99 w' FFD Electric Twin Fan setup

[SoTxVx]

I am the proud owner of a Silver '99. Have put over 120K miles since I bought it used. I live in South Texas and work in Mexico everyday. Sometimes the line gets backed up coming home and with the heat down here you really need to be running the AC all the time. I have had issues over the past 3-4 years with the Vehicross gettting hot while sitting in line with the AC on. I tried swapping out the fan clutch for a Hayden unit and having the radiator "rodded" out a couple of summers ago. This did not solve the issue and I have just put up with it. As long as I don't run the AC it never gets hot no matter how long I sit in line. Turning the AC off once it gets hot, brings the temperature down to normal (about halfway on the gauge).

It is either getting hotter or I am getting less tolerant of the heat and decided to purchase one of the FFD electric twin fan systems. It is very good looking and is relatively simple to install. Unfortunately it did not solve my problem and wanted to let you guys know that the electric fan setup may not solve your temperature problems. The Vehicross still gets hot with the AC on sitting in line. Worse still, it stayed hot even after turning off the AC. I had to turn the heater on full blast/full hot to cool it down. It does not boil over but is getting just to the left of the H on the gauge.

The people I bought it from asked the voltage I am getting as RPMs of the fans drop a lot below 14 volts. I have 13.92 volts according to my fluke 87 MM. They indicated someone from FFD Tech Support would be getting in touch with me to diagnose.

The radiator is very, very clean with no internal blockage. I run 50/50 coolant/water mix.

I am going to clean the AC condenser this evening but I don't think that is the issue.

I am going to add either RP coolant additive or Water Wetter whichever I can get my hands on.

Any other suggestions? I really need the AC sitting in the line at the bridge.

Thanks for your help.


John

[JAMAS]

How old is your coolant?

[vxfocus]

you do have a electric fan just behind the grill that should come on once the ac is turned on if it doesnt that is your problem

[vt_maverick]

Have you pulled your dash apart yet? Might want to make sure you don't have anything "stashed" there that's blocking your air flow.



I wish I had something immediately useful to offer, but unfortunately I'm not super mechanically inclined. I do wonder though, maybe one of the many people promising hood / insert mods would consider doing a fully vented hood? A guy did this to his G35 a few years ago and claimed it lowered the engine bay temp by 100+ degrees!

[etlsport]

which side of the radiator did the fans go? I have a second 10" elec fan installed on the front of the AC condenser and sitting in traffic it will lower my water temp from 210 to 179 in about 5 minutes

[SoTxVx]

Coolant is less than 1 week old. I replaced it when I put the fan kit on.

Electric fan in front of the condenser, right behind the grill is present and comes on when it should.

It is a twin fan setup in a very nice shiny aluminum TIG welded shroud. Goes on the engine side of the radiator. Looks great, doesn't work as well was the fan clutch setup.

Fully vented hood would help considerably. It gets real real hot under the hood.

[BOARZHEAD]

If it is still overheating you said you mounted it on engine side. I hope its a pull fan not a push. Many people do this and mount push fans on engine side. Pull on engine side and push on bumper side

[etlsport]

here is my setup, factory fan clutch on the engine side, works like a charm, of course I think hottest ive ever dealt with is sitting in bumper to bumper traffic in 102 degree weather

Another thing that could help is to add more water to your antifreeze mix. water transfers heat better than antifreeze, so the higher water content the better, but at some point you start to lose corrosion protection and your boiling point will drop, so I wouldnt go past 60% water

[waaaaht]

sometimes i wish there was a better fanclutch...not sure if it's just mine or all VX's sounds like an airplane....maybe larger electric fans and a 3 core radiator would do the trick.

[Bob Barker]

The factory cooling system should be sufficient enough to handle south tx heat and a/c blowing. I would double check the factory settings are working like they should. No need to get into aftermarket parts if oem is still available.

[Grif]

The factory cooling system should be sufficient enough to handle south tx heat and a/c blowing. I would double check the factory settings are working like they should. No need to get into aftermarket parts if oem is still available.

Agreed, I live south of hell. Horrible, humid summers and back to bumper to bumper traffic. Thankfully no probs with AC or overheating (well, I did have to replace the blower motor last year) but still runs AC COLD no overheating in 102F temps with major humidity.

Something else is wrong with the OP's system IMHO. Sure extra fans are nice, but if those don't even help then something is def wrong.

Sombody made the point of polarity and that was entirely correct. Make sure the polarity on the fans are correct thus ensuring fan(s) are blowing in the correct direction. Push air thru the front of the rad, pull air from the back of the radiator.

[PK]

Polarity might not be the only problem.

If the fan blade is curved (and all good ones are) then running it backwards will only be about 25% efficient. The blades are designed to run a certain direction, and therefore the mounting direction must be correct, and the polarity correct, if you want to get maximum efficiency.

PK

[Grif]

PK, you are correct sir! Another point thats easy to miss.

[VehiX]

Thermostat?

[samneil2000]

I was having a heat problem and ran the ECM codes. Found out I was running lean due to a dirty MAF. Cleaned that guy and no problems since. I do have a new fan clutch I'll be installing shortly though.