V8 with engine driven fan

[rlsllc]

Has anyone done it?

I really like the simplicity and reliability of the engine driven fan. This is for the 1999.

I plan to use the electrics (I may still try to make an engine driven one work) on my 1989 due to the lift, etc, but would like to keep the 1999 mechanical.

Thanks all.

[Kidhauler]

we did it on a couple of 91 vans when we swapped in a v8. just use the pump and fan off your v6 on a 5.7 v8. of course you get 15-20 hp by using a electric fan plus they cool better and you will build revs faster and have a possible gas mileage increase since you are not waisting power turning a fan.

[rlsllc]

If it worked on a 1991 it would have to work on a 1999, there is like 4" more clearance eyeballing it. It looked tighter than that on my 1989, but then again it had electric fans so it looked like the engine was right against the radiator.

I agree with you that electrics are better, but I prefer the simplicity of the mechanical fan.

I'm not worried about the power loss/drag since I use a heavy duty thermal clutch. It pretty much free-wheels when not needed and really works when it gets hot. The clutch and pump on the V6 are new, so good deal there.

I will think about using the electrics, but I doubt that I do it. K.I.S.S. works really well for me.

Thanks Kid!

[Kidhauler]

forgot to mention that you will need to trim a couple of inches off the stock fan shroud or it will touch the pulleys.

[rlsllc]

(thumbs up smilie)

[sfeaver]

Did you end up trying this? I got my fan shroud all trimmed up to clear the motor. But I think the fan is going to scrape at the bottom of the shroud now. Did anyone else have this problem?

Thanks,
Scott

[rlsllc]

The engine is on the subframe ready to go back under the van, and I won't be surprised if there are clearance problems at the bottom since the JTR mount put the engine too low in my opinion. My oil pan is really close to the axle, and the diff housing bolts touched so I dented the pan to clear. If I slid the engine to the right until the exhaust was against the frame, the oil pan was OK. I took as much as I could off of the frame and welded it back just to make it clear, and split the difference. My crank pulley is like 1/2" from the sway, but the sway bar looks to have been used to lift the van at some point and is bent upward.

I need to get my pics posted, but my wife does it, and I'm not sure if she has figured out yet that it is not a 4.3 sitting on the frame now. I may end up living in it.

How is the clearance on your sway bar and pulley, and how much did you cut off of the shroud??

[sfeaver]

I think the sway bar and crank pulley are miles away, I'll have to go look tomorrow and let you know though. Certainly not close at all or I would know. As for shroud, I'll post some pics tomorrow. I think I took around an inch and a half off overall, I trimmed a bit more by the compressor to clear it. I put a bracket on the bottom to pull it down a bit so it doesnt rub.

I have the JTR mounts also, I think the engine sits okay. So far anyways, but I have a 2WD van.

My pics are here, about a week behind now though but I will update it soon http://s926.photobucket.com/albums/ad101/sfeaver/

Scott

[rlsllc]

Nice pics! All of that shiney paint makes me jealous, I only painted the mounts 'cause they were raw steel, and the oil pan, due to the cuting and welding.

The RWD vs AWD makes a big difference, the mounts are different and it is a lot tighter due to the frame differences and front drive axle being all kinds of in the way.

It looks like our vans are about the same color.

[Logan]

I ran clutch fan on both my V8 stros. I had about half an inch with my 89 before it touched the radiator and I've about 5 inches with my 93 with the newer nose. I would like to go with electric fan soon, I've got some Venture Van fans I've going to mount in there. Unfortunatly, I've never been able to get a fan shroud back in there. Everytime I tried, It would hit or fall out and explode.

I use hood pins instead of a latch so I added this bar to keep my hose up since originally the hose went across the shroud.

[sfeaver]

Not sure if your at this point yet but I'm interested to know which upper rad hose you will be using. And intake. The stock one will be very close to the snorkel on the throttle body not leaving much room for a hose.


Scott

[sfeaver]

Did you ever have cooling issues withouth having the shroud?

Scott

[Smiliesafari]

Scott, most excellent photo documentation. Just one question.....why didn't you use the oil dipstick and tube? It looks like it will be difficult to reach.

[rlsllc]

Not sure if your at this point yet but I'm interested to know which upper rad hose you will be using. And intake. The stock one will be very close to the snorkel on the throttle body not leaving much room for a hose.


Scott

I bought the upper hose for a 1999 Savana 3500 with the 5.7 (that is what my motor is from) and it wraps around behind the A/C compressor. I haven't got the subframe back under the van, so I don't actually know if it is going to work or not. I plan to trim the original lower hose.

I have the oil cooler lines for the same vehicle, gonna try those too.

I have the dipstick from the Savana also, it looks like it may be too long. My 4.3 had a truck dipstick; you can reach it, but it was tough.

How close is the 4.3 air cleaner to matching up with the 5.7 MAF? Looks like it will be tight, and the MAF looks like it is larger in diameter.

[sfeaver]

Oil Dipstick.. I ended up using the bottom half from a 99 Express van and the top half from an Astro. Shortened the dipstick itself half an inch and all is good. Comes out very close to the tranny dipstick.

The truck one was no good, was getting in the way of putting the subframe back in as it was hitting the heater valves etc. I also learnt that you are not going to change the dipstick tube with the van on the subframe too.. hehe So up it went again, but it was quick.

I didnt take a pic of the dipstick tube itself but in some of the new pics im putting up tonight you should be able to see where it pops out.

Scott