with a 160 thermo. Where is a good place to have the fans start and come off?

car is a 1991 vette.

cheers.

 

Whatever temp. allows for the fans to run for a reasonable amount of time. The lower the on temp the more you load the charging system.

While 160s were popular in the old days, ie carbs, and for the chip sellers, there's really no need for running cold temps..

For a street car, one way to think of it is that running the fan is wasting energy. So if you raise the operating temp to like 180, and fan on temps of say 195, the fans will fun alot less, and you'll be able to use that heat energy for moving the car.

Not to mention you need to put enough heat into the oil long enough to percolate all the condensation out of it.

On's of 170, and off of 167s are about the norm.

 

so what your saying is that stock settings are ok?

 

Aren't the stock settings closer to 226 F (104 C) for primary fan on? And 235 F (113 C) for secondary fan on? To me that is a bit too high. Also for me a 160 thermo is too low. A 185/190 F thermostat is about ideal. YMMV.

RBob.

 

I also have the fans come on after the thermostat rating and turns off before the thermostat closes. This does rather well. having a spread of 5 degrees is plenty to keep it from turning on and off frequently.
I personally believe in using a 160/170 thermostat and letting the fans control the temps if you've got dual fan controls. With a single fan with an on/off switch I suggest the 180 thermostat.
By having control of 2 fans you're able to cooling the engine down slower than the large single.
If the car see's winters, a 180 stat at the least and have the fans come on at 190 off at 185 .
Not that this is all that useful for your vette but the airflow on the vette is heavily decided by the fan power and not on vehicle speed. The opposite is true with trucks with large frontal surface areas and mechanical fans. Those vehicles would be best suited with 195 stats.

 

On the subject of T-stats, I too will throw a vote out there for 180* T-stats. I've tried all of the various temperature T-stats and preferred the 180* the best.

I too agree with properly controlling the dual fan setup as well. I prefer to turn on Fan2 before Fan1. This helps will cooling when the A/C is on in hot summer weather.

Where I live, it typically gets over 100*F in the summer and Fan1 by itself (because the A/C also uses it) won't keep the engine cool, and it slowly keeps getting hotter. But with Fan2 coming on first, the engine stays much cooler.

 

...

 

ok so on a 180 t-stat with 2 fans. What would be a good start on having my fans go on and off? fan1 on@185 and off@175? fan2 on @200 and off @180?

 

Try the following; Fan 2 on @ 180 off @ 176, Fan 1 on @ 182 off @ 180 . This should be able to keep your engine right at 180 without any heavy oscilations of the temperature or fan relays. It's hard to say what is good for you car without seeing a datalog showing fan 1 and fan 2 vs CTS.
Glen, could you post a datalog showing the cts and fans on/off flags.

 

hmm will try it..

 

From numerous datalogs, I know that my T-stat begins to open at 76*C and is fully open by 80-81*C. I turn Fan2 On @ 83* and Off @82. I turn Fan1 On @ 86 and Off @ 84.

As for the Disable Speeds of Fan1 & 2. I turn them all off at 42 mph.

 

I live in ºC and I use my following formula:

(no problem with Farenheit measurements. ºC very easy: 0ºC is when water change to ice; 100ºC is the point in which water change to vapor)

My formula is:

Stat: 88ºC
Fan On: 93ºC
Fan Off: 89ºC

(Fan ON/OFF = 91ºC +- 2ºC)

Outside temp fluctuate from -6ºC to +35ºC

+ a powerful copper 3 row radiator

and Ac Delco coolant concentrate @ 66.6%.


Denis V

 

I run a 180 Degree Stat single fan and my set-up is the following:

Fan On 186
Fan OFF 179

I don't know about the thermostats when the open precisly but I think they tend to open a bit sooner then what they are advertised at.


Just a question for you people with dual fans. Why not have the fans come on at the same time cool the car faster and then have them turn off at the same time? I was thinking if I had dual fans I would make them come on and off at the same time. Just curious?

 

When there's duals I turn them on and off at the same temps..