Hey everyone, here's a simple enough question for the mechanics. Done working the small things on my car, there's only a month left before i store my car permanently for the winter and rebuild her. So i'm having fun with it now but something's scaring me. The only fan i have on this 350 is an old rusty clutch fan. The fan is seized and constantly spinning with the engine's RPM. The blades are uneven (probably causing bad vibratrions), shot and they look like they'll soon fly off. I ordered in an electric fan which will only be here in three weeks, so, should i leave the clutch fan there for the last month or is that too risky for the engine's temperature even in this cooler weather? Don't ask me about the engine's temp, the thermometer is in't reading correctly.

 

The vibrations are bad for the water pump bearings, and flying blades would be bad for the hood, so it would be advisable to keep your RPM's down anyway.. Not much fun left then I guess.. The cooling is great with a seized fan, no worries there, but you can actually remove it provided you always keep moving (at least 5-10 mph). The headwind will do the job nicely, but you would have been much more safe with a guage though. Just a few minutes idling at standstill will make it overheat, even in arctic temperatures. You would also have to watch out for tailwinds moving at the same speed you do, resulting in overheating.. I removed the fan in my wagon once when it had seized, and drove for hours (in normal temperatures), encountered no problems, and I didn't even have a guage..

 

If you're talking about a more than three-bladed fan, the blades are supposed to be staggered to reduce noise.

 

Haha, well, it is a three blade clutch fan Apeiron. God knows off of what though. And Fullsizewagon, what you are saying is exactly what I believed. I think i'll keep the fan on till I park the car. The engine is really strong and would need cooling. The hood is garbage and being replaced this winter, but still concerned about other under-hood components. Maybe i'll simply take it easy. Or try...Thanks guys.