I install electric fans on my truck less than a week ago and today when I pull in thedriveway from work I smell hot coolant. I pop the hood and sure enough my radiator is leaking coolant all over the ground. The funny thing is though it only leaks when the truck is shut off. I can start the truck and fill it up and nothing leaks. It doesnt over heat at all either. Oh well I guess tommorow morning I'll buy a new radiator and hopefully this problem doesnt arrise again!

 

The amount of airflow around the radiator might not be enough when stopped. When you drive you increase the CFM with the air rushing into your radiator. Highway driving will increase this effect even more. But slow driving, stop and go, or simply sitting there.....the radiator doesn't have enough air running past it to cool it off. If this is the case then you need an additional fan or simply a bigger fan/fans. Most fans are 1,000 to 2,000 CFM. Getting enough CFM is a bitch with trucks, hypothetically you need between 3,000 and 4,000 CFM. 4,000 would be if you two or have a 6.0 v8. Most V8 cars only need 2,500 to 2,800 or so. V6 and 4 bangers might need between 1,500 and 2,500. V6 trucks still need around 3,000 CFM.

If the truck doesn't overheat in traffic or while idling, then you are ok, but you will need a fan controller that will allow the fans to run continuously after you shut the motor off until the radiator cools off. SPAL makes a great fan controller.

FYI:

Anyway, SPAL knows there sh*t with fans and I talked to a sale rep. He said that you need good fans and a fan controller to replace the belt driven fan. I priced out no less than $400 to make it work appropriately. Perma cool makes a $500 kit and a $700 kit for bigger trucks. But the guy asked me "Do race your truck?" I said no. He said "Are you doing mostly highway driving?" I said yes. And he said "You probably won't save all that much on gas. The belt fan doesn't create as much drag as you think on newer vehicles. And sometimes the AMP draw of two large fans and a fan controller can have a negative effect on how your vehicle runs."

So I said screw it and just left it alone with my truck.

 

Wait is it overflowing or actually coming out of the radiator somewhere it shouldn't be? Liek a hole in the core?

 

I changed out the radiator because when I got home and pulled the thing apart there were two holes in the front side of the radiator and it was coming out pretty fast. I dont know how they got there though. The fan setup I got off a chevy truck from a junk yard and just wired it up on a toggle switch. When I am moving less than about 40mph I keep it on. Anything above that I just let the air forced through the grill keep it cool. The truck never overheated at all I just happened to smell the coolant and when I decided to investigate this I found the holes. I got the radiator from the same junk yard for around 90.00 so it wasnt a big deal compared to the 200+ for a brand new one.

 

How much were the fans?

 

Ok I was off on what you were trying to say.

rxsteven, go to a bone yard and look for them. Its the only way to avoid spending a few hundred on the mod. But Im sure bone yard prices vary.

 

I picked my set up for right at 150.00. Plus a 3 dollar membership to that particular salvage yard. It was a quick and easy install seeing how I just wired it up on a toggle instead of the whole temp controller and everything!

 

Yeah but doing the controller will put alot less stress on the electrical system. The SPAL controller I used to have was like $50 and it would spin them slow once they hit operating temp, and wouldn't kick them in 100% until it went up to about 200. But you could set the min, max and operating temps yourself.

 

I may check on picking one of those up. I never really thought too much about it. My brother gave me the idea to hard wire a switch because he used to have his that way but I would love to not have to worry about hitting the switch all the time.

 

Get a SPAL, the price is higher but they are built well(heavy duty) and are programmable.