|
In Reply to: Question - 323i Radiator and Engine Fan posted by Mike on July 16, 2001 at 05:43:49:
1) I live in the south, where temps have been @ triple digits
2) I use A/C now everywhere I go.
3) I have a puller fan in addition to the A/C fan.
Last week, I spent 90 mins. gridlocked in traffic where I only moved 1 mile due to some construction/accident @ 3:30pm last Thursday on i-35. Both of my kids in the back seat were napping, and my A/C was blowing away, throttling in and out of the 3/4 max. temp setting. My temp gauge needle stayed at a fraction past 1/2 mark. THe outside temp. in CenTEx was 101F, the heat index above 115F. Not a cloud in the sky.
(My stock 323 has a Behr radiator and a 7blade clutch fan. Both the radiator and clutch are fairly new, w/ less than 3k miles of service. WHenever A/C is on, the electric pusher fan comes on automatically. Otherwise, only the clutch and fan operates.)
I found a few ways to improve on. To improve the airflow and reduce air turbulence through the a/c condenser, I fabricated a fan shroud. To further improve A/C efficiency, I tinted my windows this summer - a must do if you can't stand to hear that snarly fan motor puffing away on full blast all of the time.
You mention that you don't have the room to install a fan due to space limits. If not already, you should take a look at how the 323's radiator was fabricated from the factory to recess the radiator forward. It looks like the top plate in front of the radiator was tin snipped off to forward mount the radiator in front of the frontal sheetmetal instead of behind it. Also, there's a narrow body water pump that is used in conjunction w/ the screw mount clutch and fan to provide the room. Maybe that's all that's required if you don't look forward to reinventing the wheel.
© 1997 -
2009
Jump Internet Inc. All rights reserved.
