elecrical cooling fan simple question could use some help

[383CI86monster]

i recantly put a 383 in my 86 regal limited and its having troubles sitting at lights i know a 383 will run hot but this one wants to over heat after one block and i have narrowed it down to either my fan or my radiator now i havnt changed my radiator in 3 motors but the flow seems adequete but there is buildup now my fan came off of an old 67 impala wagon with the 327 but has no fan shrowd so first im buying an electric fan using 13.1 amps does anyone know of any quuick and easy wires i could splice into for this to work mand on a side note any suggestions on size? any help is greatly apreciated

 

[Hippi]

1.even with the electric fan you really need to run a shroud
2.13 amps is a big draw its really easy to get one of the painless relay kits and put it inline.
3.what temp is your thermostat?is it stuck closed?
4.when your car overheats does it suck the radiator hoses closed?a good way around that is the universal rad hoses from the parts store with the springs in them.
5.what is your initial timing set at?to much advance will make it run hot

 

[383CI86monster]

well for the electric fan i wanna get one that butts right up to the rdiator or if possible put it on the front of the radiator im not sur wat to look for though same with the relay where could i pick one of those up?. and the radiator hose is fine ive got a thermostat for 180 now but i have only ran it to see if it would open and it did other than that m dad drove it wile i was out of town and said it still overheated when i had the old thermostat wich was set at 200 it would cool normally for a couple blocks bought after a couple minutes it would start to overheat more and more at each light but wile drive it would cool normally or at least try to. nd im not to sure wat the timing is as of now i would have to check some notes wen i get back home but wat would be an average timing for this motor and the gap of the plugs im not sure if i got that right

 

[Hippi]

the relay's can be found in summit or jegs or your local speed shop could order one for you,180for the t-stat should be good,it sounds like you either have a clutch fan on there now with a dead clutch but with no shroud with a mechanical fan your just pissing in the wind.A quick fix would be get some sort of a shroud on there and go for a ride you will be amazed at the difference it makes.Some other things to check any air bubbles in the cooling system?Now your rad has good flow but is it really big enough?what are the dimensions of the rad?how many cores does have 2 or 3?

 

[pontiacgp]

:?

 

[IrvJr]

Some Buick guys use an F body radiator and have good results. They are drop in radiator, im not sure what year F body though. But they are inexpensive aluminum cored rads.

 

[383CI86monster]

nice ill have to look into that because i would love to buy one of those rads but with all the money i just put into my car the well is running dry. now as for the current problems there is no bubbles in the radiator and the t sata is working properly and its still doing the same thing i know a shroud would a world of a difference but my original shroud broke off at the bolts . but back to my original thoughts i need some help getting the right electric fan setup for a fair price does anyone have any suggestions?


also this is helping me greatly im glad to see such an interactive forum thx guys

 

[custom442]

You shouldn't be driving your car normally without a shroud, you need one to direct the cold air over the fan

Call around some junk or salvage yards and check if they have any Z28 f body aluminum radiators, you can make em fit even if they're not a direct bolt on.

The bigger the fan, the better. Try to find an old shroud at a junkyard or ebay. A stock g body shroud should accept a 19" (or even 20") mechanical fan. -- This is just an easier and more efficient way to go than an electric fan, but it's your choice

And as someone else said, the hoses with springs in are also a good idea if you're running a high volume water pump

what temp. is it when running hot?

 

[434MONTE]

Howdy, I've been running a hot 408 in a 78 Monte for 10 years with no cooling issues. If you have a decent radiator all you need is more air when stopped. I would definitely use a shroud. Since you have no problem at speed when the engine is making more heat, you have an air flow problem not a water flow problem. The fix for me was to use a fan clutch (from the dealer) for a pickup with the corresponding high pitch seven bladed fan. It will sounds like a DC-3 taking off when you start the engine and then will be inaudible after about a minute. The only time it fully kicks in and makes noise is going up a long grade towing my boat in the desert heat. The nice thing about the OE fan clutch is that it is RPM sensitive as well as temp sensitive...releases at high RPM and doesn't drag the engine down due to either it's weight or pushing a lot of air.

Good luck.

P. S. I'm going to a remote 55 gpm water pump and an electric fan in the shroud soon. This is to make room for a dry sump pump and other stuff I'm hanging on the front of the engine.

 

[megaladon6]

if it's fine when driving, it's not the rad. heating at idle almost always means that there's not enough airflow through the radiator. i'd get a shroud, it doesn't take much to screw up airflow. also i'd check the fan clutch and just in case, that everything goes in the right direction.
btw, 383's should not overheat. there's not enough difference between them and a 350 to cause any cooling issues.