My 55 Customline 272 Y-block has a 3 blade fan. This xtra warm weather has my temp gauge running a little high, and I'm wondering if more air flow through the radiator would help. Is there any benefit to changing the 3 blade fan out for a 4 blade?

There is a 4 blade fan for Y-blocks, including 272, on ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...e=STRK:MEWA:IT

My 64 F100's 292 Y-Block has a 4 blade fan, and the hot weather doesn't make any difference that shows on the temperature gauge - even with the a/c running.

Ideas, thoughts, opinions, suggestions?

thanks,

 

Hi it's Janet, hope you're doing okay. Sure, a 4 blade would help alot...Are you sure that maybe your thermostat is right?? If it runs a tad hot, i would take the thermostat out until next winter, and make sure my radiator flow was good, if not. I would have the radiater rebuilt and get the cores cleaned for good flow, but 3 blades on your water pump now??? If i'm not mistaken my 63 Ford (and it's all stock) has 4 blades, i'll look at it later this evening, mine runs cool no matter how hot it is ouside, but i have a real fast flow in my radiater, i mean it moves real fast!!!, ill see how many blades are on my fan later on, right now im sitting around and kind of sick with a virus.....Janet

 

It is not a good idea to remove the thermostat. Yes it may seem like it is running cooler but what happens is the coolent is flowing to quickly throu the engine and does not carry the heat away from things like the cylinder walls. Then what happens the cylinder walls will get so hot the coolent around them will boil and cause air bubbles in the coolent and rust the inside of your engine out. Not sure if a 4 bladed fan will work but it makes sense it is worth a try. My engine seems to run a little better when it is a little warm. If yours is not over heating and just getting a little warm maybe it is normal.
This is just my opinion on this I may be wrong.

 

I agree at no time should you run your engine without a thermostat!
A 4or 6 bladed fan may help but you should also check that the thermostat is
opening at the correct temp. Also check radiator for corrosion. Usually when we replace a thermostat we drill a 1/8 bleed hole in outer edge . This helps to prevent air pockets and hot spots. Also ign timeing can cause heating problems
I hope this helps HOTWRENCH

 

Never remove the t-stat! as stated above it wont allow for proper heat transfer inside the engine AND wont hold the coolant in the radiator long enough for the process of the heat transfer to the cooling fins.

kevin

ALSO, a restricted air cleaner will cause an engine to run warner than normal

 

Another vote for not removing the thermostat. It follows that more blades = more air flow if everything else is equal..DO you have a high temp winter thermostat installed? say a 195 degree? How's your radiator? Water pump? coolant? I have a 5 bladed fan on my 55 and it doesn't run hot even though the temp gets to high 90's

Good luck

Bubba

 

If he keeps using his thermostatst then, if its been awhile, why not just go ahead and change it then, use a lower temp type if it has a 195 in it for sure i say..On the other isuue of fans, i would never use a 3 blade, just isn't enough blades at all.....Janet

 

Thanks a lot for this thread!! My '54 has been running with the temp guage at the 3/4 mark for the last 4 years. I did not know how hot this was nor if it was too hot. This summer it started running hotter, so I the day before I was going to drive it to the Carlisle Truck show I remove the thermostat and get a new one at the parts place. I did get a cooler one than what was in it. I got one that was closer to the reccommended opening temp in the shop manual. They did not have a gasket so I had to make one. Long story short: It leaked, I tried again, leaked again, remembered I had gasket sealer hanging on the wall and put that on and it leaked slower but by now the little hose that goes from the elbow to the water pump is shredded and it is leakeing there, so I get a short piece from my garage buddy and fix it, with still a slow leak. Do I drive it to Carlisle, 120 miles away the next day? No, My wife says I should have had the garage do it... nuff said.

So... I have been driving around town this week with still the slow leak and I have the rad cap on loose so the pressure does not make it leak faster and It runs a lot cooler. The needle has not gone past the halfway mark on the guage!!

How can I fix the leak with out taking it to the garage or re-doing it again???

thanks, abe

 

HMMMM, hi Abe its been awhile! Is the thermostat housing surface straight???, i would use tar gasket, use up to 020 thickness in tar gasket and use permetex sealer, other than that i would have to look at it to know....Janet

 

Abe, That housing may be warped like Janet said you can fix by clamping sand papper to flat steel and sand the serface of the housing flat. Just make sure when you are sanding it is flat on the steel and that you go in the direction parallel with the 2 bolt holes. And as you are sanding it you can look at it and see ware it was warped. If that doesn't work Dennis C sells new ones.

 

Okay, you sold me, i know you know the game brother, and Abbe, darned right it's a long thread and that's because it has t happen when i'm anywhere around, once you flip it oversssssss then you see that LOW SPOT on the housing.....Janet (i hope thats all it is)

 

DO NOT RUN WITHOUT THE THERMOSTAT. My 292 runs HOTTER without it b/c the coolant doesn't make it to the back half of the engine. It needs the back pressure from the thermostat to cool the back half of the heads. Plus, like 57_ford said, it causes BAD problems inside the coolant path. Again, the added pressure from the thermostat will hold the bubbles in solution longer. My Thermodynamics professor was adament that removing the thermostat makes the engine mathmatically cooler, but the physics aren't as straight forward as he was trying to make it.

All that having been said, I have 2 1960 Ford trucks with the 292 V-8. BOTH have 4 blade fans, so i don't think you'll have any trouble upgrading to a 4-blade fan.

Larry