More Clearance for Mechanical Fan?

[NickyV]

Is there a way to get more radiator clearance for the mechanical fan in a Renix 2.5L (1987)?

 

I’m asking because I am working on putting A/C in and I want to add an electric fan while keeping the mechanical fan.

 

I have also considered creating a custom bracket for my radiator to adjust the spacing. I will be running standard size radiator and condenser… matter of fact, the condenser might actually be a bit thinner than OEM.

 

I was hoping to use a salvaged e-fan pulled out of a 4.0. But I picked it up from a local Pick-N-Pull on impulse, without measuring or calculating.

 

So far, I have only eyeballed the space under the hood by holding up the various parts, and I can tell it will be tight. I think I can use the 4.0’s e-fan as either a push or pull (just need to flip the polarity, right?)

 

But I am worried the fan might be too tall/wide to fit as a push, and that if I use it as a pull, it will be ridiculous close to the mechanical fan.

 

One idea I had and am trying to research is if there is a water pump housing that has a slightly lower profile? That could potentially buy me a fraction of an inch?

 

Based on pictures, it appears that the FlowKooler housings might have a slightly slimmer profile so that the mechanical fan wouldn’t stick out quite so much. And maybe I could combine that with a slightly lower profile fan clutch? [Correction: FlowKooler housings actually look a bit wider... but there are some manufacturers with slimmer profiles.]

 

Anybody have any insight into this? 

Edited Thursday at 05:31 PM by NickyV
Correction

[eaglescout526]

The mechanical fan does pretty good with keeping both radiator and AC cool. I contemplated the same for the summers but there’s just no way to have a pusher electric and a mechanical puller and the only other way would be 4.0 radiator but that’s too much cooling for the 2.5L. 

[NickyV]

Thanks, @eaglescout526

 

I hear you loud and clear. But the thing is, I already went to the trouble to build my wiring harness so that it can activate an e-fan.

 

There are e-fans out there that are quite small. I'm talking about 8-9 inch fans designed for transmission or oil coolers. I know they wouldn't provide nearly enough cooling on their own. But in addition to the mechanical fan, it seems like they could help, especially in stop and go traffic. Do you think that's just not worth the trouble, or do you foresee other issues with going this route?

[eaglescout526]

Makes sense. I went down this rabbit hole and I couldn’t find one that fits. Now if you want you cut out the middle support of the front radiator support you could squeeze in a fan. But I just couldn’t find a fan skinny enough to do what I want. And jamming a mechanical and an electrical together would be quite the sight and a challenge. 
 

Maybe what I would do is swap to an e fan and see how you like it. Supposedly 90’s Taurus fits and has two speeds and moves air pretty damn good. I could be wrong on this. I remember someone somewhere did this. 
Anyways with that you’ll free up HP be doing away with the mechanical. 
But mechanical is also reliable. 
 

For me I was only going to do such to help with the cooling capacity of the 134 that r already doesn’t get with the R12 style condenser. But given the tight spaces, I couldn’t bear to cut or jam it in. 
 

The 2.5 runs cool enough but if it ends up overheating, other issues probably are present. 

[NickyV]

I’ve been talking to someone locally who replaced his mechanical with an all electric and he said it didn’t cool as well. Could be other things going on, but as of now, I definitely want to keep the mechanical for reliability.

 

I might consider going full electric down the road to try to free up some HP. Gotta see how it all works first.

[eaglescout526]

Yeah they very well could have something else going on which is probably why they swapped over. But I don’t know many 2.5L owners who swapped to electric. 

Good luck!!

[coheed]

If you're interested in going only electric, the PT Cruiser fans fit the 2.5/2.8 radiators well with some trimming. Advertised as pulling up to 2400cfm on the high speed as well. This Bosch one I pulled from a junkyard cools my 3.4 swap very well, even when the 3.4 PCM was turning the fan on at 228°.

[NickyV]

Interesting about the PT Cruiser fan. Thanks for the tip.

 

I'm also just a bit stressed. Because the MJ has been overheating when it's climbing hills. I really want to be able to take it camping this summer (with A/C). 

 

It's frustrating (but expected with a project truck, I suppose). Every time I think I'm ready to do this big A/C job, something else more pressing comes up. I've been collecting parts and taking tons of notes over the course of several years. I finally took some time off from work and reserved some time at a DIY shop near by later this month. And now there's this overheating thing...

 

Anyway, I know Cruiser advised against this, but I am quite literally getting ready to fire the parts cannon. New radiator, new rad hoses, new heater core, probably new water pump and fan clutch as well.

 

I'm a still a bit worried it could be the head gasket. I've done several tests for emissions in the coolant -- both before and after a very thorough flush (haven't flushed the block though... I do plan to do that). I have not been able to detect fumes in the coolant. The engine seems to be running well aside from overheating as it goes up hills.

 

I've found posts on here of people saying replacing their radiator helped. I have good reason to believe all the plumbing in the heating system is gunked up. The heater stopped working about a month or two ago, so I think the heater core is clogged.

 

Like I said, I'm just worried about the head gasket. Not only because that will be a big job, but also because I don't want to unnecessarily muck up all my new parts.

 

Sigh...

[eaglescout526]

23 minutes ago, NickyV said:

It's frustrating (but expected with a project truck, I suppose). Every time I think I'm ready to do this big A/C job, something else more pressing comes up. I've been collecting parts and taking tons of notes over the course of several years. I finally took some time off from work and reserved some time at a DIY shop near by later this month. And now there's this overheating thing...

I know exactly what you’re going through. My eagle is doing the same damn thing. I got the overheating issue solved before charging the AC and now I’m back to over heating again. Though my issue is timing related but I did find something interesting with a spark plug. 
 

 

Heres a story and what I would do. 
ok two stories. 
my MJ had a bad headgasket and I drove around like that for a while. Not good for it but I couldn’t afford to bring her down until I had free time. Anyways I drove her around with coolant turning brown and constantly bubbling and boiling until I solved that. 
 

The eagle had a bad head gasket and I drove it home like that the first night and I absolutely should not have at all. I dumped evaporusts thermocure in it to help clean out the system and it ended up making the headgasket worse in condition to where I was forced to change it which isn’t a bad thing but the problem became more obvious when I couldn’t drive 3 miles without it overheating. 
 

Any car will overheat when climbing hills, just a fact. Course it all also depends on the condition of everything. What I would do first before new hoses and such flush the block, manifold and core separate from each other. Then next is run the big 132oz bottle of evaporust through the cooling system. Let it break up any gunk and remove rust deposits in the block. That way you’ll have the peace of mind knowing the block, radiator, heater core and manifold are clean and clear. Then if the condition of the hoses are crap then replace them. If none of that then I’d move to the expensive stuff like a clutch and radiator 

[AZJeff]

Any time a heater core is found to be plugged up, it’s a sign that the cooling system has not been well-maintained somewhere in the vehicle’s past.  That, in turn, indicates that the radiator is, at the very least, not in OEM condition (unless it was previously replaced due to blockage.)  if I see a plugged heater core, I immediately assume the radiator is in need of replacement.  
 

The XJ and MJ series of vehicles are NOT tolerant of cooling systems that are in any condition except like new in terms of performance, as the design has VERY little margin for deterioration.

[NickyV]

Thanks @eaglescout526 and @AZJeff. All this makes sense.