Resolved aftermarket radiator fans

[cliffkemp]

I have 2 aftermarket radiator fans on my car. The passenger side is set to blow air towards the engine and the other is set to blow air towards the front of the car according to the blade contour. I am wanting to know a few things.

1). Is this acceptable in the current form as one is blowing towards the engine (passenger side) and one is blowing toward the front bumper (A/C/driver's side fan)?

2). I do not know what the fans are rated but can read the serial numbers on them and do not know the make either. Is there a way to cross reference them to find out amperage, cfm, and size (can measure if needed on that one)?

3). Since they are aftermarket and are mounted directly to the radiator with a small spring with a plastic top and plastic shaft, how do you unhook the fan assembly (fan and shroud) from the 4 holders?

Thanks a million.

 

[LiquidX]

I have 2 aftermarket radiator fans on my car. The passenger side is set to blow air towards the engine and the other is set to blow air towards the front of the car according to the blade contour. I am wanting to know a few things.

1). Is this acceptable in the current form as one is blowing towards the engine (passenger side) and one is blowing toward the front bumper (A/C/driver's side fan)?

2). I do not know what the fans are rated but can read the serial numbers on them and do not know the make either. Is there a way to cross reference them to find out amperage, cfm, and size (can measure if needed on that one)?

3). Since they are aftermarket and are mounted directly to the radiator with a small spring with a plastic top and plastic shaft, how do you unhook the fan assembly (fan and shroud) from the 4 holders?

Thanks a million.

1. That is fine assuming the pusher fan is mounted on the condenser itself inside the bumper.

2. Stock fans blow between 1300-1600 CFM/fan. Most likely, your fans do not come close.

3. Without pictures, clueless.


Puller fans (blowing towards the motor) will always be more efficent than a pusher fan. Especially when the fan is blowing against incoming air like how you have yours set up. If anything, just switch the polarity and turn it into a less effective puller fan but more effective than a pusher fan mounted on the wrong side.

 

[cliffkemp]

1. That is fine assuming the pusher fan is mounted on the condenser itself inside the bumper.

2. Stock fans blow between 1300-1600 CFM/fan. Most likely, your fans do not come close.

3. Without pictures, clueless.


Puller fans (blowing towards the motor) will always be more efficent than a pusher fan. Especially when the fan is blowing against incoming air like how you have yours set up. If anything, just switch the polarity and turn it into a less effective puller fan but more effective than a pusher fan mounted on the wrong side.

That is what I thought. I bought the car like it is. Sorry for not having pictures....

The ac fan is on the radiator just as the other one is and not inside the bumper. I was told that it was supposed to be like that but, I did not believe it as they are the same people that asked why the ac fan was blowing fuses and I just found out why as they didn't put the wiring back like it should have been. I fixed it and can have it going either direction but, would like the ac fan blades to be contoured like they should so that it will be pushing effectively towards the engine as that one is right in front of the exhaust manifold. It would just seem wrong to have it pull air from the exhaust manifold to the front bumper.

 

[LiquidX]

I would first try to find out the brand and air flow of the fans. If it's not all that great, consider getting SPAL fans. I just installed one on my car.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/blogs/liquidx/2810-attacking-my-cooling-problem.html

 

[cliffkemp]

here is a picture of the parts that hold on the radiator fan. How does the mechanism work so that I can take the fan off if needed? It is the dark, plastic circle with the thin, round plastic shaft coming out of it. Hope the picture is ok.

Thanks for the help.

 

[LiquidX]

I personally do not know, have you tried fiddling with it at all? Are there more of them?

 

[cliffkemp]

yes, I tried turning the round plastic thing and hoped there would be a place where it just released. No luck. I have not seen anything like it. The originals bolt on to the top of the radiator (have had a few of these cars). There are 4 per fan so 8 total. I tried to push them in and see if the spring would pop the plastic circle off to release and no luck. I do not know anything about it. I am sure it is probably simple for someone that knows how they work but, since I have never seen it done, I do not know what to do....

Thanks for any and all information.

 

[slikvik]

They are long zip ties that go through the radiator and attach to both sides. If you want to take them off, your going to have to remove the whole radiator, so you have space to work, and cut the ties off. The springs are there for tension only.

 

[cliffkemp]

They are long zip ties that go through the radiator and attach to both sides. If you want to take them off, your going to have to remove the whole radiator, so you have space to work, and cut the ties off. The springs are there for tension only.

The shop that put one of the fans on, did not have to take the radiator off or so they say. Is there another way to do this? I really hope that it is not going to be that complicated. Can you just cut the tie just behind the spring and get some new ties? If so, where do you get those kind of ties at?? Autozone or something of the sort?

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

The shop that put one of the fans on, did not have to take the radiator off or so they say. Is there another way to do this? I really hope that it is not going to be that complicated. Can you just cut the tie just behind the spring and get some new ties? If so, where do you get those kind of ties at?? Autozone or something of the sort?

You do not need to remove the radiator, just cut the plastic ties. It is a universal fan mounting kit that can be purchased at just about any auto parts store. As Scott already mentioned you do NOT want your fan blowing the hot air from the turbo into your radiator. Not only is that blowing hot air into it but it is also preventing cold outside air from going through it. Also I just switched from a slim can back to the stock fan and it helped a lot with cooling. The stock fans are great as long as you can make them fit.

 

[cliffkemp]

You do not need to remove the radiator, just cut the plastic ties. It is a universal fan mounting kit that can be purchased at just about any auto parts store. As Scott already mentioned you do NOT want your fan blowing the hot air from the turbo into your radiator. Not only is that blowing hot air into it but it is also preventing cold outside air from going through it. Also I just switched from a slim can back to the stock fan and it helped a lot with cooling. The stock fans are great as long as you can make them fit.

Thank you for the information. I am going to take the one fan off myself as I do not feel like arguing with the shop. How simple is it to reverse the fan blade profile so that the blade curvature is correct so that when I remount it, it will blow efficiently toward the engine? Once I get the fan assembly off, do the blades come off the shaft easily or is there something to it. I am mechanically inclined but, like to know any tricks or what-nots so that it can be a painless as possible.

thanks again for the information.

 

[LiquidX]

Some fans are built with single direction mounting. Yours may be that way. If so, all you can to is just reverse the polarity of the wires so it spins "backwards".

 

[cliffkemp]

Some fans are built with single direction mounting. Yours may be that way. If so, all you can to is just reverse the polarity of the wires so it spins "backwards".

It turns out that this fan is dual so, I finally was able to get it off as the ties on 3 of the four came off (little plastic stopper) I took the fan blade off to see if it could be reversed and it could. I flipped it and now it runs excellent and can use the A/C again as well. Thank you and the others for all the help. The ac is now cold and the car runs around 210 max with the ac on max. I still may get a better fan for the passenger side when I upgrade my turbo. It seems weaker of the 2.

I did measure the blade on the A/C side and it was 11 inches but, the blades were heavily degreed for good flow. The one that the 'shop' put in has S shaped blades that are less angled and does not flow as much from what I can tell.

I never found out any specs either on either fan....I will probably go with a 14" fan on the passenger side with a good cfm flow and mount it different so that I can change it out more easily next time.

Thanks again!!!

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

I think you will find that a 12" fan fits best on our radiators.

This is the second thread this week where someone was overheating because a "shop" (and I use the term loosely) installed the fan blowing the hot air into the radiator. Reminds me of the saying, "If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself".

 

[LiquidX]

Look at the 12" SPAL. The one I installed flows 1630 CFM. Well over the Mishimoto CFM of 900.

 

[cliffkemp]

I think you will find that a 12" fan fits best on our radiators.

This is the second thread this week where someone was overheating because a "shop" (and I use the term loosely) installed the fan blowing the hot air into the radiator. Reminds me of the saying, "If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself".

I am not sure what is up with that.....maybe just the economy but, seems like service is getting bad with 'shops' here lately. SO true. I usually like to give a little business when I do not want to fool with my car myself and have the money to do so but, not gonig to keep getting ripped off. After them arguing with me that it was on 'right' I just did it myself and know it is 'right' now. I will just do the work myself, for the most part, so it gets done correctly every time.

thanks again

Look at the 12" SPAL. The one I installed flows 1630 CFM. Well over the Mishimoto CFM of 900.

I will look into that. I believe that the fan they replaced is cheap and does not flow much air. When I turned the blades on my ac fan (decent flowing fan) I have to run the air to keep the temp down (funny isn't it) because the fan they replaced, does not flow enough to keep the radiator cool when around town as it probably flows less than 900 cfm. The AC side looks to flow much more as the blades are steeper angled and thicker for higher speed compared to the other fan the 'shop' installed.

I will see about the fan you are talking about as it should do the trick. I have a 16g with the compressor pipe that curves toward the radiator and dips down under the AC fan..... It looks like I have about 2.5 or so inches between the pipe and the fan near the bottom half of the radiator. I am going to do away with the ziptie part when I take the fan off and build a mount for the fan with some sheet metal and use the stock bolt holes to mount. I hope it will fit.