Well, after several frustrating weeks, and some really dumb errors (and two ruined water pumps) on my part, I finally have my overheating while idling problem fixed.... Tossed everything away I was/had been using, and bought a two speed electrical fan from a junkyard with full fan housing for $20. Put it all in and hooked it up today and problem is gone gone gone !! Hell with traditional look... Today I just hooked it up to a manual switch thru a relay (fun figuring that out ) in the high speed mode to check all things out.... Next thing will be to hook it up to be off, then come on automatically when temp hits ~195* to the low speed fan, with an over ride manual switch to kick it into the high speed if I want too....But that will take a few brains, which I lack in the electrical department....(will have a good friend help me with that) Nice to have it back on the road.... Cheers, Bob
Bob- what happened to the waterpumps you mentioned? I am dealing with a similar prob as well. Enjoy the road
If you want a neat way to control that fan....look into DC Control....it's a variable speed controller....works great......no issues with my jeep. http://www.dccontrol.com/introf0.htm
So I have a similar heating at idle problem, I think that it's my electric fan, mine is in a 41 PU, w- 261, only heats up when idling. Does your new fan have a shroud? Mines a after market that I bought at Napa, big as would fit on my radiator. I sure didn't think that I would have a cooling problem, but I do. My truck has a 2 ton radiator, the thing is real big compared to a stock PU radiator. When I put my new motor in, I took the radiator to the shop, they said it was fine, or even better than fine. When my fan is on, it isn't pulling very much air, I've noticed. Guess I will take a run to wrecking yard to look there for a difrent fan.
My radiator is out of a '66 Chevy Impala that had a 283 in it. (It is a three core) The dimensions of the core itself are about 22" wide and 15" high......I went thru many many electric fans in the junkyard mud and found the one I bought which has a full shroud and covers the full 15" height, and about 20" of the 22" width. It came off an '03 Toyota with a 3.5 engine in it.... Trimmed it a bit on the bottom to fit over my lower radiator hose, and made a couple of brackets to make it fight tight up to the radiator core. kein, Here is my post on breaking the water pumps.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=578274
Guys i tried to start new thread but for whatever reason it would not allow my aologies. Here is my dilemma: I have a V8 59 Apache 283 that overheats only when idle. I have changed thermostat to 160, I have a manual fan with no clutch at this time, and also recently bought a shroud which was $90 from LMC!! Anyways I think my next step is to go to electric fan, but I am wondering if they sell an electric fan without an enclosure shroud, so I can use my existing shroud and not feel bad in having to chunk the ****. I have also flushed system and nada. It goes from 160-170 highway to 215-220 idle that too me is too hott for this old 283. Any suggestions? s anyone aware of any none shrouded electric fans?
This problem happens alot with installing an electric fan.Check the rotation of the fan,some are made to pull air some are made to push air.At speed the radiator is being cooled by the air coming in from out side but if you have the wrong rotation fan at idle the engine will heat up quick.
Those two late 80's Siidewinder Caddy Devilles that I just sold off both had good size electric fans that were pretty slim but pulled a hell of a lot of air. They seem to be in most wrecking yards and the fans are probably pretty inexpensive used.
I think there is a taurus dual fan setup that is popular with Fox Mustang and also Jeep XJ guys... Anyone remember? I bought a very slim Spal fan for my car, wasn't cheap but I have less than 3 inches of room.
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