pusher fans...

[DeepPower]

This. Just adding some "A/C Pro" cans in to a freshly refurbished A/C system is not going to cut it. 30 minutes on the Vacuum and professionally charged for best results.

Duh.

A pusher fan has a mounting assembly / shroud that takes up space and gets in the way of your radiator assembly for your normal operating conditions, so in the beginning it is an impediment to cooling.

Interesting, I never thought of that.

That being recognized, if you hook up a pusher fan on it's own circuit with a toggle, it has to help in the really hot days when you are stopped, you just have to remember to toggle it on and shut it off when you are done.

So you think it's better to have a switch to turn the pusher fan on and off rather than have a temperature controlled circuit?

Given your first point that the fan is initially an impediment to cooling, I'm now thinking a two-speed fan for my AC might be smart, high speed for stop and go driving and low speed otherwise to overcome that restriction while lessening the load on the electrical system - these fans can draw 10-16Amps.

 

[sperold]

While you are driving along, even if you are in traffic, your factory cooling fans are not on. When you slow down to a crawl and stop, that is when the fans come on. They only come on to help your engine shed heat to stay within an operating range.

Air conditioning has not come into it so far.

When you run the AC, you are adding heat in the air stream of your radiator, and it is the equivalent of having a hotter day, in which case, your cooling fans are on while you are moving along (and not stopping).

Anything you can do to get more airflow over your radiator is important.

I went old-school with a toggle controlled fan because there is no problem recognizing when you engine is not shedding heat fast enough - your temp gauge heads to the top.
In my case, it was a concern about overheating that initiated the fan installation.

The added bonus of the manual system was when doing errands, you could leave the fan on, to stop the heat-soaking that you get when you stop your car in a near overheating situation. It was kind of like opening your hood, only better.

My fan was a little plastic job that drew about 7 amps, about 10 inches in diameter, and flowed a few hundred CFMs (maybe 300), but it worked great.

 

[DeepPower]

@sperold, my car is not overheating, not even close. The only issue here is my AC - when I am in stop-and-go traffic like in today's 102°F Texas weather, my AC stops blowing cold air.

So the pusher fan I'm considering is for my AC condenser, to keep the airflow over the condenser so my AC stays cool.

 

[sperold]

Your AC system is not shedding the heat from the condenser to the airflow into your radiator. This could be due to lack of expansion through your internal orifice (expansion valve).
It could be the Refrigerant 134A is not as good a product as the old R12 it replaced. It could be the compressor is not pumping up to par; or the expansion valve has become fouled with ice / whatever.

It could be that you don't need more air over the condenser, you need more expansion in your AC system.

 

[broke1]

I think a cowl induction hood or some kind of ram air hood would do wonders for bringing under hood temps down. Thats one of the 1st things I noticed after my 1st drive and popping the hood,just how freaking hot it is!!!

My 95 ATX runs on the first letter(L in NORMAL) and its HOT and HUMID here in Alabama(many days have over 105 heat index....

 

[SHOtimer]

Wow, bringing back my 3 year old thread from the dead!

It would have been best to create a new thread.....

But, while we are here, Sperold is correct. If your AC works while you are driving and just stops getting cold when you stop, it is a problem with your AC system.

You should check the level of the charge, if the charge is OK, you have a compressor or orfice valve problem.

...I never ended up doing anything different, nor installing the pusher fans. I ended up getting a company car, and the SHO retired from DD duty. As a result, it only comes out to play on weekends or road trips, and usually stays in on extremely hot days.

Doug

 

[tommyturbo]

I bet it is an electrical bug. my gauge will read different depending on electrical load. What's really interesting is to watch it, at idle stopped as the temp climbs up to the point the fan turns on, the gauge will jump up by a letter or more quickly, and then slowly start dropping, and then when the load is dropped as the fan turns off it will drop a letter or so really quick. All my fords do this. Even driving my atx cross country and through vegas and the west in august in 110+ weather it stayed on the lower half of the gauge.

FYI My 94 Super Coupe has a 2 speed fan as well as a factory pusher auxiliary fan in front, probably to compensate for the somewhat undersized radiator those cars have.

 

[DeepPower]

For keeping the engine cool, I've found that a bottle of Water Wetter does wonders.

I should also mention that since I replaced the electrical engine fan, I have no engine fan cowel as I could not remove the fan blades off the old fan motor shaft. I'm going to cut the three fan motor mounting tabs off so I can get cowel off and install it.

 

[SHOtimer]

I bet it is an electrical bug. my gauge will read different depending on electrical load. What's really interesting is to watch it, at idle stopped as the temp climbs up to the point the fan turns on, the gauge will jump up by a letter or more quickly, and then slowly start dropping, and then when the load is dropped as the fan turns off it will drop a letter or so really quick. All my fords do this. Even driving my atx cross country and through vegas and the west in august in 110+ weather it stayed on the lower half of the gauge.

FYI My 94 Super Coupe has a 2 speed fan as well as a factory pusher auxiliary fan in front, probably to compensate for the somewhat undersized radiator those cars have.

I bought one of those laser temp guns to verify the actual variance in temp, it is showing that the gauge is accurate.

I'm surprised your ATX stayed that cool. In 90+ heat mine is in the middle of the gauge, if i'm running the AC it will be in the upper half, i'll be ok as long as I don't push it. I have the **** the AC to go up the grapevine if it is 90 or above.

It has always been that way, i've changed sending units, raidators, thermostats, ect.

Doug