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'89 R3500 Crew Cab 2wd to 4wd conversion & beyond

Started out with 2wd TBI350 with SM465 to current 4wd with 454, 700r4, NP241
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Windstar fans will move more air then you need, ever. As well as let enough air though to keep it cool.

When I drove mine to Eric's house in January a few years ago. I ran the whole way with them turned off. Barely ran warm enough to get off the thermostat temp.

In Moab I have the big fan hooked up to run off the computer. The little one I have on a switch that I hardly ever use.
 
I don't disagree but I'll probably use the Volvo fans because I already have them. I modified my windstars to fit the smaller radiator.

Thinking about different ways the Volvo fans can be wired because they are 2 speed. I could have both come on at low speed first then both on high. Or 1 on high then the second fan on high.

If I go with the second option, I could wire the second fan with a manual switch on low speed to turn on for hot days on the trail.
 
How bout two different on temps? One comes on high at one temp and then the other comes on at the "oh shit" temp for some back up!
 
Get a controller that will turn on one of them, like the one that I have, turns it on slow at first the full blast when it gets hotter.

Put the other one on a switch to manually turn on when you want it to.
 
The Sniper will control 2 fans so I can have 2 different temperature ranges to run them in some sort of set up. Right now the largest Windstar comes on at 190 and off at 180. The small one is on at 210 off at 185. Or something real close to that. I used what the system had for default.
 
Just to throw some engineering thought in here. When my dad was wind tunnel testing shrouds for Winston cup cars way back when, he found the flat spots in a shroud made completely dead air unless there was 1.5 inches of space between the shroud and cooler. Even then, the flow was way off. This is why some flat shrouds come with release flaps in those flat areas. The engine can heat up at highway speeds due to lack of flow. My brother is fighting this on his Ecotec power Baja bug. But he won't listen to me.

Just a thought for when you are towing. The fans may need to run because the shroud is not efficient. With the fans close to the radiator, only the radius of the fan is cooling. Use a thermal gun through the grill to see this in action. Unless you have AC or your intercooler is in the way.
 
Volvo shrouds have those flaps you're talking about. At speed they flip open......
 
ktmoutfront said:
Just to throw some engineering thought in here. When my dad was wind tunnel testing shrouds for Winston cup cars way back when, he found the flat spots in a shroud made completely dead air unless there was 1.5 inches of space between the shroud and cooler. Even then, the flow was way off. This is why some flat shrouds come with release flaps in those flat areas. The engine can heat up at highway speeds due to lack of flow. My brother is fighting this on his Ecotec power Baja bug. But he won't listen to me.

Just a thought for when you are towing. The fans may need to run because the shroud is not efficient. With the fans close to the radiator, only the radius of the fan is cooling. Use a thermal gun through the grill to see this in action. Unless you have AC or your intercooler is in the way.
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I was thinking that might be an issue with the drip pan fan shroud. Unless you can cool enough with just the air flow through the fan diameter itself. Similar issue with a clutch fan if you do not have the fan pushed into or pulled out of the opening in shroud the correct amount.
 
The nice thing about a drip pan shroud is technically the drop pan has some tap built into it, if it's the style with a drain hole in the middle.

I've actually been wondering about a good, reasonably priced, thermal gun. Lately because there is a 15 to 20 degree discrepancy between my Autometer gauge and the CTS for the Sniper. Really curious which is correct.
 
I have the Raytek Raynger ST for work and have used that same one for yrs at different jobs. It comes in a nice black plastic case.
 
Hows a thermal gun going to help diagnose coolant temp sensors? I guess it could tell you if the sensor is reading low if the surface temp is hotter than the temp sensor is saying.

A pot of hot water is the way to do it, drop both sensors in and see how close they're reading......
 
My drip pan shroud puts the fans a solid 1.5 inches from the radiator, I never have any problems keeping cool...
 
skunked said:
Hows a thermal gun going to help diagnose coolant temp sensors? I guess it could tell you if the sensor is reading low if the surface temp is hotter than the temp sensor is saying.

A pot of hot water is the way to do it, drop both sensors in and see how close they're reading......
Click to expand...
Yeah I was basically just thinking a thermal gun would verify which is correct. Course it would probably read right between and not tell me anything.

I'm suspecting it's the CTS that's off because I had the same gauge on the TBI and I don't remember a large discrepancy between it and the TBI's CTS.
 
So I have a quandary on the radiator. I found the perfect radiator that is the 34" wide core from Spectra but it arrived severely damaged:

2017-06-16 10.43.54.jpg

Summit being the awesome company they are, was going to send me a new one that day. However Spectra doesn't have any available. So I've been looking for an alternative. Best choices are a stock type 4-core radiator from Summit with a 19.25"x28.375" core or spend an additional $100 for a diesel radiator with 19.25"x34" core.

The 4-core has 10% more surface area than the radiator I have now plus it's 4-core. However I KNOW the diesel radiator will work well because it has 30% more surface area than what I have now. But damn the diesel radiator is expensive!
 
The Spectra that was damage was $290. The Summit 4-row is $390. The diesel radiator is $480.
 
Are they letting you keep that radiator? If so, I would have that one fixed by a local radiator shop.

and I'm going to tell you to stick with a Diesel radiator no matter what you do, the BBC's need all the cooling help they can get.
 
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