I've been having issues with my radiator cooling fan not keeping my enging cool enough or draining my battery... I have a 95 Chevy TPI V8, advanced adaptors aluminum radiator, and a single electric flex-lite cooling fan. The engine temp is running right at 200deg but when I'm climbing it seems to drain the battery and it bumps to 210++!! Would it be better to get dual batteries? Larger fan? etc... I'll take any suggestions to resolve this problem, thanks!
Radiator cooling problems...HELP!
- Thread starter Bosshog
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
what alternator are you running? Depending on what you have, you may need to look at a larger alternator and / or changing out the pulley on your current alt. I don't run an electric fan so I can't speak to the fact of whether or not that is normal power consumption.
Nick
Nick
as already stated, what alternator are you running ? you can check out this site for info if you dont know and for info on high output alternators http://www.alternatorparts.com/
i run a ford taurus fan with my TPI set up, check out this link https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/50141-electric-fan-faq-links.html others just dont care for electric fans period. and 210 isnt really that bad for that engine and emissions are better in that range. if it got to 220 or above i would be worried.
and if you get a chance we love pics, and i would love a shot of your tpi set up
mines on here if you search TPI or fuel injection.
i run a ford taurus fan with my TPI set up, check out this link https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/50141-electric-fan-faq-links.html others just dont care for electric fans period. and 210 isnt really that bad for that engine and emissions are better in that range. if it got to 220 or above i would be worried.
and if you get a chance we love pics, and i would love a shot of your tpi set up
mines on here if you search TPI or fuel injection.
Last edited:
When you say you are climbing is that crawling or at speed? Generally if you are having trouble at speed it is a surface area issue (need a bigger radiator) if it is crawling then you need more airflow. The problem I ran across was getting a fan that pulls lots of air also pulls lots of current which needs a more expensive alternator. The alternator needs to have the most output when the engine is going the slowest which is the hardest for the alternator to do. Even with dual batteries you are still running in a deficit. I burned up one high dollar alternator keeping up with fan/lights/winch etc and decided to go with HD 7 blade clutch for simple and durable solution.
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2002
- Threads
- 558
- Messages
- 8,122
- Location
- Kamloops, BC Canada
- Website
- www.shopraddcruisers.ca
Toss the electric, put in a really good engine driven unit. Then, figure out why your alternator can't keep up with basic electrical loads.
~John
~John
What T-stat are you running?
- Thread starter
- #7
Thanks for the replies!! I will check out what alternator I have on it, (it got replaced a few years ago...) and get back. Also what is a HD 7 blade clutch? Is this something different that a clutch clutch?? sorry if this is a stupid question
he is refering to a 7 blade machanical fan (non electric) with fan clutch bolted to the water pump. and a lot of people like the huge old mechanical fan out of 80's to mid 90's cadilacs. they pull a ton of air and dont put a drain on the battery. but they are huge and you will have to fab a shroud but are a good set up too. you also need to know if you are running a reverse rotation water pump. because the fan needs to rotate the right way to pull air not push it. if you are using a serpentine belt set up then you should have a reverse rotation pump. and that is something you might check as well with your cooling problem. did the water pump come with the engine ? if so you are probably good to go. try using the search function above and look for all these things because others have had the same type of problems and you may find threads that will help. good luck!
What lone gunman said. I think it is a 18-19" 7 blade fan on a heavy duty clutch. I had the lincoln MK VIII electric and it would move a lot of air and would pull the temp down very quickly when turned on, I had trouble with underhood temps being too high even though the engine was 190 deg. This coupled with the large electrical load it placed on the system caused me to switch to the mechanical version. Now it moves a ton of air and no electrical load. As a side effect it also keeps the floor and tranny tunnel cooler. It is on a 19X26 generic aluminum radiator, now the temp stays below the thermostat. ( I had drilled a couple holes in it in a prior life)
