Wow! Cash Loss On Radiator Tear. Fan Clearance Issues.

[Guest]

I decided to put a different fan on the Falcon, and pulled out the almost new radiator to do it, put it all back together, after checking clearences. I started it up, and at low idle, it spun great, but I stepped on the gas, and "grind", so I shut down quick. I hear coolant running out.

So I got out and looked at the radiator, and it was just ripped wide open. The fan was aluminum, and it must have flexed under higher rpms, from the vacuum the fan itself was making.

There is a very low clearence between the 200 in a 62 or around years Falcon, regarding the fan to radiator clearence. Thats why I switched fans, the stock one was very slightly grazing the radiator. This one I got "seemed" to have more clearence, it dropped back a little from the face of the pulley, as opposed to the "outward" nature of the stock one.

I guess it just flexed under vacuum and pulled it into the radiator. Yes, it was tight. I checked afterwards.

$159 with tax included, Ill be broke for awhile. Damn thing was brand new.


Joe

 

[XFlow_Fairlane]

hey joe did you used to post on turboford.org ever?

 

[Anonymous]

How much for a rad shop to install a new core?

 

[Guest]

Yeah, 62 fairlane, I used to be a big poster on TurboFord, till I blew a hole in my piston on the Merkur. I used to be "swerve", and now Im "2tonfalcon" on there too.

@ Lincs=I already ordered the radiator, and wouldnt fix this one, major damage.

 

[Anonymous]

Ouch...that sucks.

Just curious...could this happen with an electric slim style fan?
I mean those fans run real close to the radiator and make a lot of claims...

Any ideas?

Steve-O

 

[Junk-Falcon]

ppp

 

[Guest]

Yeah, awhile back, I took off the four blade and swapped it with a 6 blade off of a 62 144. I actually got more clearance like that, but still, the frame shifts, and very minor scraping on the radiator. Im not sure if the fan that was on the 62 144 was the stock one, but its FoMoCo, 6 blades, kinda uneven.

Yeah, I got a flex fan from my dad awhile back, and MAN, it looked like a full inch or maybe more clearance. As soon as I revved it, the vacuum the fan made pulled the tips of the blades inward twoard the rad. and tore it up.

Still gotta pick it up, maybe time tomorrow.

Joe

 

[Junk-Falcon]

i think the

 

[ski4evr]

On my Mustang I have tight clearances between the fan and radiator. I snagged a 6 blade fan off of a 200 cid Falcon in a bone yard (could have been a 170 or 144). It had an A/C unit. Works real well.

ski

 

[ski4evr]

By the way, I also destroyed a new radiator with my old 4 blade fan. I had the hood off (just put the motor back in) and I had the top down (convertible). I put the car in reverse and the only one good bolt on the passenger side motor mount broke. The engine tilted forward and the fan commensed to chewing up the radiator. $160, 3-row radiator gone in a split second. Rained antifreeze down on me. Quite commical in hind-sight.

ski

 

[Anonymous]

Same thing happened to me last fall on my Mustang. Around November time frame (Addo can correct me on that date ).

After being towed back home by a Chebby, I found the culprit. A sheared motor mount - driver side.

You may want to check those if they are original.

 

[WhitePony]

NOTE TO SELF: New Motor Mounts!

 

[Anonymous]

NOTE TO SELF: New Motor Mounts!

 

[Guest]

Yeah, thanks. Ill check them first. I know theres a bit of shifting, and with 1/4 to 1/2 inch clearance, any shifting of the motor mounts could cause me a new project.

They could have easily made another 1/2 inch clearance, and still kept the rad. cool enough. Design flaws, which I dont see on older cars as much as new ones.

Newer cars are designed by "degreed" people who, many of which, never turned a wrench, yet design a car to be put together, but cant be taken apart in any way. No practical repair idologies. Hence, fwd, sideways engines, efi, and electronic transmissions?

The Ford service dept here in the Chicago Area charges $120/hr labor, and thats not including parts.

Older cars were designed by mecanics, both degreed and non degreed, making them easier to work on. Who needs a computer controlled transmission, all you need is an analog vacuum reading for shift information. No need for any of that. Shift solenoid? Pffft.

Im a mechanic, for many years, but would never get into that trade. Talk about pain in the aces. Id rather be a machinist again if I have to go jobhunting again, something more straightforward, and simple. Like, put block or head on the milling machine, cut metal, thats it.

Im getting a secondary "beater" old (60s or 70s) car and selling my 90 olds 88 asap. What a POS. I cant wait for it to break down, so I can have something else older. Tired of complicated cars that can think quicker than most people.

I hope someone with big financial backing designs and releases a new, simple, carbureted emissions legal car, easy to work on. Thatll be the day...But throw that idea around, maybe somebody knows somebody who can do it.

Just my off topic 2 cents. Thanks for the suggestion. Ill check them out.

 

[Anonymous]

I hope someone with big financial backing designs and releases a new, simple, carbureted emissions legal car, easy to work on. Thatll be the day....

You could import a Russian "Volga", aren't they still carbureted??

 

[WhitePony]

Except for trying to keep a stock look, I can't understand why more people don't switch to electric fans.

 

[Guest]

Except for trying to keep a stock look, I can't understand why more people don't switch to electric fans.

Thats a consideration. Pretty simple, I suppose. I have a functioning 92 mustang 2.3 fan. Mounting would be hardest, drilling and threading, but a toggle and some basic wiring would do the job probably better.

Good idea, and Ill check the elect. fan for clearence. It can also be "shifted" or bent to make more clearance, four arms of thin formable metal.

Function is more important than form at this point. I cant have another "holy" (or unholy) radiator.

 

[PLP6400]

I have tried to find an electric fan for my 65 Ranchero. The problem is that I only have 2.5" of clearance from the end of the water pump to the radiator and electric fans are about 3.5" wide. I have air conditioning, so there is no chance of mounting one in front of the radiator. So I just have the factory 6 blade fan and a 3 row radiator, that gives me about a 1/2" clearance from the fan to the radiator. I think the Mustangs have an engine bay longer than the Falcons.

 

[WhitePony]

There are alot of options in aftermarket radiator fans. Some are advertized specifically as thin profile. I ordered a high velocity 3300CFM 16" fan that I may have to switch for a thinner one due to the fact that I decided to go with a 3 row radiator. Nice thing about the electrics, is that you don't have to worry about the classic problem of overheating at stoplights and in slow traffic.

Kris

 

[PLP6400]

If you find a 14" or 16" electric fan that is 2" or 2.25 thick? Let me know, because I agree they are the way to go.