>When you reinstalled the mechanical fan the temperature dropped, but I
>suspect that the electric fan rarely if ever operated. If the electric fan
>never operates, it is just an expensive obstruction to the flow of air and
>better cooling.
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Nope, fan's always come on at idle, whether the engine driven fan is there
or not. When it's really hot outside they will come on while running at
slow speeds. Both temp sensor's (fan and gauge) are correct, and good.
Thermostatic sensor drives a relay so the load of the two fans is not
through the sensor. The car just ran slightly hotter sitting at idle or
low speed than without the engine driven fan - which I will say (and
illustrates the point) that it helps the pusher fans draw the air through
the radiator. As for turbulence, as I mentioned to another Lister, the
radiator fins would straighten out any, even if that were a problem. The
bottom line is airflow through the radiator, the better the flow, the more
heat transfer, and as we all know, airflow through the radiator is nil when
the car is not moving without some help - As for HP loss, probably not too
much considering it's a stainless flex fan, besides with 135 or so hp I can
well afford to loose a few to the fan :-)
I might add this is on the V6 so I spent considerable time designing a
radiator and fan system to cool this beast. What I have works great, as
the car will never overheat, no matter how hot it is outside - these are
just the observations made during the testing phase of the cooling system
MANY years ago -
Barry Schwartz (San Diego) bschwart@pacbell.net
72 V6 Spitfire (daily driver)
70 GT6+ (when I don't drive the Spit)
70 Spitfire (project)
73 Ford Courier (parts hauler, rain vehicle, getting a V6 soon!)
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