a few electric rad. fan questions

[einherjar]

hey,


i went salvaging today and i need a new electric fan and i found one from a pulsar NX.



now i have just a few questions:

1.the fan shroud covers 95% of the radiator, how important is the last 5%? should i construct some sort of mini shroud to connect to the electric one.

2. finally, how strong a seal should i have against the radiator? this thing is a beast (i tested it out) it certainly blows. and i'm worried if i have it right against the rad, that the plastic will melt, but if it is too far away it might let air escape???

3. should i have the fan permantaly (sp?) on or shoould i get a temp switch ...maybe i'll do it permentaly untill i get some money.


thank you!

~nik

[einherjar]

ohkay, at least answer this one question!


i'm worried if i have it right against the rad, that the plastic will melt, but if it is too far away it might let air escape???


thanks

[Bill Roberts]

That plastic will not melt. It is good for 300 degrees and your radiator never gets past about 210 plus it is constantly in the wind..which makes it even cooler.

[misnomer]

I am a bit confused on this whole fan shroud thing. Most folks getting electric fans do away with the shroud entirely and place the fan right up to the radiator. These fans will typically have a shroud of sorts build around them, but they will be very close to the radiator. The point of the shroud is to force air to follow that path, allowing the crank fan to suck air through the radiator without having to be right up next to it.

1) Missing a tiny bit of radiator from the shroud/new fan shouldn't hurt too badly.

2) You want it to be pretty snug with the radiator. Air that is pulled in from around the fan shroud is air that doesn't cool your radiator. If the radiator is melting the plastic of your fan shroud, you've got some major cooling issues :P

3) Get a thermostat. If it's on all the time, your engine will run cooler (possibly too cool, it's built to run at 210-220 degrees), and the temperature will vary a lot. That's bad. Temporarily, it will work running it all the time, but fan thermostats aren't too spendy.

[einherjar]

alright thanks

[DuffMan]

The point of a shroud isnt to place the fan farther away from the radiator, its to make sure air goes through all of the fins to ensure that the rad doesnt get heatsoaked in some spots.

5% is no biggie though.