The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Cooling Question

So, my old 61 is starting to feel the effects of summer and getting too hot for my liking. Has anyone ever adapted a fan shroud to a 235's radiator?? I am thinking that a fan shroud would help pull more air over the radiator? Right now when the truck warms up the temp gauge reads about 3/4 of the way to "H" on the dial. I want to cool it down. Maybe a new fan blade? I want to keep the old girl cool. I am also thinking about getting the radiator rebuilt and getting a good coolant flush. Thoughts, tips, suggestions?? Thanks in advance.

Kyle

make sure your fan belt is not to loose that will make a motor run hot

My 65 always ran too warm when A/C on, I live in Phoenix tried different fans went electric Problem solved!

I reccomend electric to everyone, Haven't gotten to 195 ever. Make sure everything else including the radiator is in good shape

my 54 was overheating and i switch to a 160 thermostat from a 190, helped greatly. ron

Thanks everyone, I am thinking about electric but I might try the fan shroud first. I will also check the belt, not sure if it is loose or not. Anyone have ideas on how to make a fan shroud??

On the cheap... take a plastic (or metal) garbage can, cut the bottom out, use whatever diameter and length you need and make some brackets to connect to the bolts holding the radiator in place. Put the largest part of the diameter towards the radiator. Don't let it rub against the fins.

Definitely try a shroud. It made enough difference for me that I can get away with the low water pump in a A.D. application. I bent some cardboard into the shape I needed and then copied the bends onto 2 pc's of steel stock. After I bolted the halves to the rad I welded them together for a perfect fit. Heres a pic of the shroud:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/377803706/1377804539023244788VcLPaJ

And another one of it in place:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/377803706/1377804563023244788BFDQpy

Curt B.

Heck electric can be as cheap and you can mount it to be a pusher and clean up your engine compartment. no fan, no shroud.

If there is any way to change the size of your pulley, you may be able to increase the fan speed, and thereby draw more air past the radiator.

What's the rating of your radiator cap?? Could be as simple as that.

I have a brand new 7 lb cap. That garbage can idea is brilliant I think that I might have to look into making myseld some sort of shroud. I am also thinking of putting in a "summer" thermostat, any merit in this? Thanks for the replies gentlemen.

Hoggin - That is a pretty slick fan shroud, I might have to whip something like that up.

Do any companies make shrouds for these old trucks??

Kyle

I have one off a 62/350 Don't know if they are the same or not Cheap.

see
http://www.overclockers.com/tips1022/

Fort Knox,

I think it is important to keep your truck at a more constant temperature. The thermostat is supposed to do that. If you are having problems with cooling, I would suggest the problem to be a bad thermostat, or a problem elswhere. I would want to keep the thermostat within 5 degrees from the factory recommendation (if stock). I guess that my opinion doesn't really support the "summer" thermostat. The thermostat facilitates faster warmups and makes sure that the engine temp doesn't get too cool or too hot.

Things I would do are:
1. Make sure the radiator is clean (inside and out) and water pump in good working order (check to see that belts are in good shape). Also make sure that your fan blade isn't bent or out of balance. The heater core being clogged can also contribute to poor cooling.
2. Adding a overflow tank will keep the radiator full of coolant and also help keeping things cool. Some of my trucks without an overflow will run coolant onto the ground when I have been pulling a load and then stop to get gas. If I leave the truck idle for a while, the temp will go down. Everything gets hotter under the hood because the truck stops cooling when you shut it off. The heat is basically trapped in the engine. The overflow tank will syphon the coolant back into the radiator when it cools down.
3. A fan shroud will also help direct the air through the radiator, which in turn cools more efficiently.
4. An electric fan will take less HP (less heat generated) than a belt driven fan. It also will only be on when temps go up instead of all the time. If hooked up right, the fan will also keep running after the truck is shut off (if needed), which can help with overflows as mentioned above.
5. Keep the fins of the radiator clean. Maybe when you are at the car wash, wash the radiator fins with water pressure.
6. Make sure that any radiator hoses or heater hoses have no kinks in them.
7. Keep your coolant fresh. Check your water pump to see if it needs a lubricant or not.
8. Know what cap pressure rating should be on your radiator. Talk with your radiator guy to find out what pressure cap you should run on your radiator if you don't know. I would do that in person looking at the cooling system and not by phone. If your radiator isn't in the best of shape anymore, he may suggest a lower pressure cap. Be careful about changing the pressure rating. The pressure allows the coolant temp to be higher before it reaches its boiling point. Higher pressure can also blow a hose, radiator or heater core.

All of these things will also contribute to the vehicles ability to heat in the winter also.

Builder,

Thanks for all of the advice, I think that the first thing I am going to do is get my radiator recored and gone over. I am also pretty sure that my heater core is in need of some attention/replacement, but that is second to the radiator that I know needs some love.

The fan shroud idea is alos on my list, sounds like one of those things I should hunt for in a junkyard. I will have to get on that.

Mostly I am worried that the summer heat is going to overload the old girl and cause problems, and the last thing I need is a major overheat...

Kyle

Fort Knox, if all Your original cooling components are alright, then Your truck should run a normal temp. If it is slow to overheat I would be looking at the radiator first.

The early 1960's cars had a fan shroud that looks like a piece of corrogated steel. You might be able to use one of them if you can find one.

Lots of good advice but.... no one has suggested that you determine exactly what you engine temp is during normal highway operation. My experience with older vehicles is....that they seem to run best at about 180 plus or minus a few degrees. Once you get an actual reading that is accurate you can start with the above suggestions.

Running a vehicle BELOW the optimum temperature can have an adverse effect on engine life and performance. I made this error by putting too much cooling w/160 thermo and wound up with contaminated oil that was below optimum operating temperature and cylinder wall wear that was excessive for the mileage. After doing some research I discovered that the wear factor was magnified by deviations above, but moreso by temperatures below the optimum for your engine. Since then, I've concluded that pre-cat engines are pretty happy at 180 and owning a hand-held infrared temp gauge is money well spent. Just my $.02 and I hope it helps because...

I agree FLA54. I believe that 180 is best, but we have to consider that different cars do have different recommended temps. That is why I did not specify a particular temp. I recommended staying close to the factory recommendations and suggested that the factory settings not be adjusted much either way.

If you put too high temp of a thermostat and you have a zero pressure cap, you will be boiling over more often.

donot just start spending until you know what you are looking at for temp,,all gauges donot read same at same temp so find what temp engine is at gauge reading...doc

Evidently my temp gauge is still accurate, I put a 160 degree thermostat in my '51, and now the gauge says 160 once it warms up. I think the owners manual calls for 160 in the summer, and 180 in the winter on mine.

Fort Knox:
Lots of great advice given here.
If you've got a friend who'se a mechanic and he has one of the new thermal reading guns he can tell you just by pointing it at various components of you cooling system where to look for the problem [hot spots-cold spots]Just my $.02 worth, but recently had my original radiator recored, and it isn't cheap especially if you've got the old style cell core. For your shroud, I've had a lot discussions with the folks at Griffin and Walker. To get the most out of your shroud they suggest that you have the front 1/3 of the fan blade inside of the shroud and the back 2/3 outside of the shroud. There are "Universal" shrouds out there but bear in mind Universal usually means you've got your work cut out for you. Don't know about the pressure cap on your 61 but the radiator shop said never to exceed 7 pounds of pressure on the old AD radiators. I run a mechanical fan with a front mounted electrical pusher as a back up.