cooling the 7m better.... hopefully

[max-89supra(t)]

Hey guys, my 89 7mgte is starting to get pretty hot in the summer (I live in southern WA and its only recently started to get hot). Anyway why my car gets hot is because my fan clutch is toast, and it has been for a while, in the cooler days it always stayed cool, but now were reaching 100 f weather and it gets hot, so i only drive it to work which is 8 min away. Im thinking of getting an 3 row mizu radiator and possibly the twin electric fan setup from zankoku- its only about 380 all together, but ive heard about lots of problems with e fans not cooling well enough, so;

-what cfm fans should I run?
-should i get an electric switch for them, or get a manual one?
-If i get an electric switch what should i set it at? some say 180, others say 200's?
-any one have any suggestions on better e fans?
-am i missing anything? any imput on this is appreciated, tried to search around and couldnt find much info on this, if someone could provide a link to a write up on this that would be great, thanks guys!

 

[Nick M]

You should run the stock new fan clutch for maximum cooling effectiveness. A new radiator from Toyota, PWR, Fluidyne, or whomever is probably a good thing. If your radiator is original, it is probably in sad shape internally.

Electric fans are not suggested nor needed. They do not cool as well as the fan clutch. Many do like it, because it saves space in front of the engine.

 

[airhead04]

^lol

 

[max-89supra(t)]

yes the saved space I would like, but there are no electric fans that are capable of cooling the 7m well??

and I dont get what the lol is about airhead04?

 

[jetjock]

I too am confused because your post was much funnier than Nick's. Or maybe that's what he was loling at...

 

[89supracrazy]

Here are some that I am considering. They flow alot more air than the flex a lite fans. As far as a temp. switch you can buy one that you can set yourself that replaces the stock one located in the tstat housing. I have all my electric fans bridged out so they come on as soon as I turn the key on. You can take the blue one wire that goes into the tstat housing switch and run it straight to a good chassis ground. You can also take the relay for your ac fan condenser and bridge it out where it stays on and that helps air to pull threw your intercooler and threw your radiator. The relay is located on the passenger side near the air filter.


http://store.summitracing.com/partd...400006+4294838842+4294783097+115&autoview=sku




http://store.summitracing.com/partd...400006+4294838842+4294783087+115&autoview=sku

 

[thedave925]

I too am confused because your post was much funnier than Nick's. Or maybe that's what he was loling at...

Ditto, but the whole thing.


max, its fastest now and cheapest in the long to get a new fan clutch, not to mention reliable.

See that guys, I found a way to use fast cheap reliable in one sentence.

Some of the fan issues is that the relays fail, as can manual switches.
If you were looking for freeing horsepower at the drag strip, E-fans help.
In a daily driver, I don't think I'd do it.
Gotta say though, they do look clean

 

[iwannadie]

Why not service the fan clutch rather than replacing it if you're looking to save some money...

 

[supraguy@aol]

I used to have flex-a-lite 210's in the car, and I'm so glad I went back to stock.
Did the FAL's cool well? Very. Problem was- the relay died a number of times, and I would begin to overheat.
So I made my own set of relays, hooked to a temp switch. Problem solved. Except that where I had the temp switch(in the Tstat elbow), would get hot
after I shut down(heat soak) and the fans would come on after I had left the car. Problem was, the water pump wasn't circulating the water through the block, so all I'd get was a hot temp switch, hot block, and ice cold radiator.
Also, people would ask me after I left the car- "did you leave your car running?"- because the fans were so loud. And getting back to the car later, I'd just hope I had enough battery strength left to start it again(huge draw).
I could have fixed the problem by moving the temp switch into the bottom of the rad(I even bought an aluminum weld-in bung for this purpose), but I kept asking myself why? How was any of this better than stock??
I spent $220+ on the fans, $25 on the replacement relays, $10 for the bung, and the setup wouldn't have done anything better than stock. I bought a used clutch for $20, a brand new fan shroud for $67, and I haven't looked back since.

PS- you said your fan clutch is toast- I assume it's locked up? That means worst case scenario, it's trying to cool your radiator TOO much. Do you have the fan shroud on the rad? That's a huge factor if you don't.
And as mentioned above, An old original rad is probably partially clogged. Get an aluminum rad, a new shroud, a new clutch, and enjoy the reliability.
Also- if you want e-fans to reduce drag on the motor, guess what- The additional load on the alternator doesn't save you much.
HTH

 

[Nick M]

Problem was- the relay died a number of times, and I would begin to overheat.
So I made my own set of relays, hooked to a temp switch. Problem solved.

You could always wire the relay to the ground side.

 

[87M-GTE]

I used to have flex-a-lite 210's in the car, and I'm so glad I went back to stock.
Did the FAL's cool well? Very. Problem was- the relay died a number of times, and I would begin to overheat.
So I made my own set of relays, hooked to a temp switch. Problem solved. Except that where I had the temp switch(in the Tstat elbow), would get hot
after I shut down(heat soak) and the fans would come on after I had left the car. Problem was, the water pump wasn't circulating the water through the block, so all I'd get was a hot temp switch, hot block, and ice cold radiator.
Also, people would ask me after I left the car- "did you leave your car running?"- because the fans were so loud. And getting back to the car later, I'd just hope I had enough battery strength left to start it again(huge draw).
I could have fixed the problem by moving the temp switch into the bottom of the rad(I even bought an aluminum weld-in bung for this purpose), but I kept asking myself why? How was any of this better than stock??
I spent $220+ on the fans, $25 on the replacement relays, $10 for the bung, and the setup wouldn't have done anything better than stock. I bought a used clutch for $20, a brand new fan shroud for $67, and I haven't looked back since.

PS- you said your fan clutch is toast- I assume it's locked up? That means worst case scenario, it's trying to cool your radiator TOO much. Do you have the fan shroud on the rad? That's a huge factor if you don't.
And as mentioned above, An old original rad is probably partially clogged. Get an aluminum rad, a new shroud, a new clutch, and enjoy the reliability.
Also- if you want e-fans to reduce drag on the motor, guess what- The additional load on the alternator doesn't save you much.
HTH

+1

New OEM is the best set up. hands down.

Replace/fix your clutch, keep your fan shroud on, maybe do a thermostat, and either get a new stock radiator or go aftermarket.
http://www.supramania.com/forums/sh...-Fan-Fan-Shroud-and-Mounts&highlight=radiator


Sam

 

[89supra7mgte]

I tihink this has been covered before in another post. Right now i am running one e fan and have had no cooling probs, even in the 100's can actually set the fan t stat to keep temp at 195 if wanted. I think its more based on user preference. you can get fans that flow 2500cfm, and add dual, as compared to one mech fan and two ac fans if there. which not to mention you run one or both e fans with ac switch. Installed properly i think e fans are efficient as stock as long as fan shroud is there also. I have i asked before what the stock fan flows cfm wise and got no answer. so i still think its a toss up. stock is cheaper but all in all it comes down to maintenance of cooling system.

 

[max-89supra(t)]

thanks a lot guys, I think ill go to a large alluminum radiator and stick to a new stock fan clutch, why i think mine is toast is because the engine bay is so dang hot in the summer and the radiator hoses get hard... no coolant pushed out though and temp gauge is below half point. Also the fan is free spinning no matter how hot the motor is, is there any way to test it? I was told that if it spins freely by hand when the engine is hot its a bad clutch, can anybody second this? any way to test the stock fan clutch?

sorry if some of my questions sound stupid but this is the first time im modifying a cooling system and im trying to research as mush as possible before doing anything.

 

[funky_monkey58]

I will not run electric fans on anything, unless it is solely because there is not enough space in front to run a mech fan.

 

[Nick M]

thanks a lot guys, I think ill go to a large alluminum radiator and stick to a new stock fan clutch.

That is your best move. Don't forget your new OEM thermostat. You can also get a new stock radiator.

 

[max-89supra(t)]

already have a new toyota thermostat (had a 2 week old napa one go bad), thanks guys!

but is there any way to test the fan clutch?

 

[dubsupra209]

if you can wiggle the fan and it has a lot of free play its no good

 

[IJ.]

Make sure you match the Clutch/Blades as the GE uses a 7 blade fan and a clutch that's softer than the one for the GTE 10 blade. (GE clutch=Blue, GTE= Brown/Orange)

 

[dubsupra209]

Make sure you match the Clutch/Blades as the GE uses a 7 blade fan and a clutch that's softer than the one for the GTE 10 blade. (GE clutch=Blue, GTE= Brown/Orange)

I have a ge on my car and its fine i know numerous people that run it on there gtes. But if your buying new from toyota get the turbo fan cause you have more blades.

 

[87M-GTE]

So, just to clarify...
How do you test to make sure the clutch is good?

Sam