[zuki]

Does a mechanical fan on a 1.3 Sierra push or pull air through radiator?
I have had my radiator cleaned and it still gets nearly to 3/4 mark when 4wd at low speed. I have purchased a thermo fan to mount onto grill side of radiator but want to know do I connect it so air is pushed or pulled through radiator.
David

[eldo]

the air must be going through the radiator towards the rear of the car

[zuki]

So mechanical fan pulls air through and thermo need to push air through.

[Rusho]

Spot on mate if that's the setup you want to run, otherwise if you have just a thermo and get rid of mechanical fan the thermo can be wired to operate in both directions.

[eldo]

it doesnt matter which way you run the thermo, as long as it flows front to back, ie: if you mount it on the inside the thermo must suck the air through towards the engine

[royce]

Thermos work better sucking than pushing cause you have the fan itself restricting cold air getting in at speed, but then thermos on sierras suck in general

Vit clutch fan fits and is a lot bigger

[SuziBlu]

eldo wrote:

it doesnt matter which way you run the thermo, as long as it flows front to back, ie: if you mount it on the inside the thermo must suck the air through towards the engine

Thats almost correct, but not quite.

Any blade will work one way better than the other, at best 70%.

So if you are looking for a push fan, do not buy a pull and reverse the polarity, it will work, but at a much reduced efficiency.

[lukes_89]

i think this may be why my car may over heat a lill to as i got a sierra fan im pretty sure on my vitara engine conversion

[royce]

thermos can run both ways, you reverse the power so they spin backwards AND pull the blade off and turn it around so it has the correct leading edge well, leading

it has an arrow and stuff on the blade itself to show you which way it has to go

[eldo]

royce wrote:

thermos can run both ways, you reverse the power so they spin backwards AND pull the blade off and turn it around so it has the correct leading edge well, leading

it has an arrow and stuff on the blade itself to show you which way it has to go

thanks royce i was just about to edit my post to what you said above

[SuziBlu]

royce wrote:

thermos can run both ways, you reverse the power so they spin backwards AND pull the blade off and turn it around so it has the correct leading edge well, leading

it has an arrow and stuff on the blade itself to show you which way it has to go

ya learn something every day. The only props I am conversant with are on a tapered shaft, not thermos, just went and pulled the fans off the two I have in my shed, one is a davis, the other a gm, both are the same nut size and shaft style, two second job to change them about.

[christover1]

I just ordered a 7" thermo fan kit from ebay.
It is for my auto cooler.
It claims 1 minute to change from pull to push if needed.
Looks like pull may be best,
but will decide when it arrives,
and see where it fits best.

[dhula]

Having the rad cleaned is only half the job.
Did you have the engine flushed as well as this can improve cooling efficiency.
Have you checked the ECT sender and gauge with a known to ensure that 3/4 is in fact 3/4
Have you checked that the thermostat is opening/closing correctly

[Built4thrashing]

Im suprised nobody has asked this already. Are you still running the fan shroud with the fixed engine fan? If you are not then the engine fan will never work properly.

[oozuk]

while were on the topic, what's peoples experiences with thermo fans off road ? I'm running a turbo vitara motor with the vitara radiator vitara viscous fan, shroud and a front mount intercooler.

In the road i have no problem but in the bush on a warm day the temp gets up to 100-110 Deg C which is a bit too hot for my liking

I've even gone to the point of locking up the viscous hub that helped a bit but it's not perfect.
Both the engine and radiator are clean in and out.
I thought of running a thermo in a pull setup and replace the factory fan My haltech engine management should be able to run the fan on one of it's outputs, but i would want the biggest one i can fit on the vitara radiator.

The next step after this for me is a PWR radiator and at around $900 (approx from memory) I'm not in a big rush to take that next step.

sorry for the hijack

[christover1]

My research suggests that 100 to 110 is acceptable.
But I'd prefer lower, too.
Check things with a temp gun, in case guage is inaccurate.

I've not used thermos on anything before.
But I have seen them cause issues on trips.
Poor build quality and poor wiring usually being the cause.

When I locked my fan, it knocked 15*C off everything

[Built4thrashing]

If you follow the KISS formula you have far less dramas offroad. (keep it simple stupid)

You nees to set up a 4wd motor as a stationary engine. One that will keep cool at any revs/load while standing still.

Ive found that a engine fan is much more reliable than a thermo fan.

If you must use a thermo its best behind the rad and needs a full size square shroud. A cut down Falcon fan works awsome on Sierra and Vit rads.

[christover1]

I've wired my air condenser fan so I can switch it on without air con.
It drops temp by around 5*C after a few minutes.

[oozuk]

christover1 wrote:

My research suggests that 100 to 110 is acceptable.
But I'd prefer lower, too.
Check things with a temp gun, in case guage is inaccurate.

I've not used thermos on anything before.
But I have seen them cause issues on trips.
Poor build quality and poor wiring usually being the cause.

When I locked my fan, it knocked 15*C off everything

Have checked the gauge, it's an Autometer elec metric temp gauge

If i could get it to 90-95 max i would be a happy chappy

[christover1]

Mine sits 85 to 95 mostly, but extreme hot days, going slow up big hills, can hit 100 on occassions.
Only seen 105 once, but came down pretty quick.
I run a 82 thermostat, some books say should be 92

[sogone]

My speco gauge says the stock temp the baleno eletric fan comes on is 104 degrees . One of them is lying.

g16b mpfi coil pack motor in sierra. running all stock baleno eletrics.