winch-less, for now

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D

Diskord

Joined
Mar 27, 2012
Threads
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604
Location
The central california dust bowl
Finally had some time, and warm enough temps to test out my cooling issues. With the stock radiator, and no shroud, my rig was getting very warm on long highway runs. Lack of a shroud should not matter much at highway speeds, so there must be some other reason. Pulled the winch off which is mounted very high, above the front bumper. Took the cruiser out for a drive to gather some empirical data.

Drove approx. 20 mins at 65mph temp gauge showed 210 and never deviated while on the highway. Temp sensor is in the head between 1 and 3, and verified accurate with some K type thermocouples I have. The spot between 1 and 3 measures 20f hotter than the output to the radiator. Considering I have a 190f thermostat in place, 210 at the cylinder is expected.

After the run with the engine at 210, brought it back, put the winch back on and hit the highway again. Temp gauge hit 220 almost immediately, and continued climbing, slowly. Hit 225+ 10 miles down the road.

Didn't have time to pull the winch back off and go out again but its fairly conclusive the placement of the winch completely interferes with the air flow into the radiator. Not surprising really given the placement.

New 4 core radiator should be here soon, at which point ill move the radiator forward as much as feasible, close to 2", and put the Ford electric fan in place. It should just clear the from of the water pump after moving the radiator.

Going have to look for a warn 8724 to mount lower between the frame rails
 
After I get the new radiator in, ill test again, then put the winch back on and see if the fan can compensate for the low pressure area in front of the radiator when at highway speeds.
 
Hi Drake
It has been my experience with my winch mounted up high in front of the grill that even in 100*F+ Amb. temps, my engine temps have stayed at 195* at Hwy. speeds, I have to block the grill in the Winter to get it to warm up. I'm running a Radiator Barn 4 core radiator, a clutch fan and shroud as well as a 190* thermostat, Coolant is 30 to 40% mix.
I have never had much success with electric fans.

Jerome
 
I have done just about every different mod with the stock radiator. I upgraded to a 4 core with a fixed fan and a tauras electric fan and the best mod was go with the biggest radiator and a good fan clutch. On my new build i am going with a ron davis with dual electric fans, but that was hard on the wallet. Get a good clutch fan and 4 core and see what that does.
 
That is pretty much my plan. The new champion 4 core is on the way (hopefully). Currently on it is 6 blade fan and clutch. If I recall correctly the fan is 16" diameter, but regardless of the diameter I cannot get a larger one due to the proximity to the lower radiator hose.

First thing will be to get the new radiator in and a 180* thermostat with the existing fan/clutch. Ill test that configuration and go from there.

Ill likely put on the Taurus fan next if necessary. Installing the Taurus fan will be significantly easier than creating a shroud for my mechanical fan, due to the position of the fan relative to the radiator.

Jerome - where is your temp sender? Intake manifold or in the head? Also what winch are you running...I don't recall at the moment.

I'm also going to look into lowering the winch some, but I don't think I will be able to get more than 1" out of it. Im also going to alter the plate the winch is mounted to, its a U-channel, I'm going cut off the uprights so it will be a flat plate...that also will help some. That winch is just too damn big, and mounted to high, its creating an aerodynamic problem when running at freeway speeds.
 
Diskord said:
its creating an aerodynamic problem when running at freeway speeds.
Click to expand...
Thats the funniest thing i've heard in a long time.

Hey Drake before you change your thermostat to a 180*, if you havn't already done it, test your 190* thermostat in a pan of hot water with a thermometer to make sure it's working properly.
I changed to a 190* thermostat from a 180* and found that it regulated coolant flow better and allowed the coolant to stay in the radiator longer thus allowing more heat to be removed by airflow and it actually stabilized the operating temps. from 210*+ on the hiway to 195* max on our hottest days.
BTW I believe my fan is 19" and 7 blades with alota pitch with a HD fan clutch. My temp. sending units are located in the manifold near the water neck.
 
FJROME said:
Thats the funniest thing i've heard in a long time.
Click to expand...

Heh, ok now that I read it back, that is pretty funny. The entire rig is an aerodynamic problem :)

Yep, Im going to double check the thermostat when the new radiator arrives. Its a fairly new thermostat, about a year old and I did check its opening temp when I bought it. Im sure its fine, but might as well double check it.
 
Took significantly longer (to get the radiator) than it was initially supposed to, but I have the 4-core radiator installed, along with an Derale 2-speed electric fan/shroud combo and accompanying controller. Engine is mounted too far forward for anything larger in an electric fan. I've 4" between the radiator and the water pump, the Taurus fan is just over 4", as are the vast majority of the high CFM (3000+)

The whole setup was a little spendy, unfortunately, but it does seem to have rectified the problem. Nice clean setup too, an I am satisfied with the performance this far.

IMAG0310_zpsd2026bf4.jpg


IMAG0303_zpsb5e95cc7.jpg
 
Very clean, looks very nice $$$, have you had it out in the recent heat ???
 
Indeed I have, both with the winch on the front and off. Temps, while hammering on it on the highway, were 205 in both cases. Keep in mind my temp sender is in the head between cylinders one and three, and when you have your foot in it that position will read 20 degrees higher than the intake manifold position.
 
Got the spare set of front springs cleaned, painted, and bolted back together, minus the fourth leaf going to put the new bushings in and swap them this weekend. Still need to drill the leaf raps and put the cross bolt in going to be doing that tomorrow
 
Thats great to hear, glad that problem is getting solved. Are you running the same 195* thermostat ?
 
Found out it was a 180 in there when I checked. I'm going to switch it to a 195 though, and move the temp sender location to the intake manifold. I'm going to move the sender location to better judge the temps for adjusting the fan controller, and the cylinder head position is more prone to temporary fluctuations.
 
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