Mounting Radiator Fan?

[loudstealthGT-Four]

Hi guys slowly getting my car back together , put my new alloy radiator in, and being thicker than the stock Rad the factory fan doesnt fit.

So im going to buy an aftermarket fan, But what i was wondering is can i mount the fan on the front side of the radiator so that it blows cool air through the Rad?

Any cons to doing this?

Thanks Tyler

[Boosted_162]

Never tried that, but i mounted an electric fan on the back of my thick ASI alloy radiator. It was a 10" fan i believe. Only fitted on the passenger side of the radiator, but didnt have any problems with overheating.

[loudstealthGT-Four]

oh ok, yea thought about putting a fan there, but since ive removed the A/C in my car ive got heaps of room in front of the Rad. So was thinking would be a wiser idea to put it there, could also double as a fan for my front mount too

[Boosted_162]

oh ok, yea thought about putting a fan there, but since ive removed the A/C in my car ive got heaps of room in front of the Rad. So was thinking would be a wiser idea to put it there, could also double as a fan for my front mount too

Then i believe you'll need to get a fan which flows the other way. Pretty sure its just the blades are shaped the other way.

[Malcolm]

some aftermarket fans, for example most Davies Craig ones, can have the fan removed and flipped so the air still flows through it the right way when mounted as a "pusher" rather than a "puler". Then you just wire them backwards so the motor spins the other way

[ATAl]

... Davies Craig ones, can have the fan removed and flipped so the air still flows through it the right way when mounted as a "pusher" rather than a "puler". Then you just wire them backwards so the motor spins the other way

I used to have this exact setup and never had a problem with over heating, however i have read that radiator fans work more efficiently when pulling air thru, rather than pushing. Though there might be nothing to this theory.

[evil_si]

most after market fans are 'suckers'
to mount it on the front ideally you want a 'blower' i would reverse the actual blades. and reverse the polarity

[RomanV]

Personally I think the best option would be to modify the factory fan/shroud to fit if possible.

Slightly off topic rant below, but.

Having trawled pick a part a lot, and looking at particular details of a lot of other cars I see, I have noticed a few patterns that pretty much all vehicles adhere to.

One of these, is what cars do in the space in front of the engine bay.

At the front of just about every factory made car, pretty much the entire entrance to the engine bay is sealed up where possible.

Like, they have a little rubber strip across the leading edge of the bonnet to stop air getting through there, foam seal around the radiator edges, and only fairly small holes in the front panel ahead of the engine bay as necessary.

So the only ways that air can really get into the engine bay are through the radiator (this is good) and into the intake pipe (which is why the intake pipe can have a small cross sectional area here, as it is coming from a high pressure area)

Sealing up the front means that the front of the radiator is pretty much always a comparatively high pressure area already when you're traveling at any sort of speed.

In my mind it makes sense that it would be easier to create a pressure difference from one side to the other by reducing the pressure on the low pressure side, than increasing the pressure on the already high pressure side.

I have seen a few exceptions where the radiator fan is mounted on the 'front' side, but when 99% of all cars that I have seen have had the front of the engine bay sealed and the fan on the 'suck' side with a good shroud, it makes me think that there's probably some merit to the idea.

If you've got a fancy radiator that cools a lot more efficiently and holds a larger volume of coolant, it would be a pity to have an inefficient fan configuration that negates some of the gains.

If you want to make it as efficient as it can be within practical limits then it's probably best to try and fit a fan on the 'suck' side of the radiator. (with a shroud!)

Although if you want to get a car going instead of having it sitting in a garage for several years while you ponder such things

Then stick it where it fits

[dusk93]

....but since ive removed the A/C in my car ive got heaps of room in front of the Rad...

How much space are we talking? Like could you fabricate some new rad mounts so its mounted further forward so you can retain the 'suck' fan setup with a shroud?

Just a thought,
Cheers

[loudstealthGT-Four]

Although if you want to get a car going instead of having it sitting in a garage for several years while you ponder such things

Then stick it where it fits

Thats pretty much how im going at it atm.

But you do have a very good point, just thinking about it now a con of having the fan in front of the Rad would be there would be more heat soak in the engine bay as there isnt as much air circulating around the engine when the fan is on.

But I will probably just end up sticking a big 14' fan on the front and see how that goes

[loudstealthGT-Four]

....but since ive removed the A/C in my car ive got heaps of room in front of the Rad...

How much space are we talking? Like could you fabricate some new rad mounts so its mounted further forward so you can retain the 'suck' fan setup with a shroud?

Just a thought,
Cheers

thats getting abit serious for me. Dont really want to go chopping up my car too much, as I dont really have any experience at fabricating stuff, yet

[Kittah]

If you've got a fancy radiator that cools a lot more efficiently and holds a larger volume of coolant, it would be a pity to have an inefficient fan configuration that negates some of the gains.

Except alloy cools less effectively than the copper you find in standard radiator cores

[Quint]

Just done this to my alloy rad.

My thoughts were: Don't put the fans on the front, if you put them on the front there is a maximum amount of air that can flow through the fan which will restrict flow at high speed (the fan will have a max rpm).

I have used two 10" fans with good shrouds. Shrouds are a must imo. Factory rad with shroud would be better than alloy rad without shroud.

[Santa'sBoostinSleigh]

id have to agree with Qunit/RomanV - fans best behind the radiator, as to suck air thru. naturally while driving air will get pushed thru the radiator due to the design/seals etc as mentioned

best option would be to leave fan in original configuration

maybe fabricate a new set of mounts and move the new radiator forward slightly, and/or look at getting a shrowded slimline fan to replace the factory one