Engine Cooling Problem

[SaiyanFury]

Engine cooling help

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Hi I'm down here in Florida on vacation in which I drove my DSM down here. When I got down here my primary rad fan went out so I replaced it with a Mr. Gasket slimline fan that does work. Although I was driving around today and my coolant gauge went over to just under 2/3 when I was driving in the city. The temperature outside was about 75 degrees, and I'm using the fan on the engine side of the radiator. I'm wondering if the factory setting on the fanblade is set for puller or pusher? I'm guessing puller since I assume that's what most street guys would use.

But I could be wrong. The fan WAS cooling the engine as I could see the coolant gauge drop back towards half, but as soon as I started driving again from a stop it heats right back up to 2/3 again. My car is a turbo, and I'm using an EVO III Big 16G turbo on my car. I know turbo engines get hotter than normally aspirated engines, but I don't think that it should get that hot. I should let it be known that I do have AC although I wasn't using it, and I don't have an AC fan where it would normally go on my rad yet, as I still have to get another slimline fan in there to accomodate the intercooler ducting that I have in place.

Does anybody have any pointers or advice they could give me? I'd be most appreciative. I'm just hoping my car doesn't overheat as I have 2000 miles to drive to get back home. Thanks guys!

 

[oldman]

Most aftermarket fans are reversable (push/pull), did you make sure the fan is wired correctly to pull?

 

[SaiyanFury]

No I didn't check that. I didn't know that you needed to wire it up differently in order to make it a puller/pusher. I thought that to make it a pusher you just needed to mount it in front of the rad and/or reverse the blade. I know this sounds pretty dumb, but I am pretty new at this stuff. I should also let it be known that I'm running 10/40 oil, and I know that's likely another reason why my engine's heating up when I usually run 20/50 or so in a summer climate. Reason being is I'm from the north and I'm not down here for long so I never bothered to change to a thicker oil. Any ideas come to mind?

 

[oldman]

No I didn't check that. I didn't know that you needed to wire it up differently in order to make it a puller/pusher. I thought that to make it a pusher you just needed to mount it in front of the rad and/or reverse the blade.

Think about it, mounting the fan on the outside of the radiator will just end up pulling air towards the front of the car without reversing the direction of the blades. I suspect you wired it to push but mounted on the egine side so you're pushing air towards the front of the car, reason why it overheats when in motion.

I know this sounds pretty dumb, but I am pretty new at this stuff. I should also let it be known that I'm running 10/40 oil, and I know that's likely another reason why my engine's heating up when I usually run 20/50 or so in a summer climate. Reason being is I'm from the north and I'm not down here for long so I never bothered to change to a thicker oil. Any ideas come to mind?

You're fine with 10/40.

 

[oldman]

I think I understand why you're confused. Air should always travel from the front of the car to the engine. Push and pull is refering to the direction of the blades, when mounting on the engine side, the fan is set to pull, outside to push.

 

[SaiyanFury]

Yeah that sounds about right why I'm confused. I'm guessing the blades only actually spin in one direction, regardless of how the fan is mounted. On the engine side, it's pulling, on the bumper side, it's pushing. Good call, I think I get it.

I certainly will looking into the wiring. I also check under the hood when the car is just idling, and I can feel the air from the blades coming towards the engine (if you know what I'm talking about. It feels like it's pulling the air, and not pushing) so I'm guessing that it's actually pushing. But yes I will most definitely look into the wiring

 

[SaiyanFury]

Once again, let me apologize. I know I sound pretty dumb when talking about these things, but I'm still new and trying to learn

 

[oldman]

I also check under the hood when the car is just idling, and I can feel the air from the blades coming towards the engine (if you know what I'm talking about. It feels like it's pulling the air, and not pushing)

If you can feel air towards the engine then it's pulling, problem is some where else. What size fan is this? cfm? Is it properly mounted, flush against the surface of the radiator? How long did you drive while overheating when the stock fan took a dump?

 

[SaiyanFury]

OK it's a 10 inch Mr Gasket slimfan, I'm not certain of the CFM, And it's mounted flush to the radiator yes. Now I'm not certain now long the fan had been out of commission. I only noticed the car overheating when I got off the interstate down here in Florida. The temperature was normal until I got off the road and pulled into the station to gas up. Now let it be known that my car isn't overheating persay as it only goes up to about 2/3 the maximum of the heat gauge and doesn't get any higher that I noticed. But that might just be because I didn't drive it in the city for very long.

I've looked around for CFM numbers but I can't seem to find anything, or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place.

 

[oldman]

One 10" fan is probably not enough, you should run at least 12" or 14" instead. I'm running a 12" and a 9" with AC and FMIC.

 

[SaiyanFury]

OK yeah that's what I was thinking. The reason I never got a bigger fan is that I still plan on using AC when I finally move down here to Florida. I planned on getting a slightly smaller 8 or 9 inch fan to supplement the main fan for my AC. I think that could very well be what it is. By any chance what size is the factory main fan? It always seemed to be enough. I'm just asking for my own reference. Thanks I appreciate it

 

[oldman]

Don't know and wouldn't be a fair comparison either as the stock fans are well shrouded.

 

[SaiyanFury]

Yeah very true there's a lot of blockage to airflow in the factory fans. Truth be told I can't remember if my new slimline is a 10 or a 12 inch now that I think about it. Although I still hold the same conclusion that it's not enough and I should have 2 fans on there.

 

[talondude4]

Once again, let me apologize. I know I sound pretty dumb when talking about these things, but I'm still new and trying to learn

We were all in your shoes at one time don't feel bad.

 

[awdtalontsi1992]

I have the exact same problem with my car. One day my radiator fan melted. I can't seem to be able to keep my car cool now either. I too have a flexilite 12" fan mounted puller style on the passanger's side and another on the driverss side mounted pusher style. I still haven't figured out my problem yet but let me know if you figure it out. Until then I can only suggest what others already have and check the direction of the airflow on the fan.WTF

 

[ddavisaf]

I have the exact same problem with my car. One day my radiator fan melted. I can't seem to be able to keep my car cool now either. I too have a flexilite 12" fan mounted puller style on the passanger's side and another on the driverss side mounted pusher style. I still haven't figured out my problem yet but let me know if you figure it out. Until then I can only suggest what others already have and check the direction of the airflow on the fan.WTF

Did you remove the stock heatshield?

 

[SaiyanFury]

Hi guys, I removed my factory heat shield from my exhaust manifold because I didn't think it would make a huge difference. I discovered I am using a 12 inch fan, and as long as the weather doesn't get too warm, about 75 degrees here, it stays reasonably cool (read: normal). I'm guessing that I should be using a secondary fan on the passenger side of the rad to assist the main fan. The main fan DOES have a noticeable effect as the temp gauge does go down. It's only at lower speeds, about 35-45 that it starts to get warm. Even then it's got to be pretty warm outside by the look of it. I was driving back to my fiancee's house last night after picking her up from work (she lives in the country about 40 miles from her work) and it wasn't heating up at all abnormally. As oldman surmised above, one fan simply isn't enough

 

[SaiyanFury]

Pardon the double post here, in response to awdtalon1992's suggestion, the fan IS actually pulling air, I figured that out thanks to oldman. As I stated in my above post, one fan is simply not enough down here in the Sunshine State. Not like back home in Winnipeg, where it's -20 degrees right now where I'm driving back to in 2 days

 

[oldman]

Hi guys, I removed my factory heat shield from my exhaust manifold because I didn't think it would make a huge difference.

Of course it makes a big difference, why did you remove the heatshield in the first place?

 

[SaiyanFury]

I got rid of the heat shield - 1. Because it was really rusty and cracked (remember I live in a climate that has snow 5 months of the year), and 2. as I stated above, I didn't think it would make a big difference once I got my slimfans installed. I should let it be known that I didn't always own the car. I only acquired it a year and a half ago, so the winter driving thing was the result of the previous owner, who didn't take overly great care of the car, hence the engine rebuild.