Going to be switching from the electric fan to a mechanical one. It never gets cold enough to warrant salvaging the electric setup here in Florida.

The question is, do I need a spacer for the fan, or does it mount directly on the water pump? Also do I need a shroud of some sort or can I just run it open?

 

I don't think I have ever heard of someone switching from a electric fan to a mechanical fan.

 

On the surface, it DOES seem like a lot of work for less reliable cooling. At a minimum, you'll need a clutch fan and a shroud from an earlier ThridGen. Without a shroud, you'll have recirculation and cooling problems at low vehicle speeds and while standing idle.

Have you considered simply adding a second electric fan with an aftermarket controller? It seems that it would be an equal or lesser amount of labor, and probably cheaper, and certainly more effective.

 

Well basically I live in central florida, its hot all the time. As an example on my other vehicles, thier fans seem to run almost all the time.

The fan setup as it was wired on my '86 camaro (bear in mind this car cost me $900), was an electric fan with its wire spliced then connected to an INDOOR extension cord that went all the way into the cockpit via the fender wall and door jam. Then it was wrapped around a fuse and smashed back into the fuse box.

So as you can see some ******* that had this car really ****ed it up.

A mechanical fan seemed like a far easier solution to implement.

Vader: How is it less reliable?

 

Any thing over 3500 rpm and it basically is doing nothing...soup effect the only cooling would be air moving from speed, electric is by far superior to mechanical and it si not that hard to wire up the right way.

Kyle

 

:sillylol: Now I understand you wanting to take that out of there. I believe I would put a electric fan in though.

 

Obviously, I didn't mean more mechanically reliable. Not much ever happens to a mechanical fan or clutch. I meant that you would have more reliable cooling. An electric fan move a more consistent amount of air without robbing as much engine power.

Personally, I'd repair the wiring and fan circuit so that the ECM can control it as it should. That means the fan will turn on with engine coolant temperature, the AC compressor, and off at 40MPH VSS signal. If the harness has been really trashed, you're going to find it in other systems as well. If not, most of the wiring should still be there. A relay is all that's required. The CTS is used to signal the ECM on a single fan system, so there isn't even another sensor to get involved with. And if the CTS isn't working, you have bigger problems than just the electric fan not working right.

Yeah, a piece of zip cord and some electrical tape certainly isn't a professional repair. Geesh...

 

The wiring in this vehicle is complete crap. The motor has been switched and nothing was hooked back up. As such I have switched to a non computer controlled carb and distributor.

So to rewire a fan electrically I think would be a massive undertaking. Just finding the approriate wire to the ECM would be difficult.

 

Too bad that the wiring was hacked like that - especially since there is no reason.

An easy fix may be to install an aftermarket electric fan control, like the DeRale fan control for about $40. It has it's own sensor and power relay, so wiring is easy.