Act 3: Electric fan install:

[vandelay industries]

So i figured, at this point, i might as well do the most difficult stuff first.

A little background: The 4.3(swap) is almost ready to go. i did not take the fan shroud when i bought the engine mostly because i forgot and when i asked two weeks later, he said he threw it out. i was sort of wanting to go with an electric fan anyways. (NOTE: Fan shrouds for v-6's are much longer than a v-8's as you can well imagine......)

i got a late model GM electric fan from the salvage yard which i was going to use when the truck had the 305. It's out of a 2004 cavalier which i think is adequate enough; Remember i'm still using the v-8 radiator AND i only have 262 cubes. Also i rarely tow or haul heavy.

It has the weatherpack connector with a few inches of wiring, one black and one green. i'm assuming black is ground but when i asked the staff they said it doesn't matter because you can wire it either way---i'm assuming so that the fan could run in either direction?

a) So with that train of thought do most electric fans as they come from the factory pull air or push air forwards thru the radiator?

b) i'm assuming black should be ground?

 

[Fordum]

Well, considering the fact that the fan will be running while the truck is moving, you kinda want the fan to help the air blow from the front of the radiator to the engine side instead of trying to blow it out the front........
At some speed, the fan and the natural air flow would cancel each other out and no air would go through the rad.
So, the direction the fan spins depends on if its on the front or back side of the radiator.
Most primary electric fans are on the back side, so you want it to pull.
Most helper fans are on the front, so you would want them to push....

 

[dyeager535]

Probably won't want to hear this, but since this is weatherpack, do yourself a favor, and order up the weatherpack terminals, waterproof seals, and the depinning tool. Mouser probably has all that for less than $20. Get some good (not copper plated AL Chinese crap) wire of the proper gauge, either OEM from the wrecking yard, or an electrical supply place, and make a "new" harness for it.

I like weatherpack, it's easy to deal with, fairly cheap, is common, and handles decent current, it's just kind of bulky.

Is this a dual fan, or single? If single, I'd doubly suggest getting the weatherpack components (and spares) because no matter how small the engine, it is still going to be best to have airflow to spare. Rather have the fan come on and shut off because its too effective, than run all the time because it isn't up to the task. Best a Cavalier got was what, a 3.1L? F16 aerodynamics and weight, compared to the 747 that is the truck.

Guessing even the lightest C/K was around 42-4500lbs, the Cavalier after the holidays was probably 3200, at it's heaviest.

 

[vandelay industries]

1) Now that i think about it, yes a cavalier fan might be too small for the truck; i should have gotten one out of a mid-size or full size car like an impala, grand prix etc. Also, it is a single fan.

However, until then, i think it will work for now as i rarely tow or haul heavy. Also, the time when the fan will be needed will idle/low speed where there is very little load on the engine (remember this is a 2WD truck and i don't go off road---at least not intentionally)

a) i've discovered that with no fan, i could keep the truck from overheating IF: i put the heater fan on full AND keep the truck moving at least 16mph. After like 25mph i didn't need either the regular fan or the heater fan. This was with the 305.

2) a 1st/2nd gen cavalier weighs about 2550lbs. as weighed on a commercial scale at one place i used to work at.

 

[dyeager535]

Interesting, you found about what I did n terms of cooling...25MPH was my cutoff when running with no fan.

I'm sure you can mitigate the size of the fan by limiting your load or stopping and letting it cool, but it might be a hassle.

You are also correct on the general cooling because of your application, unless you sit in traffic a bunch (or have and use AC), your fan probably won't have much demand...the only time I see my temps really climb is when I've downshifted and am traveling 10-20MPH going up steep grades. The fan just isn't needed at vehicle speeds above that, even when I'm towing maybe 2000lbs over a mountain pass.

Just my opinion, but if you are going to do it, do it right. Go buy a Windstar fan, and do the install once. While you'll get experience running this one, all the work specific to that fan (mounting, wiring length, harness design, etc) will all have to be done again IF you end up not liking this one. The Windstars fit, work, and are cheap.

I overdo stuff so I don't have to do it again though.