Hopefully this won't sound like a bunch of dumb questions... How close is the fan supposed to be to the radiator? My Maverick has had a flex fan on it ever since I got it, and it is not terribly close to the radiator. I was looking at TOYMAV's car, and his stock fan is much closer to the radiator. I have a fairly big spacer on the fan, but I was thinking I should get a bigger one, and maybe even dump this flex fan. The car stays fairly cool on the highway and as long as I'm moving, but when I am stopped at a light for very long, the temp goes up by 10 degrees. And if I'm in stop and go traffic, it will stay up until I get in the open again. I only recently installed a temperature gauge, but I'd be willing to bet the car has always done this. And yes, I do have a shroud, and I'd say only about half the fan is in the shroud. What is the optimal position? Everything has been replaced except the water pump, and that seems to flow fine.
According to the literature I received with my Perma Cool flex fan the fan blades should be half way into the shroud, and one inch away from the radiator core when running without a shroud.
Well, the fan is about halfway in the shroud, but it is probably 3 or 4 inches away from the radiator. Maybe it's not a stock shroud? And, it runs just under 190 most of the time (a 180 stat) and if i hit several lights in a row (city traffic ) it will get up to 210, and once in a while, even 220. If it's just one light, the temp will just go up to about 200. I don't know how hot is too hot, but I'm thinking anything above 210 is too hot.
same here My 72 Grabber w/302 has this exact problem. The temperature runs about 180-190 at freeway speeds but climbs steadily when in stop and go traffic. I am running a Flowcooler water pump, factory fan shroud, factory fan set half way into the shroud, 50/50 mixture of water/anti-freeze. Anybody have any ideas? I have checked timing, air/fuel ratio, etc. but can't find anything that would account for the elevated temperature. I am about to bite the bullet and buy an aluminum radiator but would rather have some good logic to indicate that this is the problem. Thanks in advance.
one thing to try, if you haven't already, is to remove the radiator and take it to a shop and have it cleaned out. you might have a partial blockage. as long as air is flowing it'll cool, but when you stop it starts to heat up.
