoother. I have no proof but honestly it felt similar running a short belt.

I have a 3g alternator and the combination of the fan running, heater on high and headlights did not noticeably draw down the system at idle.

 

[89roadster]

Maybe this will help - had an 85 VW Golf that I had an accident in - the body shop fixed it and returned it to me - cooled just fine in traffic, but when moving it was overheating and AC turned warm ?????? one day while standing in front of it and trying to figure it out I noticed I was feeling a warm breeze - they hooked the fan up so it was blowing out, not in

Are you sure the fan is blowing in the right direction?

 

[Michael Yount]

Roadster's question is quite appropriate. Otherwise, I second the 'lose the other shroud' crowd.

 

[bigboredave]

fan was blowing toward the engine

 

[89roadster]

What will happen if you disconnect the fan and drive on the highway?

 

[bryanrevans]

I recently did same work on my 86 when I get on H.W the fan stays off.BTW I removed ac thing in front of rad.So theres this big empty area in front of car.ill prob ruin my rad when something big blows in there.

 

[bigboredave]

I am going to try and run the fan without the stock shroud. I have to fabricate a mount for the fan and water bottle.

 

[SamSnyder]

I agree with 89roadster -- what happens if you disconnect the fan and run on the highway? If the fan is still kicking on when the car is moving at highway speeds (which it would if the relay is activated solely by the temperature), you may be setting up some kind of counter air flow -- the running fan may actually be blocking the airstream. That's why factory electric fan cars have a speed-sensative feature that shuts the fans off after you reach a certain speed, independent from the temperature. Also -- that 15 year old radiator has to go regardless.