Posted by Mark (IP: 192.62.107.213) on September 07, 1999 at 12:05:32:
In Reply to: Fan Shroud? posted by Sparks on September 07, 1999 at 08:52:28:
: My 302 has a factory fan shroud. Are you stating better performance with aftermarket,
: or just better with than without?
would never suggest that anyone run without a fan shroud! I am having some heating troubles here in Texas. While sitting at the red light it just warms right up. So, I decided to go with an electric fan seeing as how the only real time that I have troubles is when sitting still. The electric kicks on, and keeps the engine at a constant, but doesn't cool as well and driving 55+. I have a 3 row, and was running a factory shroud, but it was April, and hadn't hit the high temps yet here in Austin, so I figured that it was a good idea. On top of all that, I want to get the A/C hooked back up. More heat to the radiator. The alternative...an aluminum radiator, with the electric fan. I've had comments from lots of aluminum radiator owners at car shows, who HIGHLY recommend them. That their motors would run in the 210-220 range with the A/C on, but then drop to 180 after changing to the Aluminum Radiator. They all used shroud.
My point is that the better you can regulate the heat in the engine, the better off you are. If you have a radiator that cools the water to 160, then you can get a thermostat to compensate, rather than running the engine hot at 210, and not being able to do anything about it.