I searched and read all of the posts on electric fan conversion but there are 2 questions I have that were not answered by the archives:

1. Do you need the HD 3 row radiator to do the conversion? I have the Blackstone Volvo radiator - I think this is the one with the plastic tank.

2. Do any of you run it all the time and how does it affect alternator charging and battery charge? I have read only one post of one of you guys doing this (he wired it to start from a signal from the ignition). If you run it all the time do any of you have hard cold starts?

I will be going to U-Pull-It tommorrow to look for fans.

Thanks.
--
1987 244 DL - Clunks but I love her

This is kinda off the topic, but is the AUX/AC fan adequate to cool the egine at slow speeds if I remove the engine fan?

kevin
--
1980 244DL, 1982 245GL, 1987 744GLE, 1991 245SE, 1996 855GLT, 2001 V70

I've never done and electric fan on my Volvo. But I do have a Push/Pull setup on my modified Jeep.

If you can get the CFM across it, the stock radiator it should be fine.

Personally I would not run the fan all the time. It's just additional wear on the fan Motor.

On the Jeep, I screwed in 190 degree temp sensor into the unused Auto trani threads on my radiator. What you would need to do is find some other water passage on the block that you can screw a sensor into to give you accurate water temperture. (maybe some other Brickster knows of a spot for you).

Both my fans kick on at 190 degrees. I run a 180 degree thermostat so the fans basically only kick on when I'm at a traffic light or towing the boat on a hot day.

a Push/pull setup is a Pushing radiator on the outside of the radiator and a Pulling fan on the other side of the radiator.
This works very well for me.
--
'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwr and two motorcycles: it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me

Hi John,

My '83 245 has an original (or nearly) copper/brass radiator with four holes in the flanges, top and bottom. Two screws at top attach (belt-driven) fan shroud, other two (bottom)holes unused. An electric fan/shroud assembly from an '86 Olds FWD Cutlass had four holes in nearly perfect spots, coverage of radiator was excellent once thing was screwed into place w/ some long 2-3" self-tapping screws. Perhaps you could drill 4 holes (in flanges, if any ) in your present rad, am not familiar w/ what came in 87. Aluminum is cheapest metal on the planet....

Mechanical fan is now gone as is enormous shroud since electric jobby comes already "shrouded". Car benefits IMHO, easier maintenance, smoother idle, less vibration, more power. If electric fan does ever fail, car heater (on high) can be used cuz it's an excellent heat exchanger. May have to drive w/ no clothes on!

Did this in April and system works great. Operates manually, w/ a toggle switch on dash which energizes a relay on fender wall which energizes the fan. Used fuse 12, 8 amp for control/dash switch, 25 amp blade fuse in holder under the hood, a 30 amp cap. relay I had in parts box. I doubt the GM fan draws more than 10 amps, so what if it does? No charging/alt. battery probs. whatsoever.

Just drove the car 1000mi w/ this setup, on hot days have started the car, then flipped the toggle switch on and forgotten about it. I am used to goosing the throttle anyway, have had plenty of old cars, plus has manual shift.

Beauty of manual system is it forces you to pay attention to engine operation, temperature, and load. Temp too hot? turn fan on. Temp too cold? turn fan off.

You can always "automate" later, make other modifications as you like.

Get too it--Can provide more details of my installation if you like.

Frank

And now to answer your question:

1) It does not matter what type radiator you use. The plastic side tanks can break though (or as in my case leak where it is mated to the metal part). If you have the money you should change. The 3 row radiator gives you more heat disipation capacity which is nice when you live in a hot climate.

2) Everything that takes serious electrical power will effect the charging. I used a SAAB (Bosch) cooling fan on my 240. I tried it out on the bench and it takes about 11 Amp. When it kicks in the idle drops to 600 and goes up again tyo 750. It puts some serious load in the alternator. I would not be too concerned about cruising, but at idle I doubt it charges the battery.

One thing to realise is that you are using an electric fan to safe energy. There is only need for the fan at slow movement, which hopefully is not very often. You wire it up continuously you loose that benefit and might as well leave the mechanical fan, it is a lot more reliable!!!

Reg,

Jorn, Oslo Norway

I have an 82 245 and I recovered a factory fan unit at the PNP. It comes with a switch in the hose between the overflow tank and the radiator, so the fan cycles with radiator temp only. I don't know if an 87 is set up that way. However in my case I did not use that switch, but opted for a Hayden relay with temp sensor. This allows the fan to cycle with the A/C compressor or the max radiator temp. Hope this helps. The nice thing about the Hayden is parts are easily available anywhere you go.

I have both of my 740's with electric fans and sensors,on a non-turbo 4 cylinder you need at least 1600 cfm to cool down your system with average driving.I have an Imperial unit(Hayden)on the 740 non turbo(b234f)it is rated at 1800 cfm and draws 13.4 amps up against the radiator(an accurate rating)I mounted right up to the 4 holes on the blackstone radiator rails on the bottom and top,I used metal brackets so the fan is like a factory mount so I wouldn't tear up the fins with the"thru core"type of mounting.I tested this system in 95 degree days up hill a/c on and the temp never went above the 12:30 position.As far as the alternator draw,if you car has at least an 80 amp alternator it will keep the battery at 13.4 volts at idle with a/c,lights and brake pedal pressed,so 14amps is the max with that alternator.Pema-cool sells a fan that is rated at ten amps and moves an estimated 2950 cfm,this rating is not against the radiator but still looks good,I have been wanting to try one,it has large curved blades so it should be fairly quiet because of the large curved blade design,straight blade fans are louder but intended for limited space to move the same cfm as a large quiet curved blade fan,I used one of these on the turbo due to fact of having only "4 inches between the core and waterpump shaft.You want to find a low amp,high cfm,quiet fan that is a low profile type if possible.If you have the factory mounted temp sensor in the radiator you can use it to trigger a fan relay controll unit offered by Imperial(hayden)I use the adjustable sensor type so it turns on the fan with the a/c and the temp probe works as a backup in case the stock sensor fails or if the car doesn't have one.Hope this helps.