Should I do the Electric fan mod?

[Armond]

My Tii has the 320i radiator. Sat in traffic on friday and my temp gauge went up 3/4 to the red line. Stayed there but traffic started moving as well. Got a little worried. Would this upgrade make a big difference?

[jgerry2002]

I have a Permacool 14" pusher with a temp sensor. Yes you will completely eliminiate any temp creep sitting in traffic. I've been caught in nasty NYC traffic jams with no worries. Even with a good radiator you need airflow.

In my case, I run both a mechanical and an electric fan. I had a fan relay fail on me once in traffic, so I am little wary of putting 100% trust on an electric fan.

[cj]

My Tii has the 320i radiator. Sat in traffic on friday and my temp gauge went up 3/4 to the red line. Stayed there but traffic started moving as well. Got a little worried. Would this upgrade make a big difference?

Do you have a 5 blade fan?

Cris

[Armond]

yup, I think having the auxilliary is a good idea but the added 5hp w/o the pull fan is good too.

[oz_tom]

I sat in traffic the other day in 35 degree celsius heat (95 fahrenheit) and temp didnt go over half. Electric fan worked beautifully. Probably helps that the radiator is a recent recore too, but kudos to the fan. Go for it.

[megad]

I just did it, seems great so far

I use a manual switch now, I'm wired for a thermostat but I have not decided how to do it yet

some use a temp switch in the bottom of the 320i radiator, some use a temp sensor that fits into the fins on the radiator, several of the add on fan kits sell these temp sensors too

[robspeed]

my car has stock fan and 320i radiator. NEVER EVER EVER even comes CLOSE to overheating, even in disgusting abalama summers, stop-and-go, etc. If your car is overheating, fix the REAL issue, dont just slap bandaids on it.

[Armond]

Engine is not an issue. had that checked already.

[jgerry2002]

my car has stock fan and 320i radiator. NEVER EVER EVER even comes CLOSE to overheating, even in disgusting abalama summers, stop-and-go, etc. If your car is overheating, fix the REAL issue, dont just slap bandaids on it.

Its not necessarily bandaids, Things like high compression pistons, timing position, a/f ratio, thermostat, coolant mixture, radiator condition, environment, all effect heat output.

With a stock compression motor and a fresh radiator things won't get very hot.

[jdirecto]

How did you figure the 5 hp gain from the electric fan conversion? Do you already have the low temp (71 degree) thermostat?

[megad]

the 5hp number gets thrown around all the time, on most cars

I did not really notice it on my car