a friend of mine is telling me not to go with the electric fan, he says IT WILL OVER HEAT while towing. what do you guys think.

i am swaping out the 5.3 radiator for the 6" wider 6.0 unit and going with the flx-280 fan set up, it is suposta prety much cover the bigger radiator. my trailer is only about 3000lbs but it is enclosed and prety tall.

it doesn't run hot now(not over 200), it just doesn't run cold enuff for me(180 or less) i am prety sure this will do the trick for keeping it nice and cool around town but he has me worried about when i get on the interstate with my trailer.

 

Those are the fans that flow something like 5500 cfm right. I don't think you'll have much problem with overheating if thats the case.

I don't think any stock fan setup flows that much air.

Plus they have a shroud which will help alot.

5500cfm is ALOT of airflow. <img border="0" alt="[judgement]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_judge.gif" /> I don't think the stock clutch fan could deliver that flow while towing up a grade even in a low gear with the engine spinning relatively fast.

One other thing. The engine won't be working to cool itself off by turning the clutch fan anymore. Just make sure your alternator and battery are good for that 28amp draw. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="gr_eek2.gif" />

John

<small>[ June 23, 2002, 04:55 PM: Message edited by: XLR8NSS ]</small>

 

yes it is the 5500cfm unit, he is telling me at 70mph is where i will see the problem, he is saying the fans will actualy block the flow of air, i am going to try it, hopefully next week, i will be towing my trailer at least 1000miles the week after the 4th so that will be a good test.

 

Those fans are a pretty wide open design.

For what its worth the electric fans on all vehicles come on while driving on the highway. The air going through the radiator naturally doesn't cool the engine down enough by itself.

I honestly don't think you'll have a problem.

At 70mph there is the potential to push over 35000cfm of air through a 3'*2'opening(radiator) assuming no pressure loss. Just because the fans only flow 5500cfm doesn't mean that they will limit the flow to 5500cfm.

I could be way off but, I think they should increase flow across the radiator since they will decrease the pressure drop across the radiator when they come on. Now I'm confusing myself. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" />

BTW, I had a S10 with a SBC in it. I had to use electric fans since there was no room for a clutch fan. I didn't worry about overheating on the highway just when I came to a stop. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="gr_eek2.gif" />

It'll be interesting to see your results.

John

 

Your friend is dead wrong. I tow my 30' 6200# travel trailer 65 to 70 mph with my LT1 electric fans and it actually runs cooler, especially at stops and slower traffic. At 70 or so, it still only runs about 190*.

 

At 70 mph you won't even need the fans on to cool it.