pusher vs puller fan

[Isphius]

Thats not neccesarily true. If your water pump is starting to go, It might not pump a lot of water, But the radiator while moving has enough flow to defeat any overheating. Def replace your thermostat with a cooler one too. Even with no fan you shouldnt be overheating that fast, So there is something wrong.

[sd88supra]

thats the thing, with this new fan i installed i dont overheat fast. only after ive been driving for a while and then start idling for a long period of time. even then it takes a while for the temp to go up. even if i am idling and overheating reving my engine a bit will start lowering the temperature.

what would i look for in a bad water pump (or a water pump thats about to go bad)? but given that thermostats are fairly inexpensive ill get a new one for sure.

[h8z2luze]

I dont think there is a way to test your water pump. Just replace it to be safe they are like 30 bucks. Also your radiator may be somewhat clogged.

[Isphius]

You need a water pump then. The rev the motor and it goes down is a dead give away.

[Reeves]

Im going to be stopping by autozone or pepboys within the next few days to pick up an electric fan.. Any brands I should avoid? Whats the limit to how big of a fan you can put in our cars?

[sd88supra]

i would avoid hayden, which is unfortunately what is most common in those stores. they are the cheapest ones around but id rather spend $40 more for a much better fan. napa has a much larger selection of electric fans. flex a lite is good, and ive heard perma cool is also good. you dont need to spend $400 on an electric fan. my flex-a-lite was $133 after tax, 16" 2000cfm. you'll need a 14" or 16". i dont know if you can go any bigger but definitely wouldnt go smaller. not only is size important, but cfm's are also important. ive been told to stay above 1800 cfm but i got the 2000 just in case.

question for you guys: does anybody know how many cfm's the stock auxiliary fan blows?

[mrnickleye]

If I were you........I'd do a search on this forum, in the General, and in this section, on BHG symptoms, and diagnosis.

Oh what the hell.......I need to practice me 2 finger typing skills. (I bet I can hit the 'backspace' button more times than you, and still 'sound' like I know how to type).

It sounds like you need to have a "block test" performed by a shop. Our car's BHG symptoms are as follows....

Stays reasonably cool around town for short trips, and 1-2 hr cool down times. (like going to the movies) But, after a long drive, it can heat up, or not, until you slow back down.

What happens is....(believe me, I went thru it, and have thoroughly researched it out)............

Back at #6 cylinder it gets a hot spot, which then develops a tiny gasket leak into the coolant passage from the combustion chamber. This pressurizes the cooling system to the point of pushing coolant over into the bottle. If it gets a chance to cool down, it will suck the coolant bottle dry, setting on the little orange light on the left of the dash.

I 'baby'd' mine for 3 months until I could get to it.

Valve job.

You can't go more than 16" electric due to space.

Check this site. http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...tegoryId=10117

A shroud helps pull air from in front of/thru the radiator, and not from the side of the fan.

A thermostat is a good thing to know that its working properly, 180* prefered, but I seriously doubt its your problem.

I don't believe your water pump is bad either. You can check it easily. Drain some coolant out of the radiator, until you are just above the down tubes inside.

Start the car, and let it warm up. The coolant will start to flow. When its all warmed up, the coolant will flow, but if you raise the idle up to about 1000 rpm, you will see the coolant flow more. The pump is good. No flow=blown engine very quickly.

All your symptoms indicate a possible BHG. Get the blocktest.

There's mechanics/technicians, and then there's parts changers.

Don't just start changing parts, as it may not solve any of your problems. Diagnosis first is the RIGHT way.

[sd88supra]

"Stays reasonably cool around town for short trips, and 1-2 hr cool down times. (like going to the movies) But, after a long drive, it can heat up, or not, until you slow back down."

actually it heats up when i slow down. and i mean SLOW DOWN. more like idling for minutes. but yes, its more common after a long trip. and i would presume that my pump is good since the temp does go down after reving my engine. and the new electric fan really does help a lot in keeping it cool (not enough though).



"Back at #6 cylinder it gets a hot spot, which then develops a tiny gasket leak into the coolant passage from the combustion chamber. This pressurizes the cooling system to the point of pushing coolant over into the bottle. If it gets a chance to cool down, it will suck the coolant bottle dry, setting on the little orange light on the left of the dash."

i have had the "bottle sucked dry" symptom. well, kinda. it was sucked in, like almost collapsed, but it wasnt empty. in fact it was almost full. and the low coolant light never lit up.

before i go on buying parts ill get the block test. how much should i look to spend on it? more so, a complete rebuild? my car does have 113k original miles (i bought it when it had 108K) and i doubt it ever had the hg replaced.

in the meantime, is it safe to drive my car? my total daily trip is 8 miles, and i dont race. i do speed but ive been careful not pushing it hard so it doesnt overheat. i do wanna fix this ASAP.

[mrnickleye]

Sounds like the bottle collapses because the little air hole on its cap is plugged, not letting air in to displace the coolant as its sucked back into the radiator.

Block test should not cost over $20

[Burn N' Up]

Where are you getting this "Cooler" thermostat? I have the OEM toyota one in. I'm running dual flexalites and Around town I couldn't get the car to overheat if I wanted but on the free way it started shitting on me and over heating, So I cut holes in the Flexalite shroud in an attempt to get more air across the radiator when in motion. This helped but I still need more flow, I'm hoping the body kit fixes my problem. Other wise im gonna try cutting a few fan blades out of the flexalite and promote more movement there. I guess i'll find out soon enough.

and yeah, it really sounds like BHG, when I blew mine there was no white smoke, no white goo under the cap, no coolant in the oil, just a constant over heating and bottle draining. I was suspicious, had it block tested, and then =O nooooo! on the plus side, the list at the bottom was mostly installed during the 39 hour head gasket repair binge I went on. If my neighbors didn't think I was doing crank before they think I am now.