The Josh

Hey all. Still new at this stuff. OK, took my camaro for a long highway drive yesterday and it ran great! When I got it home, I let it idle for a minute and the temp went way high. One of the two fans came on and the temp stopped rising but did not come down much. A few questions:

1) There is no shroud around my dual fan setup. Should there be? There is a round plastic piece connecting all the fan blades but that is all.

2) What else could the problem be? I think I have checked everything that I know of...

3) What chip(s) will turn on the fan sooner? And do I need to buy a new temperature switch as well?

What can I do???

Thanks in advance...

The JOSH:hail:

iroc22

I would get a shroud it place, that way all the air is being directed onto the radiator, and not everywhere else.

Damon

The 87s didn't have a "shroud" per se around the fans- just some skeleton legs holding the motors in place behind the rad and a shield around the outside most sweep of the fan blades.

Not saying that it's the most efficient, just that it's how it came from the factory.

I would think that BOTH fans would come on when you hit the stock fan cut-in temp (228*). But at that point it should work it's way down pretty quick, even in 90* weather. I don't KNOW for sure that's what's supposed to happen since the wiring on my brother's 87 was hacked up pretty well before we got it. I do know that, like you, only one fan kicked on when we hit 228*. But we rigged it so that the ground wires on both fan relays were connected together so both would turn on if either one turned on and that helped quite a bit.

The Josh

Damon, what is that now? What can I do to make both fans come on at the same time??? Send me a quick procedure, if you can. Thanks...!

caleb

one fan is controlled by the computer, the other is controlled by a temp switch in the block on the passenger side

MdFormula350

whats temps was your guage reading?

you could send the signal on the drivers side to the other fan so they would come on together at around 227ish

Danno

In a stock dual fan setup primary fan comes on at around 220-225, secodary at 238. That despite all the rhetoric is the BEST way. If you put in a lower temp fan switch in and turn on the secondary fan first both fans will run as the ECM will default when it sees the sec fan turn on first. Two things to consider before messing with it. If the fan turn on switch is changed to a lower temp unit the fan(s) will cycle constantly reducing the life of the fan motors. Secondly, the load on the electrical system will cause premature failure of the alternator. The factory design took all this into consideration and provided a setup for max life of all system components.

CrazyHawaiian

So basically you're saying its not cool to wire the fans to come on together at a lower temp because it will shorten the life of both the fan motors and the alternator? Does this only apply in a daily driving situation? What if you did this for a track car only?

Here's my situation:

I'm building a car for track racing only. Swapping a L98 in there to replace the beat down L03, but dont have an L98 ECM yet. The radiator is rusted on the inside and it has a single fan that dosnt work very well (assuming its about to go out).

My plan:

I have a plastic/aluminum radiator as well as a dual fan setup from a 91z. I had planned to swap these in and wire them to come on together, both controlled by the fan switch. This way I wouldnt have to find a L98 ECM that was made for a dual fan setup (not sure if thats rare or not). And I could have them both come on at 200, off at 180.

Do you think this setup would cause stuff to prematurely fail? I'm not sure how hot the new engine will get. From my experiences with the L03 on the track, it constantly hit 220. Thats hot!!

Danno

Then I would not worry about it, daily stop and go is a different story than a track vehicle. I run a zz-4 block with all stock cooling components and it runs the same as the L-98 temp wise.

Diggler86

did the 88 and up have a shroud??

sllt1776

nope my 89 is the same..no shroud

mystikkal_69

iTrader: (2)

i highly doubt any thirdgen dual fan setup has a shroud.

Diggler86

thought so too.

mckenzie

i would rather replace an alt. or coolant fan than an engine that has overheated. best of luck, tom