Radiator cooling fans.
 

Just a quick question about my cooling fans. When the fans come on at 176 degrees the temperatures slowly keep going up. The highest has been 206 degrees. Is this normal for these 5.0L cars? I have the fans set up as pushers. Would making a fan shrouding help? The fans are loud and never shut off because of the heat.

Hi Baad88,

The rising temperature in your case is a function of the following:

1) LIKELY CULPRIT: The radiator is not up to the task of cooling the car. You need a proper three core radiator that is as large as you can fit in your nose. The cheap Chinese made aluminium radiators are often marginal at best and will cause overheating. I recommend a custom brass built radiator that will last the life of the car with a full three core centre.

2) The fans you have are not strong enough to pull the necessary air through them to cool the car down. If the fans are not immediately pulling the temperature down then they are not good enough. I would only recommend 2 x SPAL fans and they need to push a minimum of 1200 cfm each. I used 2 x 11 inch SPAL fans,,they pull 1600cfm each....heavy chunky things...but when I was in 43 deg C weather and I was sitting in traffic for 3 hours the car temperature never moved from its normal position...that's what you want all day every day.

3) Pusher fans are no where as efficient as puller fans. if you have the room change them over to pullers. Your fans never shut off because the radiator you have is not shedding the heat quickly enough for amount of airflow the fans provide.

4) Shrouding will only become an issue if the radiator (main player) and the fans (secondary player) are not good enough for the job.

5) Also if you don't already, make sure you run a thermostat 180 deg F

6) A lot of people who have converted these cars complain about overheating or rising temperatures at slow speeds. It will all come down to the quality of the radiator and fans. My radiator cost me $1000 USD which is 3 times the cost of the cheap aluminium ones you see for sale but its 10 times the radiator they are. Same goes for the fans...you need to get good fans that can pull air through the radiator, A good measure of the fan quality is to see the current rating of the fans...if they only rated at pulling a few amps (less than 12A) then they wont suck any air through the core. My SPAL fans are 11 inch and pull 1600 cfm and suck 22 amps EACH :). These are super heavy duty fans that are bulky and weigh a ton but I know that there is nothing on the market that will suck more air through my radiator. And I have done over 20000 miles on my setup and temperature is never ever an issue because everything is over-specced and for these cars you need cooling to be over-specced.

Cheers

Thank you for the reply. I should have mentioned that I am using Martins kit. His radiator and dual fans with a 180 degree thermostat.

OK Cool,

All my comments still stand from above...however can you please check the coolant filler neck that was supplied by martin. There was an instance in the past where there was no hole in the filler neck for the coolant to flow through so the car in question (Gabriel's car from Canada) overheated. You may have a blocked one too ?

So please double check that too...if that is OK...

However, you will likely need to get a proper radiator (and or proper fans), the radiator in the kit is OK but nothing special. Same for the fans...actually the fans seem light duty from a cfm performance perspective.

cheers

Thank you again when the snow is melted I will be doing just that..

radiator
 

Question for Engineer,
Would you please be kind enough to tell me exactly which brand and the part number of the radiator that you are using? I have 2 of these 5.0 Liter cars and they have similar issues. If they are unique special builds then specs will be helpful. What is your opinion of the Ford Contour fans? They seem highly rated. Thank you in advance.

Ditto

Hi,

My setup is a brass/copper custom radiator with an ADRAD 56mm core thickness that measures 27 inches wide by 18 inches tall with the end tanks. This JUST fits in between the frame rails with just enough room for wiggle and heat expansion. Also this radiator sits lower than Martins radiator as its taller. Still within the front bar lip though.

The fans are a SPAL SPAL Automotive USA 30102800 - Spal Electric Fans that pull 1605cfm each. They are a great fan bit bulky and heavy when compared to other options (that don't suck as well as these).

With this setup I have sat in traffic all day at 43C in Australia with 90% humidity and the car's temperature did not move at ALL. Even after a long drive the radiator is not too hot to touch by hand. One day one of the relays on one of my fans decided to die. The car was running on only 1 fan and the temperature still did not move. I had no idea the fan was not working and I went through the whole summer like that. The relay was replaced and the fans now both work as they should.

But the moral of the story is that even though the airflow through the core was reduced by 50% the radiator could still sink enough heat to keep the car's temperature under control on just one fan. The heating issues with these cars can be solved easily with a top quality radiator and decent fans.

The contour fans you mention seem quite good and they have a nice shroud as well which makes it easy to fit. If they can keep the car cool then go for it I say, the OEM factor is a good thing as you don't have to fabricate anything to make them fit. My preference though is to get the highest flowing fans that can fit in the space you have. You will need a minimum of 2500-2700 cfm of airflow through the core to keep cool all day every day.

SPAL also have a twin fan setup with a shroud that pulls 2700 cfm, which is a good option too. See here SPAL Automotive USA 30102052 - Spal Electric Fans

I went with the 2 x 1605cfm SPAL fans as that was the highest cfm flow rate I could get in my space (3200 cfm). I didn't want to take any chances with potential overheating, as its the worst thing if you drive the car daily...which I do. I had a bit of a project to make the shroud and the mounting for these fans as they very heavy. So be prepared for that too. In the end it worked out very well with just enough room to spare around the fans in relation to engine clearance. I actually sloped my radiator slightly (bottom of radiator is closer to front of car, top of the radiator slopes towards the rear of the car) from the true vertical position to get the extra room to clear the fan motors.

The contour fan is what I had on my prior monster. The contour fans CFM rating is 3,500 combined and there is a built in shroud. They draw up to 21amps each. Combined with martins radiator, I never had any cooling issues in HOT Georgia, and my car had iron heads, A/C and no hood venting. Of course, as engineer suggested, a bigger radiator is always a good idea but wanted to chime in as I have personal experience with your radiator combined with the contour fan you are considering...

I'm assuming your car had the SN95 front dress...? Did you have to do anything special to fit the Contour set up? I want to switch to them and the literature I got with my car says it has the SN95 stuff, but it sure appears to already be a super tight fit with the regular Martin fans and corresponding super thin shroud in there. Not sure I could fit the Contour set up in there without at least tilting the radiator forward at the bottom. Appreciate any insight.
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I have Martin’s rad, contour fan setup, and SN95 front drive. I have the bottom of the rad right up against the air guide and the top of the rad trimmed to fit over the nuts holding the hood release to gain an extra 1/8th inch. Parts of the shroud behind the fans need to be trimmed to fit, but it does barely squeeze in there. Note that I don’t have PS or AC in case that makes a difference.
It does work really well. Use appropriate fuses and relays and I’d suggest a fan controller too.

Thanks for the input! Like I said, the literature that came with my car says it's got SN95 front components, but I've compared pictures, and by the looks of it I don't think it actually does as my water pump snout is way too close to the radiator. I'll just relegate myself to the fact that I'll have to move my radiator forward if I want to make the upgrade.

Post a pic. We should be able to tell.