Hey guys,

Such a typical story. I have a Procharger, and I'm overheating. I'm probably compounding the issue with my intercooler location, though. I have a T/A with the fogs and the front plate area cut out and a grill in its place. The intercooler is not in front of the bumper support, but behind it. I cut a hole in the front bumper support to let air pass through it to get to the intercooler and, ultimately, the radiator. I've attached some pics. As you can see, the intercooler now blocks the path for air to get to the radiator from when it was stock. Now, air must come through the front bumper cover, through the front bumper support, through the intercooler, and then to the radiator.

So, as I've said, the car is overheating. Today with the AC running and the car sitting still, it got to 225* before I finally shut her down. Then came the gurgling sound as the coolant started to boil. It was very depressing. I've already added the 9" Spal fan, but with no success.

Now I need a plan. I'm okay with getting a Griffin radiator, standing it up, throwing he stock fans back on it, etc. It would be expensive, but I was prepared for that to be necessary when I went down this road. I just didn't want to do it until I determined it was necessary. However, I've done a small amount of research and feel there MIGHT be another solution worth trying.

I started looking around on Summit's site to see what options I have for different fans. I found a couple 16" fans that seem to be pretty low-profile, and they're rated at 3,000 CFM. I went to see what Spal's 16" fans were rated for, and many of them were in the 2,200 m^3/h range. According to my math, this is just over 1,000 CFM! Holy crap, what room for improvement! There was one Spal fan, though, that was 16" and 3,000 CFM. Based on the image, I don't think it's the one that comes with the Procharger kit.

Does anyone know what the part number is for the Spal fan included with the Procharger? I want to get some specs on it to see if replacing the fan might make a difference for me.

 

Try the 16" fan, but we get very similar temps here in central Oklahoma and the 2 core is what made the biggest difference for me.

 

Trust, what radiator did you go with, specifically? Did you stand it up?

Does anyone know exactly what the 'stock' 16" Spal fan is capable of? I can't figure out what model it is, so I can't find the CFM on it. If it's one of the crappy 2200 m^3/h fans, then I may try a fan upgrade before anything else.

Bob? Help?

 

You should PM Jeff, "Inspector 12" He has a pretty good understanding of this issue and has a good solution.

 

do you have the bottom air dam on? (the thing that always scrapes)

you might want to consider a lt1 radiator, they are a lot cheaper than the griffin and are thicker than the ls1 radiator.

 

I may try to get my hands on an LT1 radiator, but I would really enjoy the other benefits of standing the radiator up and having the Griffin instead. Just having more room would be fantastic. It'd be expensive by comparison, though.

Another option I hadn't thought of is draining the coolant and replacing it with just water and Water Wetter or Purple Ice or something. If I'm not mistaken, 100% water cools better than water and antifreeze.

Speaking of which, is there a way to drain the coolant from the block? I just let that **** spill out when I take the heads off most of the time. I've never noticed a way to drain it.

 

First off, you need to move that intercooler forward. That will help, I've been there.

Second, 225 while sitting and idling with A/C on isn't that bad, but it is hotter than optimal.

I do believe the fan included in the ATI kit is 3000 CFM.

 

There's a petcock on the bottom passenger side of the radiator. it's easy to drain there.

 

Thing you must be careful of when comparing CFM numbers on fans is a lot of companies like to quote freeflow airflow numbers i.e. without the restriction of a radiator and AC condenser. It's not all that tough to get freeflow numbers really high at freeflow. A lot of those fans' airflow numbers start dropping like a rock when you throw such pesky things as a radiator or AC condenser in front of it.

Take a look at the airflow numbers at around 0.4 inches (or 10 mm) of H20. That is going to be a bit more of a realistic airflow number. Stay away from the Spal extreme performance fans as they say those are best suited for limited use racing applications and won't survive continuous use on the street.

Wish I could find my papers that had the spal #s for the procharger fans.

IIRC ProCharger uses 3 different 16" fans, 2 of which are clearly identified as Spal.
This is going from memory but the numbers look familiar.
One is 3010.2120 and is a straight blade configuration.
The other is 3010.2049 and is a curved blade configuration.

 

I meant to drain the coolant from the block. I always drain the radiator through the petcock.

 

The Zirgo fans found on summit look to be impressive despite the fact that summit shows the same manufacturer info for both of the 16" fans. I like the airflow numbers but am curious as to this "new revolutionary" electric motor that lets their fans put out more CFM than other brands at half the current draw.

 

There's a drain above the starter and one on the other side that (IIRC) you have to take the alternator off to reach.