Writeups - Cooling Solutions
On hot sunny day this summer Cam
(BlancoBronco), Emmet (ILVTNA, MudMad) and I went for a little 4x4
adventure but it was cut short when The Beater was charging up a hill
and the radiator decided to blow chunks. It had overheated on 100 +
degree days before but nothing like this.
Parts List:
Heavy Duty Radiator $111
2 Ford Taurus Fans $40
95 Ford Mustang 130 Amp Alternator $17 (BAD)
98 Ford Taurus 130 Amp Alternator $35
175 Amp Mega Fuse $5
Mega Fuse Holder $12
200 Amp Circuit Breaker $25
85 Amp Cont 165 Amp Max Relay x2 $70
Gaskets $21
Water Pump $51
Timing Set $21
10G Wire & loom $10
4G wire & connectors $15
Total Spent $433
Minus bad alt, fuse and holder $ 399
I wanted to not only fix the
problem but take it up a notch so this won't happen again. Emmet hooked
me up with a heavy duty radiator. It's twice as thick as the stock one
so it's a good start. I have seen a few write-ups from people that ditch
the clutch fan and go totally electric. I like the idea but I want total
cooling action.
I headed to the local Pick-a-Part
and spent a few hours digging up a couple Ford Taurus 3.8 Liter radiator
cooling fans. These draw a lot of power so I also grabbed a high output
130 amp 3G alternator from a 95 Mustang. My brother came by later to
help me with this project.
I had to shorten the fan shrouds
about 3/4" and carefully cut out areas for the hoses and transmission
cooling lines. Each one has four nut and bolts holding it down firm. I
also had to fabricate some custom brackets since the fan on the far side
sticks out a little past the radiator.
Here is how the brackets look under
the shrouds.
We then installed the first 3G
alternator. I used 4 gauge switch to starter cables since this is a 130
amp alternator.
We placed a 175 Amp Mega Fuse with
a bling bling fuse holder from the audio section since no-one had a
normal one in stock.
I decided since I had everything
out I would go ahead and replace the water pump. Bad Idea! I ended up
braking off two of the bolts that go all the way through to the block.
We spent the rest of the day trying everything easy outs to welding nuts
onto the stubs to try and remove them with no success. We decided to try
and use the 5 remaining bolts and a heavy amount of silicone to keep it
from leaking. We got everything but the fans wired and started it up.
After installing the new water pump, it didn't leak there
but did leak between the timing chain cover and the block. I also got
nothing from the alternator so I took it to Pepboys where it failed all
tests.
So we removed the radiator, all the pumps and hoses and
spent hours trying to fineness the timing cover off with no luck. Those
two snapped bolts were holding it tight. I finally decided to get tough
and using a dremel with a cutoff wheel and a grinder with a cutoff wheel
I cut out about half the bolt leaving enough of the housing to be able
to eventually get a new nut on there to hold it tight.
Looking at what appears to be a core sample you can see why
the cover didn't want to budge. 15 years of rust had welded the things
in place. there isn't even threads there. Of course once we got the
timing cover off what remained of the bolts unscrewed with ease.
With only 1 1/4" left we were able to pry the timing chain
cover off. (#$@% Penzoil!) It looks like it's time to change the
timing chain since I have it broken down this far. while relieved we
finally got to a point where we can start putting it back together this
is way further than I planned on taking it.
The next weekend I went back to Pick-a-part and got another
3G from a 1988 Taurus and a couple water pump bolts off an older 351. My
brother came back for another weekend of torture and we started by
placing the new timing chain set in. It's not only cleaner but the new
chain made it a nice tight fit. We spent the next few hours muscling the
timing cover back on. It was getting dark so we will continue putting
the Beater back together in the morning.
Saturday late start but we got the water pump back on then
all the pulleys, serpentine belt and hoses connected.
Before we put the radiator back in I decided it wasn't
Beater enough. It needs a hole in the fender.
With the size of the new radiator and fans I couldn't
replace the fresh air intake so I flipped the filter box and made a new
one.
The hamsters in my head are spinning on ideas for a scoop
or snorkel or some other way of pumping air into the box. Sometime
I will get a K&N or similar filter.
By the time it got dark we had the radiator back in and all
the hoses and stuff back in. Tomorrow we will fill the fluids, change
the oil and oil filter then wire up the fans.
It was 100 degrees outside on Sunday so not a lot got done.
We changed the oil and filter added water and started her up. It seems
to be doing OK so far. The 3G from the Taurus works and there are no
leaks. I have the fans wired to the relay. I will need a second one for
high speed. I'll do that next week. Here's my solution for the cold air
intake, for now anyway.
I got a second relay and made a bracket to hold them in
place.
For now I wired the low speeds only. One is switched to the
AC condenser. It will run with the AC on. The other is connected to the
Fan controller from my old wimpy fan. It is set to 180 degrees. I also
ran the high speed wires from the fans to the relays so I can easily
switch it out if necessary.
I drove it about five miles and popped the Mega fuse. I
will have to take a look and see what caused that to happen. It worked
fine at idol (14.3 Volts) but when I gunned the motor it blew the Mega
Fuse. I ordered a 200 Amp circuit breaker from a car audio place to
replace it.
I installed the circuit breaker and managed to break it
within a few minutes of installing it. The web page states that you push
in the button to reset it. I did that since it was sticking out and went
to move the arm where it says 200A. I broke a small piece of plastic on
the inside. When I took it apart it could see that pushing it in
actually breaks contact. I am waiting for the JB Weld to dry on the
small broken piece.
This is the fan controller from the old aftermarket fan.
The guy that installed it didn't have it wired properly. The yellow goes
to positive, black to negative, orange to the fan and he had the green
going to the AC condenser which does nothing. There is a small black
that goes to a temp sensor in the radiator. I think if you insert a
relay into the socket the other wires are for the high speed side but I
have no idea where the red and blue go. (red to high speed power and
blue to?)
Well the fan controller ended up
being bad so I wired the second fan to a switch on the dash. I started
the Bronco and the serpentine belt started screeching, then smoking so I
shut it off.. The alternator was burning hot so I thought it seized up.
NO that would be my second one. I pulled the belt off and the alt spun
free so that wasn’t the problem. I got a strait edge and compared it to
the other pulleys and it was about ¼” off. I went to pull it and the
sparks started flying. The 4 gauge cable from the alt had melted the
housing and was shorting out. I pulled the battery cable then removed
it.
After a short trip to the Zone for a new cable I cut the end off the
sleeve that fits in the bottom hole of the alt bracket so it could move
forward. It was a little too much so I used a thin washer to get it just
right. I then used two 1/8” thick washers on the top alt bracket hole to
even it out. Now it all lines up just right. It only squealed once
before since I installed it and it was just for a second at startup. Why
it decided to squeal now I don’t know, but it’s fixed. I also noticed my
lower radiator hose was a little too close to the belt so I loosened it
and moved it out of the way.
I took it for a drive and now the temperature gauge fluctuates between
the N and A on normal. Before it pretty much stayed in one place. Other
than that it seems to be running really good.
It's a few months later and one of the fans was making more and more
bearing noise. It was the main one I was using so I decided to just go
with one fan.
I
got an adjustable fan controller (180 to 220 degrees) and wired it with
two switches. One with auto off manual and the other with high low. it
goes thru the first switch, auto for the controller or manual for a hot
lead or off to override it when forging deep water. then it goes thru a
high or low fan speed switch. from there it goes to the two relays one
for each speed.
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