99 w' FFD Electric Twin Fan setup

I am the proud owner of a Silver '99. Have put over 120K miles since I bought it used. I live in South Texas and work in Mexico everyday. Sometimes the line gets backed up coming home and with the heat down here you really need to be running the AC all the time. I have had issues over the past 3-4 years with the Vehicross gettting hot while sitting in line with the AC on. I tried swapping out the fan clutch for a Hayden unit and having the radiator "rodded" out a couple of summers ago. This did not solve the issue and I have just put up with it. As long as I don't run the AC it never gets hot no matter how long I sit in line. Turning the AC off once it gets hot, brings the temperature down to normal (about halfway on the gauge).

It is either getting hotter or I am getting less tolerant of the heat and decided to purchase one of the FFD electric twin fan systems. It is very good looking and is relatively simple to install. Unfortunately it did not solve my problem and wanted to let you guys know that the electric fan setup may not solve your temperature problems. The Vehicross still gets hot with the AC on sitting in line. Worse still, it stayed hot even after turning off the AC. I had to turn the heater on full blast/full hot to cool it down. It does not boil over but is getting just to the left of the H on the gauge.

The people I bought it from asked the voltage I am getting as RPMs of the fans drop a lot below 14 volts. I have 13.92 volts according to my fluke 87 MM. They indicated someone from FFD Tech Support would be getting in touch with me to diagnose.

The radiator is very, very clean with no internal blockage. I run 50/50 coolant/water mix.

I am going to clean the AC condenser this evening but I don't think that is the issue.

I am going to add either RP coolant additive or Water Wetter whichever I can get my hands on.

Any other suggestions? I really need the AC sitting in the line at the bridge.

Thanks for your help.


John

How old is your coolant?

you do have a electric fan just behind the grill that should come on once the ac is turned on if it doesnt that is your problem

Have you pulled your dash apart yet? Might want to make sure you don't have anything "stashed" there that's blocking your air flow. :p

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...NR78Sh_NqOxZMi http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...ykp4O3JIcJ7T1m http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...zuPRow2cMqfXuj

I wish I had something immediately useful to offer, but unfortunately I'm not super mechanically inclined. I do wonder though, maybe one of the many people promising hood / insert mods would consider doing a fully vented hood? A guy did this to his G35 a few years ago and claimed it lowered the engine bay temp by 100+ degrees!

http://i01.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/319...G35_of_the.jpg

which side of the radiator did the fans go? I have a second 10" elec fan installed on the front of the AC condenser and sitting in traffic it will lower my water temp from 210 to 179 in about 5 minutes

Coolant is less than 1 week old. I replaced it when I put the fan kit on.

Electric fan in front of the condenser, right behind the grill is present and comes on when it should.

It is a twin fan setup in a very nice shiny aluminum TIG welded shroud. Goes on the engine side of the radiator. Looks great, doesn't work as well was the fan clutch setup.

Fully vented hood would help considerably. It gets real real hot under the hood.

If it is still overheating you said you mounted it on engine side. I hope its a pull fan not a push. Many people do this and mount push fans on engine side. Pull on engine side and push on bumper side

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...r_horn_008.jpg

here is my setup, factory fan clutch on the engine side, works like a charm, of course I think hottest ive ever dealt with is sitting in bumper to bumper traffic in 102 degree weather

Another thing that could help is to add more water to your antifreeze mix. water transfers heat better than antifreeze, so the higher water content the better, but at some point you start to lose corrosion protection and your boiling point will drop, so I wouldnt go past 60% water

sometimes i wish there was a better fanclutch...not sure if it's just mine or all VX's sounds like an airplane....maybe larger electric fans and a 3 core radiator would do the trick.

The factory cooling system should be sufficient enough to handle south tx heat and a/c blowing. I would double check the factory settings are working like they should. No need to get into aftermarket parts if oem is still available.

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Originally Posted by Bob Barker

The factory cooling system should be sufficient enough to handle south tx heat and a/c blowing. I would double check the factory settings are working like they should. No need to get into aftermarket parts if oem is still available.

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Agreed, I live south of hell. Horrible, humid summers and back to bumper to bumper traffic. Thankfully no probs with AC or overheating (well, I did have to replace the blower motor last year) but still runs AC COLD no overheating in 102F temps with major humidity.

Something else is wrong with the OP's system IMHO. Sure extra fans are nice, but if those don't even help then something is def wrong.

Sombody made the point of polarity and that was entirely correct. Make sure the polarity on the fans are correct thus ensuring fan(s) are blowing in the correct direction. Push air thru the front of the rad, pull air from the back of the radiator.

Polarity might not be the only problem.

If the fan blade is curved (and all good ones are) then running it backwards will only be about 25% efficient. The blades are designed to run a certain direction, and therefore the mounting direction must be correct, and the polarity correct, if you want to get maximum efficiency.

PK

PK, you are correct sir! Another point thats easy to miss.

Thermostat?

I was having a heat problem and ran the ECM codes. Found out I was running lean due to a dirty MAF. Cleaned that guy and no problems since. I do have a new fan clutch I'll be installing shortly though.

is operating as designed you should not need any extra help. I used to live in TX and now in the middle of the Mohave Desert and I never run hot even when it is 130 degrees outside. I would suggest checking the thermostat and having your radiator boiled out. I have a sports car that was always runninng just below red. I did the electric fan and was going to get it rodded but a good cooling guy took a measurement with a heat gun and found out it was not running hot it was an electrical part that was causing my gauge to read high as well as gas and speedometer

Not sure why but my Vehicross has run hot but only sitting idle, with the AC and hot temperatures outside. Has never boiled over but the temp with get just below the H and stay there. Turning off the AC brings the temps down pretty quickly. New fan clutch made no change. Rodding out the radiator did not solve the issue. Thermostat was working properly but changed it anyway. Coolant flushed every year. 50/50 coolant water mixture. Ignoring the issue didn't solve it either. I had to try something different.

Got a call yesterday from the technician at FF Dynamics (the manufacturer of the fans and kit). After going through a number of VX related questions that checked out OK, he asked about the ambient temperatures I am seeing. He indicated that there was a mistake by the distributor and their folks and that an extreme kit should have shipped. The kit I received has 2 12" fans. The kit he indicated would be built and shipped to me today would be a single 17" fan with a slightly larger shroud that would flow 60% more air.

Should have it in hand early next week and will be installing right away. Will keep you posted on the results.

John

One more thought, has the water pump been changed? A buddy of mine replaced pretty much everything on his 300zx turbo and later found that the fins on the water pump had worn so much he just wasn't getting strong coolant flow

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Originally Posted by etlsport

One more thought, has the water pump been changed? A buddy of mine replaced pretty much everything on his 300zx turbo and later found that the fins on the water pump had worn so much he just wasn't getting strong coolant flow

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I've heard that too but never knew anyone who'd actually experienced it.

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Originally Posted by tom4bren

I've heard that too but never knew anyone who'd actually experienced it.

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well now you have... poor guy spent well over 1k on parts including radiator, hoses, thermostat, fan clutch, an elec fan for the condenser, and hours and hours spent replacing everything. was just about to remove the condenser and AC completely since its got Ttops anyway. decided to do the 60k service on it with timing belt and water pump, and found the water pump, afaik its been running well since then

Noticed mine getting hot stuck in traffic (someone landed a plane on the interstate - I was stuck in non-moving traffic for about an hour) - when it started getting in the "H" zone I turned off the AC and put on the heater - kept it from getting hotter but it was pretty miserable...

I've been due for a timing belt - right at 144K miles (did one at 70k) but wanted enough free time to pull everything apart. Guess I need to schedule it. I think I'm going to replace the hoses with silicone while I'm at it.

-- John

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Originally Posted by SoTxVx

Not sure why but my Vehicross has run hot but only sitting idle, with the AC and hot temperatures outside. Has never boiled over but the temp with get just below the H and stay there. Turning off the AC brings the temps down pretty quickly. New fan clutch made no change. Rodding out the radiator did not solve the issue. Thermostat was working properly but changed it anyway. Coolant flushed every year. 50/50 coolant water mixture. Ignoring the issue didn't solve it either. I had to try something different.

Got a call yesterday from the technician at FF Dynamics (the manufacturer of the fans and kit). After going through a number of VX related questions that checked out OK, he asked about the ambient temperatures I am seeing. He indicated that there was a mistake by the distributor and their folks and that an extreme kit should have shipped. The kit I received has 2 12" fans. The kit he indicated would be built and shipped to me today would be a single 17" fan with a slightly larger shroud that would flow 60% more air.

Should have it in hand early next week and will be installing right away. Will keep you posted on the results.

John

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I have had a heating problem for awhile now. I removed the OEM fan and have a Plymouth voyager electric fan in mine, new radiator, new MAF and yet... I still get hot. So, the next step for me is a new water pump, then I will go with the thermostat. Going to to the thermostat last, as the engine heating is fine at all times, except when I have a strong pull on the engine for a long time (uphills in big heat) or stop and go and stop traffic.

I feel for ya. :drama:

It is past time to do the timing belt. Will repace the water pump at the same time and punish myself if I can tell the water pump was the cause of the overheating all along. T belt and water pump are getting to the top of the to do list.

John

Went ahead and did the timing belt and water pump this morning. I had forgotten how much fun it is.

Old water pump was not leaking and the impeller looks just like the new one I put in. Zero corrosion, vanes all there and in the right position. Off to work. Will likely be sitting in line and have the opportunity to do some testing. Not holding out a lot of hope since there appears to have been nothing wrong withh the old water pump.

John

One of the most overlooked part is radiator cap. That is most important part cause it keeps boiling point where it should be.

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Originally Posted by BOARZHEAD

One of the most overlooked part is radiator cap. That is most important part cause it keeps boiling point where it should be.

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do they wear out or fail, how does it work?

The spring inside weakens enabling coolant to boil at lower temps, causeing overheating

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Originally Posted by VX KAT

do they wear out or fail, how does it work?

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Got the VX back together after a brief episode between me and a broken tensioner pivot bolt. The broken tensioner pivot bolt almost won.

FFD sent me a 17" fan setup with separate prewired controller and relay. Works like a charm. Sat in line for more than 20 minutes today, temperature was over 100 and the temperature gauge never moved from the half way point.

I know a number of you indicated that the design was sound and I should not have a problem with good OEM parts working properly. But I have struggled with the engine getting hot while sitting still for more than 10 minutes with the AC on in hot weather. Nothing took care of it. The single 17" extreme electric fan setup from FF Dynamics did it for me.

John

I have been off the board for a very long time and just got back on a few days back to seek help solving my EGR CEL code .

I wanted to update where I ended up with the FFD fan setup. It worked okay for about a month and then one of the relays failed while I was in line waiting to get back into the US. It was a nightmare, scalding hot and I was pi#@ed. Ended up with improvising a direct wiring setup of the fan to the battery as cars are honking at me for taking up one of four lanes on the international bridge.

Got home and called FFD and they took the setup back and refunded my money. Spent the money on an Isuzu fan clutch from Merlin and now many years and hot summers later, no overheating issues. A/C running all the time while sitting in line and the gauge never moves above halfway.

I now have 189K miles on the VX and couldn't be happier with the purchase made 12 years ago. Cost me $12K with 20K miles on it and I getting ready to pass it on to my daughter.