My fix for overheating W/electric fan !

[Nikad92397]

My ideas/ tries on fixing over heating without going to OEM fan clutch (which I tried) and notes.
1. Radiators come in different sizes in the aftermarket world. 1-1/2" to 1" thick at the core. Mine is 1-1/4" (I will be going oversized ) it's possible to loose 30% of your cooling by installing a new radiator !!!!
2. Under hood temperatures must be crazy! My washer fluid will almost boil ! (Got hit by the spray once)
3. Air flow into and out of the engine compartment is horrible !
4. Fan clutches need to be working almost locked up.
5. A/C needs to be operating in good shape.

My fixes that I have tried, Some work a little, some worked a lot ! Let me point out that I just didn't want the AIRPLANE sound and I wanted enough cooling to let my truck idle a long time or in deep sand or big rocks in 100 degree temps with the A/C on for as long as I wish. If I wanted noisy I would just install a fixed fan ! Heck it's almost locked up when they work good enough to keep a VX cool anyways ! I THINK MY FAN SET UP IS BETTER THAN OEM !!! Or updated OEM.


1. Cleaned out the radiator VERY good ( fixed my last episode) replaced thermostat twice, drilled out hole in thermostat to allow more air to escape and a little more flow when cold, replaced THE O-rings for heater tubes under intake ( it's hard to tell if leaking because it boils away as fast as it leaks)
2. & 3. Made my own grill to increase air flow in (helped a bit), trimmed core support to clean up air flow going in (helped a bit), cut out hood and raised stock insert 3/8" in the back and 1/4" in the middle (helped a bit), added transmission cooler to by-pass radiator (helped a bit). I will try moving A/C condenser a 1" farther away from radiator next time I'm goofing in there.
4. Wrapped a shoe string tight around the clutch fan to lock it up to test. (Helped bunches) replaced fan clutch ( fixed it completely except for long idles / and in very slow sand washes, in heat with A/c on) tried a cheap 3000 CFM EBAY fan (didn't work at all), tried a 2400 CFM dual FFD fan W/shroud (didn't work), tried a 3600 CFM big single fan from FFD (worked great except for freeway hills in heat, bad shroud designs) installed a 1997-98 Lincoln 4200 CFM fan W/shroud and it fixes everything. Note: you will need a bigger alternator !
Added a radiator sprayer to wet the radiator on long steep hills in heat. ( works great but I really don't need it)
5. A/C charged and to specs. But I think the bearings are going out as it is noisy. 230,000 miles on the VX.

[Thelgord]

I have seen people replace the plastic hood insert with a vented one to improve air flow.

[Nikad92397]

I have seen bunches of vents, scoops also. I was thinking of vents on the front fenders..
I went up to 2" opening and the windshield got pretty hot. I didn't want to open another can of worms !

[ipd]

Couple things come to mind.

1. fan clutch is one of the first things I replaced. Didn't fix my issue, but did help quite a bit. Very few aftermarket fans tend to cool as well as stock--and not just on these cars.

2. radiator cap can leak with age, and this can directly affect how well the coolant pressurizes. without pressure, coolant overheats. this is one of the 1st things to check.

3. scoops won't tend to cool very well. Scoops are designed for air induction for intakes--not to reduce bay temperatures. What you really want is airflow THROUGH the bay; ideally through the radiator & directly scavenged out of the bay. Vents are usually the best way to accomplish this--if stock cooling proves insufficient.

4. Color matters. Dollars to doughnuts even if you already have a white VX, painting your insert white will probably drop bay temps by 5+ degrees on a hot day--even with constant airflow through the bay. There's a reason Bluebird paints the tops of all their buses white--and have done so for ~20 years.

5. Test your coolant. Not for temperature effectiveness--you can use 50/50 prestone & forget about it. I'm talking about particulates & metals. I had 2 different shops test it; same result--carbons. Meaning that my head gasket was fried. Not a cheap fix--but it's been well over a year, and not 1 issue--including driving it 2100 miles across country (600+ per day at times). And now in GA heat/humidity, temp needle doesn't budge after it's warmed up--and that's with the A/C on full blast.

[Nikad92397]

This post is only showing what I have tried. As of today my truck has NO OVERHEATING problems.

Edit for caps tried.. I also tried old and new caps I even tried a 1.6 off my dirt bike. Lol. That's like 20 lbs. Now I'm at 12/14 lbs. from Napa.

[Thelgord]

From your post I thought you were having overheating issues and hadn't figured it out yet. Thanks for the clarification.